MIDLOTHIAN, Va. -- Chesterfield After Hours has announced a new home and its first slate of concerts.
The concert series will take place at River City Sportsplex (13030 Genito Road) in Midlothian.
The initial concerts include:
- Aaron Lewis and The Stateliners on July 22
- Collective Soul and Switchfoot on July 27
- ABBA The Concert on July 28
- Little River Band on October 15
"This area is just primed and ready," EventMakers-USA managing partner Matthew Creeger said about the new Chesterfield-based concert series. "We've seen it in our ticket sales at our other venues."
EventMakers-USA also produces After Hours concerts at Meadow Event Park in Doswell.
"I've heard it my whole life," he said. "People have wanted live music, live entertainment right here in Chesterfield County."
Creeger said the timing of the announcement should help ticket sales.
"Coming out of the pandemic, when we had our first show last year, people were just so excited," he said. "People are even more excited this year."
Chesterfield leaders hope the concert series can pump money into the county's economy.
"We have an immense economic opportunity to capture additional revenues at our hotels, restaurants, and gas stations," Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors Chair Christopher Winslow said. "And most importantly, we are enhancing the entertainment experience for visitors and county residents."
Entertainment leaders say they are optimistic about the opportunity. However, sports leaders think that the future could prove to be more challenging.
Over the years, athletic leagues and high school coaches said finding available field space in the county has been challenging. Despite these concerns, county leaders don't believe the concert series will jeopardize athletic leagues or damage fields.
"We think that this stretch is critical to the county's success for sports tourism. In the long term and in the next capital improvement plan, we're going to have the remainder of the fields put up here and we're going to start looking and attacking the areas east of here," Winslow said.
They said the Sportsplex may just be a temporary home for the concert series.
"But we're looking for the long haul. Where does this concert series go for the long term? We want to have a final home for it," Winslow said.
