McGrath Amphitheatre

(319) 286-5739
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McGrath Amphitheatre Description

The riverfront amphitheatre is designed to be connected to a Festival Grounds park area along Diagonal Drive SW

Upcoming Events at McGrath Amphitheatre

Alison Krauss & Union Station

For nearly four decades, Alison Krauss & Union Station have upheld their legacy as one of the most influential and widely celebrated acts in bluegrass and roots music. Known for an immaculately crafted but endlessly surprising sound that transcends the boundaries of roots, country, rock & roll, and pop, Alison Krauss & Union Station are putting the finishing touches on a new album to be released in 2025 - their first since the 2011 masterpiece Paper Airplane—a critically lauded, multiple Grammy Award winning LP that debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country, Bluegrass, and Folk Album charts. Over the years, Alison Krauss & Union Station have brought their phenomenal live show to sold-out performances at famed venues like Red Rocks Amphitheatre, The Greek Theatre, Radio City Music Hall, and London’s Royal Festival Hall, in addition to supporting Paul Simon in Hyde Park for his 2012 Graceland reunion. They now gear up for their first tour together since 2015. The players – Alison Krauss (fiddle, lead vocal), Jerry Douglas (Dobro, lap steel, vocals), Ron Block (banjo, guitar), Barry Bales (bass, vocals), and welcoming highly acclaimed and celebrated tenor vocalist Russell Moore (guitar, mandolin, lead vocal) as the newest member – are five distinct personalities, each of whom enjoys a flourishing solo career. But when they come together, they transform into a peerless group of musicians who share a singular focus. 2024-12-03 22:30:00 -0600
6/13

7:00 p.m.

McGrath Amphitheatre
Cedar Rapids

50.0

50.0
Justin Moore & Joe Nichols

<h5>Justin Moore</h5> <hr /> Multi-PLATINUM hitmaker Justin Moore has built a loyal following over the past decade with his traditional country sound and captivating live shows. His rootsy recent single “Time’s Ticking” continues to resonate with listeners and Country radio alike. Plus, the deeply personal title track “This Is My Dirt” – from his recent album release This Is My Dirt – marked his 13th No. 1 track at Country Radio. Over his 10+ year career, Moore’s No. 1 hits have included “Point at You,” “Lettin’ The Night Roll” “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away,” “Small Town USA” and “Till My Last Day,” as well as PLATINUM-certified albums and singles. The Valory Music Co. recording artist has earned multiple ACM, ACA, People’s Choice, and ACC Awards nominations, as well as an ACM Award win. In addition to multiple festivals, headline shows and select direct-support dates, he also is a co-host on 103.7 The Buzz’s morning drive-time sports talk show, “Morning Mayhem,” where he was named Arkansas Radio Personality of the Year in 2024.   <h5>Joe Nichols</h5> <hr /> Multi-PLATINUM hitmaker Joe Nichols is one of country music’s most-lauded recording artists. A 21st century traditionalist, Nichols is an artist who is both timely and timeless – one who has racked up more than TWO BILLION cumulative audio streams/views including a half-dozen No. 1 singles and ten Top 10 hits with a sound that blurs the boundaries between country music's past and present. It's an approach that has earned Nichols three GRAMMY nominations, a CMA award, an ACM trophy, a CMT “Breakthrough Video of the Year” Award as well as multiple gold and platinum-certified records. Nichols’ additional honors include awards from Billboard, Radio & Records and Music Row Magazine as well as a New York Times “Best-Albums-of-the-Year” nod. The celebrated star has appeared on national media programs ranging from the ACM Presents: Superstar Duets in CBS primetime to The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The View, Entertainment Tonight and Austin City Limits. The Quartz Hill Records’ recording artist also recently made his big screen debut in the feature film Murder at Yellowstone City. Nichols’ 11th career studio album, Honky Tonks and Country Songs, is available now across all digital retailers and streaming partners. 2025-02-19 22:00:00 -0600
6/21

7:00 p.m.

McGrath Amphitheatre
Cedar Rapids

36
Blues Traveler & Gin Blossoms with Spin Doctors

About Blues Traveler: 35 years ago, the four original members of Blues Traveler—John Popper, Chandler Kinchla, Brendan Hill, and the late Bobby Sheehan—gathered in their drummer’s parents’ basement in Princeton, NJ to jam. From these high school sessions emerged a band that would go on to release a total of 14 studio albums, four of which have gone gold, three platinum, and one six-times platinum- selling more than 10 million combined units worldwide. Over an illustrious career, Blues Traveler has played over 2,000 live shows in front of more than 30 million people, and, in “Run-Around,” had the longest-charting radio single in Billboard history, which earned them a GRAMMY® for “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.” In 2021 Blues Traveler released the GRAMMY®-nominated Traveler’s Blues (Round Hill Records), a collection of reimagined and recharged classics from the American blues songbook, and the group’s first official blues album. The second release in this series, 2023’s Traveler’s Soul, takes a similar approach- consisting of cover songs from a specific genre, this time classic R&B and Soul.   About Gin Blossoms: Gin Blossoms is an American alternative rock band formed in 1987 in Tempe, Arizona. The band rose to prominence following the 1992 release of their first major label debut album, New Miserable Experience, and the first single released from that album, “Hey Jealousy” became a Top 25 hit and went gold. New Miserable Experience eventually went quadruple platinum and three other charting singles were released from the album including “Allison Road” and “Until I Fall Away.” The band's follow-up album, Congratulations I’m Sorry (1996), went platinum including the GRAMMY-nominated “As Long as It Matters” and the Top 10 single “Follow You Down.” Gin Blossoms continue to tour every year and in recent years have shared the stage with Collective Soul, Barenaked Ladies and Hootie & The Blowfish. 2025-02-19 21:00:00 -0600
7/07

6:00 p.m.

McGrath Amphitheatre
Cedar Rapids

45
Kansas & .38 Special with Outlaws

<h5>KANSAS</h5> With a legendary career spanning five decades, KANSAS has firmly established itself as one of America’s iconic classic rock bands. This "garage band" from Topeka released their debut album in 1974 after being discovered by Wally Gold, who worked for Don Kirshner, and have gone on to sell more than 30 million albums worldwide. Composing a catalogue that includes sixteen studio albums and five live albums, KANSAS has produced eight gold albums, three sextuple-Platinum albums (Leftoverture, Point of Know Return, Best of KANSAS), one platinum live album (Two for the Show), one quadruple-Platinum single ‘Carry On Wayward Son,’ and another triple-Platinum single ‘Dust in the Wind.’ KANSAS appeared on the Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the ‘70's and ‘80's and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums throughout North America, Europe and Japan. ‘Carry On Wayward Son’ continues to be one of the top five most played songs on classic rock radio, and ‘Dust In the Wind’ has been played on the radio more than three million times! The summer of 2020 marked the release of “The Absence of Presence,” KANSAS’s sixteenth studio album, which debuted at #10 on Billboard’s Top Current Albums chart. The wide-ranging progressive rock album, released by InsideOut Music, follows-up 2016’s “The Prelude Implicit,” which debuted at #14 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart. Throughout 2016-2022, the band celebrated the anniversaries of multi-Platinum breakout albums “Leftoverture” and “Point of Know Return” with anniversary tours for both albums. Both tours were commemorated with live album releases “Leftoverture Live & Beyond” (2017) & “Point of Know Return Live & Beyond” (2021). The band is currently comprised of original drummer Phil Ehart, vocalist/keyboardist Ronnie Platt, keyboardist/vocalist Tom Brislin, guitarist Zak Rizvi, violinist/guitarist Joe Deninzon, bassist/vocalist Dan McGowan, and original guitarist Richard Williams. Drummer Eric Holmquist is currently performing on drums while Phil Ehart continues to recover from a major heart attack. With no signs of slowing down, KANSAS continues to perform in front of large and enthusiastic audiences. Along with constant touring, KANSAS continues to remain a fixture of Classic Rock radio and popular culture. The band continues to reach a whole new audience through their unmistakable presence in various commercials, live sports broadcasts, popular video games Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Grand Theft Auto; the band’s documentary film “KANSAS: Miracles Out of Nowhere,” and a guest appearance on The CW’s television show ‘Walker.’ The band’s songs have also been included in various television shows such as ‘Supernatural,’ ‘Reacher,’ ‘All Elite Wrestling,’ ‘South Park,’ ‘The Office,’ and ‘The Simpsons;’ as well as blockbuster films including ‘Old School,’ ‘The Suicide Squad,’ ‘Anchorman,’ ‘Pitch Perfect,’ and ‘Happy Gilmore.’ <hr />   <h5>38 SPECIAL</h5> After more than four decades, 38 SPECIAL continues to bring their signature blast of Southern Rock to over 100 cities a year. At each and every show, thousands of audience members are amazed by the explosive power of the band's performance. Their many Gold and Platinum album awards stand in testament to the endurance of a legendary powerhouse. With sales in excess of 20 million, most associate the band with their arena-rock pop smashes, “Hold On Loosely,” “Rockin’ Into the Night,” “Caught Up in You,” “Fantasy Girl,” “If I’d Been the One,” “Back Where You Belong,” “Chain Lightnin’,” “Second Chance,” and more – Timeless hits that remain a staple at radio, immediately recognizable from the first opening chord, and paving the way to their present-day touring regimen. Guitarist/vocalist DON BARNES says it's all about maintaining that intensity in their live shows. “We never wanted to be one of those bands that had maybe gotten a little soft or complacent over the years. We're a team, and it's always been kind of an unspoken rule that we don’t slack up, we stack up. We go out there every night to win.” Completing the team is bassist BARRY DUNAWAY, drummer GARY MOFFATT and keyboardist/vocalist BOBBY CAPPS. The most recent addition to the band is legendary virtuoso guitarist and vocalist JERRY RIGGS. For 38 Special onstage, it is a celebration of camaraderie and brotherhood, a precision unit bringing the dedication and honesty to a long history of classic songs, as well as surprisingly fresh new material. Since 1976, the band has released more than 15 albums. And from the start, they’ve toured relentlessly, bringing their signature brand of ‘muscle and melody’ to fans worldwide. It is that steely determination that lives on in the hearts of these ‘Wild-Eyed Southern Boys.' Barnes adds, "This music keeps our wheels on the road. We're a band that's tried to stay honest with what has driven us over the years. We started out with nothing but bold determination to make our own history and to endure. Looking back now, it has been our greatest pride to have persevered and attained that level of success and longevity. For us, it's the ultimate validation.” “The magic's still there,” adds Barnes. "It's an emotional high for us to keep 'bringing it' after all these years. When those lights go down and we all walk up those steps to the stage and hear that crowd roar, it’s a real rush to the head. It feels like we're getting ready to strap ourselves in and it just takes off from there." <a href="http://www.38special.com/">www.38Special.com</a> <hr />   <h5>THE OUTLAWS</h5> For The Outlaws, it’s always been about the music. For more than 40 years, the Southern Rock legends celebrated triumphs and endured tragedies to remain one of the most influential and best-loved bands of the genre. Today, The Outlaws have returned with new music, new focus, and an uncompromising new mission: It’s about a band of brothers bound together by history, harmony, and the road. It’s about a group that respects its own legacy while refusing to be defined by it’s past. But most of all, it’s about pride. It’s About Pridewas also the title of the band’s acclaimed 2012 album, universally hailed as their victorious comeback. “Because The Outlaws had been out of the public eye for so long, it was almost like starting over,” explains founding singer / songwriter / guitarist Henry Paul. “But because of the band’s history, we dig deeper, write better, perform stronger. Everything we do is to reinforce the notion that The Outlaws still matter, and that Southern Rock will always matter. It’s a message we’re proud to bring into the 21st century.” History lesson: Formed in Tampa in 1972, The Outlaws – known for their triple-guitar rock attack and three-part country harmonies – became one of the first acts signed by Clive Davis (at the urging of Ronnie Van Zant) to his then-fledgling Arista Records. The band’s first three albums The Outlaws, Lady In Waiting, and Hurry Sundown – featuring such rock radio favorites as ‘There Goes Another Love Song,’ ‘Green Grass & High Tides,’ ‘Knoxville Girl,’ and ‘Freeborn Man’ – would become worldwide gold and platinum landmarks of the Southern Rock era. Known as ‘The Florida Guitar Army’ by their fans, The Outlaws earned a formidable reputation as an incendiary live act touring with friends The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Marshall Tucker Band and The Charlie Daniels Band, as well as The Doobie Brothers, The Who, Eagles and The Rolling Stones. Henry Paul left after the group’s third album to form The Henry Paul Band for Atlantic Records, and later co-founded the multi-Platinum country trio BlackHawk. Over the next 20+ years, The Outlaws would experience rampant personnel changes, tonal missteps, ill-fated reunions, and bitter trademark battles that left fans, not to mention Paul, frustrated and saddened. And with the tragic deaths of co-founding members Frank O’Keefe and Billy Jones in 1995 and songwriter/vocalist/lead guitarist Hughie Thomasson in 2007, it was feared that The Outlaws’ trail had come to an end. When Henry Paul took leadership of the band in 2008, he firmly put The Outlaws back on a path both trusted and celebrated by longtime fans. “Audiences discovered that The Outlaws have something to say that is as engaging as when we began,” says Paul, “which is why every night when we perform, we give nothing less than everything we’ve got.” Along with founding member Paul, the band features several of Southern Rock’s most respected players: Keyboardist/vocalist Dave Robbins is a co-founding member of BlackHawk and has written hits for artists that include Restless Heart, Kenny Rogers and Eric Clapton. Longtime bassist/vocalist Randy Threet has performed with Trisha Yearwood, Pam Tillis, and BlackHawk, and is familiar to audiences from USA Network’s ‘Nashville Star.’ Lead guitarist Jimmy Dormire has played to millions with Confederate Railroad, Colonel Bruce Hampton, and The Luke Wheeler Band on the TV series Nashville. Drummer Michael Grando – who replaces the band’s retired / beloved co-founder Monte Yoho – has powered the beat for artists that include Joe Diffie, Jason Aldean, and Chris Knight. Vocalist / co-guitarist Jeff Aulich brings new fire to the band’s harmony arrangements and six-string pyrotechnics. The Outlaws have not only re-emerged as what fans now call ‘Southern Rock’s Last Band Standing,’ but as a dedicated band of brothers who still write, play and perform with the skill, grit, and fire of acts a fraction of their age. “I want the fans to see the band’s growth and recognize the quality of the music,” Henry says. “We’re focused on where we come from, where we’re headed and how much fun we’re still having on the ride.” As live performers, the band burns hotter than ever. “The Outlaws helped define Southern Rock for me and for generations of fans,” wrote music journalist Bill Robinson in The Huffington Post. “Seeing them onstage with The Charlie Daniels Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd or countless others was, for a long time, one of the best experiences I could have. And so it was again when I saw The Outlaws play recently.” The band’s concerts – vividly captured in their 2016 double album Legacy Live – are blazing 2+ hour tributes to the band’s rich history and fiery rebirth. Classic tracks and fan favorites from the first three albums – as well as The Henry Paul Band’s definitive ‘Grey Ghost’ – share the spotlight with songs from It’s About Pride and 2020’s acclaimed Dixie Highway that have been enthusiastically embraced by audiences. “I think our new material goes back to those three classic Outlaws albums, when the band was proud of its influences from country, blues and jazz,” says Paul. “Plus, Jimmy and Jeff have honored and maybe even stepped up the legacy of ‘The Guitar Army’. Our goal is to unite the fans and bring the band back into the light. It’s about finishing what we started.” For Henry, Dave, Randy, Jimmy, Michael, and Jeff, it’s also about a band of brothers who love playing their own brand of rock, and who 40+ years ago first got the chance to share it with the world. For The Outlaws, it’s still about the music. And now more than ever, it’s about pride. 2025-02-19 21:00:00 -0600
7/13

6:15 p.m.

McGrath Amphitheatre
Cedar Rapids

55
Foreigner with Cage Willis

With 10 multi-platinum albums and 16 Top 30 hits, FOREIGNER is universally hailed as one of the most popular rock acts in the world with a formidable musical arsenal that continues to propel sold-out tours and album sales, now exceeding 80 million. Responsible for some of rock and roll’s most enduring anthems including “Juke Box Hero,” “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “Urgent,” “Head Games,” “Say You Will,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Long, Long Way From Home” and the worldwide #1 hit, “I Want To Know What Love Is,” FOREIGNER still rocks the charts almost 50 years into the game with massive airplay and continued Billboard album chart success. Audio and video streams of FOREIGNER’s hits exceed 15 million per week. With more Top 10 songs than Journey and as many as Fleetwood Mac, FOREIGNER also features strongly in every category in Billboard’s “Greatest of All Time” listing. At times, the band’s weekly catalog sales have eclipsed those of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Def Leppard, Van Halen, Aerosmith and most of their Classic Rock peers (Source: Nielsen SoundScan). FOREIGNER‘s catalog sales were recently celebrated in Business Insider as hitting the Top 40 among the Best Selling Music Artists of All Time. Founded in 1976, FOREIGNER‘s debut album produced the hits “Feels Like The First Time,” “Cold As Ice” and “Long, Long Way From Home.” The album Double Vision followed, as did a string of hits including “Urgent,” “Juke Box Hero” and “Waiting For A Girl Like You.” Those songs helped give FOREIGNER‘s next album, 4, its impressive run at #1 on the Billboard chart. At the zenith of 80’s sound, FOREIGNER‘s fifth album, Agent Provocateur, gave the world the incredible #1 global hit,” I Want To Know What Love Is.” This musical milestone followed the record- breaking song “Waiting For A Girl Like You.”   <hr />   <h5>About Cage Willis</h5>   Genre bending, Alternative Outlaw, Southern Rock artist Cage Willis breaks all the rules with his debut album, Who I Am. Like dynamite drenched in gasoline, Who I Am delivers an undeniably explosive listening experience. Willis’ powerfully honest vocal, attitude fueled guitar playing, and inspirational songwriting will have you immersed in an instant. The debut album, produced by hit songwriter Chris Robertson of Black Stone Cherry, will leave your soul overflowing. A beautifully balanced masterpiece of modern tones paired with classic southern flavor. Follow Cage on social media for updates on new music, tour dates, and more! 2025-02-19 21:00:00 -0600
8/11

7:30 p.m.

McGrath Amphitheatre
Cedar Rapids

36

McGrath Amphitheatre

McGrath Amphitheatre Description

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Upcoming Events at McGrath Amphitheatre

Alison Krauss & Union Station

Justin Moore & Joe Nichols

Blues Traveler & Gin Blossoms with Spin Doctors

Kansas & .38 Special with Outlaws

Foreigner with Cage Willis