LIVE FROM JACKSONVILLE! with Amadeus
99.9 Gator Country morning show host Amadeus shares stories that did not make it on the air, and he takes a deeper dive into those that did make the cut. Fans of Your Hometown Morning Show will enjoy a more behind the scenes look at what goes into the making of a country radio morning show. Listen daily for this PG-13 version of the top stories making pop culture headlines, artist interviews, and much , much more.
LIVE FROM JACKSONVILLE! with Amadeus
THE THRASHER-HORNE CENTER, LARRY THE CABLE GUY, AND THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND
Picture this: Larry The Cable sitting next to a ventriloquist on a flight to Las Vegas, and ends up having a 40-minute conversation... with his puppet! This quirky tale sets the stage for our latest episode. We'll chat with Larry The Cable Guy about his Git-R-Done Foundation, his love-hate relationship with golf, and get a sneak peek of his upcoming comedy special, being filmed right here in Florida.
Host Amadeus chats with Bob Olson, the Executive Director of the Thrasher Horn Center. Bob shares the center's vibrant offerings, including its anniversary celebrations and integration with St. John's River State College.
We'll get insights into the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Farewell Tour from band member Bob Carpenter.
We also share details on some newly announced shows from Bare Naked Ladies and Vampire Weekend.
It's an episode packed with laughs, charity, music, and a tease at a little bit of alien intrigue!
Welcome to another episode of Live from Jacksonville. My name's Amadeus. We're going to be talking about some of the concerts and comedians and events coming to Jacksonville. First let's get to some newly announced shows. Bare Naked Ladies will be coming to the St Augustine Amphitheater on Wednesday, june 4th. Then Vampire Weekend this was just announced June 12th at Daily's Place. Coming up in the next few weeks at the Florida Theater Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Speaker 1:On Sunday, february 23rd, I'll be talking with Bob Carpenter from the band. He'll join us in a few minutes to talk about this farewell tour. Robin Trower will be at the Florida Theater on Tuesday February 25th. Comedian Mateo Lane on Saturday March 1st. Tesla will be at the Florida Theater on March 5th and Brett Young on Thursday March 6th. Get to floridatheatercom for more information on all those shows. At Daily's Place it's Rod Stewart on February 25th and Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band with a tribute to Jimmy Buffett. That show is on Saturday March 15th. The FSCJ Artist Series is bringing the Dancing with the Stars live tour to the Performing Arts Center on Thursday February 27th. The Righteous Brothers Farewell Tour on March 5th and Stayin' Alive One Night of the Bee Gees on Thursday March 6th and at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center on Saturday, march 1st. It's Bulls, bands and Barrels, so if you love rodeo and live music, you don't want to miss that. Our first guest today is Bob Olson, executive Director of the Thrasher Horn Center. Bob, for those that aren't familiar with the venue, tell us about it.
Speaker 2:I call us the Total Event Center. I say that because we have services that are not found in other venues. We have our main stage auditorium where we obviously bring in a lot of professional acts, concerts and all that. We also rent that stage. It brings in all kinds of dance competitions, national and regional. We also have a conference center with over 6,000 square feet. Anything can rent in there, from showers to formal corporate events to weddings, and then we also have an art gallery, a dance studio and a studio theater that fits 200 black boxes what the industry calls that and that's all underneath one roof. So the Thrasher Horn Center has a lot to offer to everybody.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that gallery is always amazing to go through.
Speaker 2:What we did for our art gallery a couple years ago. We had a little vision because we have our members. They come before every show. We normally have a heavy hors d'oeuvre spread out for them, but we used to keep them up in the upper level. We wanted something a little more special, more experienced. And you've seen that gallery. It's beautiful. Yeah, so we now have combined we call it the Circle Club Members Circle Club with the gallery and so we've created it as a nice big club. But yet all them photos along, it's beautiful and they get that opportunity before every show, which really has increased foot traffic as well in the gallery. So kind of cool vision that we had and it's really super.
Speaker 1:It's nice to have something to do, like if you get to a show that's going to be like starting in an hour and you've got time to kill, like grab a drink, walk around, check out the gallery. It's really a nice little, just a little extra thing to do while you're at the venue.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, the thing we, what we did when we did the Circle Club. You can buy into the Circle Club even if you're not a member and have that experience, and what we have done in the gallery is only open at intermission and for the general public as well. It's open any day, whenever our ticket office is open, which is basically 10 to two each day of the week.
Speaker 1:Bob, the whole reason for this podcast that I'm starting is to let people in Jacksonville know about some of the amazing venues that we have, because there's a lot of new people moving into the area that may not know and we have. I mean, we're lucky. We're a city of like seven or eight, nine, soon to be 10 venues, with the nightclubs that are turning into little concert halls. How long has the Thrasher Horn been there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're celebrating our 20th year.
Speaker 1:What.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 20th year we're already celebrating and we've actually had a couple of neat. We've kicked it off the celebration of the President's Gala on the main stage. It was the first time we've ever had a gala on a main stage, which was really cool. We recently had a members appreciation dinner for the 20th year celebration on the main stage and we're going to have a public event in April, soon to be announced. So yeah, we're in 20 years already, that's crazy.
Speaker 1:And where do you call yourself? Do you call yourself Orange Park? Do you call yourself Middleburg?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Orange Park, that's the location you know. We're actually on St John's River State College's Orange Park campus and a lot of people don't know this, but we are owned and operated by the college.
Speaker 1:So you're a nonprofit theater, is that right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you would consider us nonprofit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very cool. Well, let's talk about some of the shows coming, because you guys have some great things. One of the shows that's coming up on March 3rd is One Night in Memphis. It's basically a story of Elvis Presley, carl Perkins, jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash, and I've seen that show before and it is a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:It is a lot of fun and it's a high demand for us. Every time we have it, we have a great audience and that's building up to be a fantastic audience as well. And, as you know, we have Larry the cable guy three nights after that, which we're really excited about. The audience is building to a pretty good size, so it's going to be a great event.
Speaker 1:I'll be talking to Larry, the cable guy right after you, and I are done on this podcast and he'll be there on March 6th and then, a week after him, howie Mandel on March 13th.
Speaker 2:I guess you could call it comedy week here at the Thrashing Wind Center, and that is a great venue to see comedians too. Oh yeah, it is Very personal, as you know. You know we fit 1,700 in the house, but it's intimate. It's a very intimate venue, so anyone that gets on the stage, I think the audience interacts so well with the act and vice versa, because of its size.
Speaker 1:It really is very personal. Another great show coming March 16th is Splish Splash, the music of Bobby Darin.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is, it sure is, as you know. You look at our schedule and we always have something for everyone, you know, and Bobby Darin, obviously a little when the Hurricanes, I believe it's Helene and the other one kind of came back to back, and I think Joe was scheduled right in between those two, so I had to reschedule and that's going to be on March 27th.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's exactly what we had to do. We had to reschedule that one. And I also want to let you know one thing that we kind of hadn't talked about, and this kind of shows the diversity of our place. The Clay Bridal Spectacular is on March 16th. That's our own event we hosted. I can't believe it. It's celebrating its seventh year. I can remember when we first had this vision of us hosting an event like this here. So while it's not in the show, it just shows you what we have for a diverse venue. It's held in our conference center, so it's very cool.
Speaker 1:So all those brides-to-be can check out thcenterorg for information on that. March 31st Turn to Stone an ELO tribute. I am such a massive Jeff Lynne fan and that sounds like an amazing show.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we're getting really good reviews on this tribute, so, yeah, it should be a great night as well.
Speaker 1:And then on April 14th, pretty Woman the musical will be at the Thrasher Horn Center. So there's a lot coming up in the next few months.
Speaker 2:And we are actually starting to build, and we have a couple of cool announcements at the beginning of March that I can't wait to share with you. I can't do it yet, but we have a really cool event coming up, but we're starting to look outward to the next season as well.
Speaker 1:Will you come back on the podcast when you're able to announce those and let us know?
Speaker 2:I absolutely will.
Speaker 1:That would be amazing, bob Olson's, executive director of the Thrasher Horn Center, check out THCenterorg for all the shows that are coming to town. Bob, I'm going to let you run because I got Larry the Cable Guy waiting on the other line.
Speaker 2:Wow, very cool. Say hi to Larry for me.
Speaker 1:Larry the Cable Guy will be at the Thrasher Horns Center on Thursday, march 6th. Larry Bob says hello. How are you doing?
Speaker 3:today I'm doing fantastic, and yourself, I'm doing well, thank you.
Speaker 1:We're getting excited to have you come to town, to the Thrasher Horns Center, on March 6th.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I can't wait to do it. I'm working on my filming my brand new album March 15th in Clearwater, so you'll get to see it for a film.
Speaker 1:So this is kind of a dressed rehearsal.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, I just finishing everything up and getting everything I need and got it all down just to stay sharp, so you will see the finished product. That is pretty dang cool and I will say I've had a lot of stuff out throughout the years. You know I've been doing this a long time.
Speaker 1:I've been I don't know if you remember, but you know, way back in 1945, the blue collar comedy I do know for a fact it was not 1945, because I do remember when that tour first came out, it was it changed the game, I think it was very cool, but I think this one here is probably you know, because it'll probably be.
Speaker 3:I've done so many of these specials and albums. I can only write so many jokes about Walmart, but it's probably. I mean, I'll always tour, but it might be the last one I put out, so I wanted to make sure I did it with a bang. So this is a really. There's some really funny material on here and I can't wait to perform it for everybody.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's a great venue too. The Thrasher Horn Center is one of my favorites here in town. It's just a great room.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I say it's good to be back there, but I don't think I've ever been there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think this is your first time here. Bill Engvall was there. We went and saw him a couple years ago and it's just such a good room for stand-up. You're going to fall in love with it in love with it.
Speaker 3:If I do that, I'm performing no.
Speaker 1:Pants on. Oh my gosh, I hope you don't fall in love with it.
Speaker 3:No, no, I'm looking forward to it. I was on an airplane the other day going to Las Vegas and I was sitting next to a ventriloquist, uh-oh, and this guy was unbelievable. He fell asleep and I talked to the puppet for 40 minutes. I mean, this guy was unbelievable. I talked to the puppet for 40 minutes.
Speaker 1:I mean, this guy was unbelievable. Hey, can we talk about your Get Her Done Foundation? No, we can't talk about anything that you want to speak about.
Speaker 3:Let's move on to Nick Hoffman. No, yeah, you know what. I started that in 2008, I believe when I was living in Sanford Florida 2008 I believe when I was living in Sanford, florida, and my boy had hip dysplasia and we found a doctor at Arnold Palmer that knew how to fix it and thought that if we started a thing called the International Hip Dysplasia Institute and trained doctors in the same way to work on hip dysplasia, we could be able to eradicate it at some point. So we thought that was a good idea. So that's how it all started and since then it's been. You know, everything from veterans to kids. That's our main focus. You know veterans and kids, and if you go on the website get it on foundationorg you'll see all the organizations that receive money. But it's been really tremendous. We get a lot of good support from a lot of celebrities and it goes to good stuff. So you see my foods and stuff all over the place. I got Gator Don, all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 3:I got pot pies, I got mine, like the all kinds of stuff. I got pot pies and got mine. Like the redneck Paul Newman, I guess you could say my fans have been really awesome stepping up and I mean, shoot, we're well above $11, $12 million we've given to charity all over the country. So I'm really proud of it. But I couldn't do any of it without the fans. So it's a fun thing to do and a good thing to do. It makes you feel good to help people, and so that's what we did. We started that.
Speaker 3:If you want to learn more about it, just go on G-I-T-R-D-O-N-E foundationcom and you can read about it. I love when celebrities use their platform for something like that, because it'd be easy to just buy another bass boat and go about your day. The fact that you're giving back is really, really special, in my opinion. You know what we enjoy it. You know bless you in a way where you're able to never worry about you know, having bills paid or anything you should. You should always find something that gives back to that community. I mean you don't have to, but it just makes you feel good. I mean those people help you along the way. So anytime there's a situation arises, if you can, if you already don't have tons of charity going out, then it's a good thing to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and at the end of the day, that's all that really matters. I was checking out your Facebook page and it looks like you've been spending a ton of time on the golf course.
Speaker 3:I enjoy golf. I'm kind of in a in a kind of a love hate relationship with it. Whoever invented the sport, I do know they need to dig him up and spit on him and rebury him. I'll be burning in hell because I can't I mean and I love it too, but it's just.
Speaker 3:I got a simulator a golf simulator to get better. You can believe this. I. I was in it the other day and I had to let five people play through it. I know, but I do enjoy it. But you know, a lot of people have names for their drivers. Yeah, mine's Exhibit A For so many people. But I mean, it is a love-hate. I do love golf, but I'll tell you what. It's almost like you don't get better. It's like you do good practice and then, when it's time to actually do, it kind of like, you know, making love to my wife.
Speaker 3:I'm good at talking about it and practicing, and then I get up there and I freeze up. It's all in my head.
Speaker 1:My pop is 87 years old and he still golfs every weekend. I'll come home to visit and I'll be like how'd you shoot today, pop? He's like 81. He's like you, he hates it, but he loves it.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, no, it's absolutely, it's fun. It Fun gives you good exercise, but it's a love-hate, that's for sure. Reminds me of the DMV, you know, after about an hour I want to strangle everybody, but it starts out good. Boy, it's cold here. You know, I'm calling you from Nebraska.
Speaker 1:Is that where you are? I thought you were in Florida for some reason.
Speaker 3:No, I'm in Nebraska and there's no one. It was so cold today I could only pee my initials. Oh gee, I've been downtown. I saw a junkie with his tongue stuck to the spoon. I mean, it is cold up here. Thank you very much. There'll be two shows on Friday. Enjoy the buffet. Enjoy the buffet.
Speaker 1:Larry the cable guy. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you for making me laugh this morning. I needed this.
Speaker 3:Well, absolutely, and I can't wait to come. You know I was born in Nebraska, moved to Florida when I was a kid, so I claim two states as home here in Florida and I can't wait to come back. So I picked Florida to do my special. That's such a great theater where I go down to Clearwater to tape it. But just the venues that I'm doing as warm-ups, including this one, we pick them on purpose, just for what they look like and the size and what they sound like and just the kind of crowd. So I mean, Florida's always been so good to me and, man, I can't believe I'm still doing it after all these years. But I appreciate everybody in advance for coming out and seeing me and I promise you this you will laugh for the whole 75 minutes. I guarantee you that much.
Speaker 1:Well, we cannot wait to see you Thursday, March 6th at the Thrasher Horn Center. Tickets are available at THCenterorg. Larry the Cable Guy, thank you so much for your time this early morning in Nebraska.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Hey, do me a favor, would you? What's that Get?
Speaker 1:her done Absolutely. Get to THCenterorg to purchase your tickets to see Larry the Cable Guy and for all the shows coming to the Thrasher Horn Center. We're joined right now by Bob Carpenter from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They will be at the Florida Theater on Sunday, February 23rd. And, Bob, is this really the farewell tour? Yeah?
Speaker 4:we're winding down. This is the second leg of our farewell tour. We just can't. You know, we played 80 shows. I'm sorry, we played 60 shows last year and I was on. We were on the road for 100 days.
Speaker 4:Wow and it's just this is like the 58th year for Jeff and Jimmy and the band, you know, and I've been doing it with them since, on and off since middle 70s and then full time since 1980. So it's just a matter of trying to get this stuff, these last couple tours, done while we can still sing and play, because the road beats the crap out of you, you know, especially when you're trying to do great shows every night. It's a couple hours you got to sing. I mean, we spent our whole time on the road resting and trying to stay in shape, because you know you're either traveling or you're on stage or you're doing sound checks and it's just we're going to wind that part of our career down. That's what we're doing right now, but we'll continue to play music. We just got out of the studio in Nashville. We just cut a couple of tracks, but it's year to year now and we're going to wind things down because we got the 60th anniversary coming up in May next year.
Speaker 1:My gosh, 60 years together. That is insane. Yeah, I know. Tell me about the tour, the last tour.
Speaker 4:Well, we're going to be down there in Jacksonville here on the 23rd and what we're doing for these last couple tours here is we're trying to go through the whole catalog, from the very first single, which was Buy From Me the Rain, all the way through to a cutoff of our last album we released two years ago, called Dirt Does Gone.
Speaker 3:Wow.
Speaker 4:And in between we're going to do stuff off the Circle albums, we're going to do our hits from the 80s, like like Cushion in the Dark and Long Hard Road, and of course we've got to do Bojangles. We're going to do some deep cuts, like Ripon Waters. So we're trying to touch on a little bit of everything. You know, our main goal when we get up on stage is to play songs that people came to hear.
Speaker 1:It sounds like a greatest hits tour.
Speaker 4:Well, that's what we're doing. We adjust a little bit. If we're playing in a theater on a Sunday night, we probably won't do Cadillac Ranch like we would do out at a festival in front of like 10,000 people. Gotcha gotcha so we do adjust the set as we go along, but we try to get to all the touchstones of the career.
Speaker 1:Well, the Nitty, gritty Dirt Van All the Good Times Farewell Tour will be at the Florida Theater Sunday, february 23rd. Select tickets are still available at floridatheatercom.
Speaker 1:Hello to everybody there in Gator Country for me floridatheatercom for all the information on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Farewell Tour. Next week we're going to do a deep dive into Daly's Place and find out what's going to happen once they build the stadium of the future. Plus, I'll be talking to Lou Elizondo. He's coming to the Florida Theater. If you're a fan of Ancient Aliens the Unexplained you're going to absolutely want to hear this interview. It's going to be fascinating. Until then, pop back every week and I'll let you know what's happening live from Jacksonville.