Darius Rucker’s long-awaited concert was held Wednesday night, April 5, 2017, in Colonial Life Arena amid severe weather and flash floods. Despite the hazardous conditions, about 10,000 people came out to see Rucker and a host of surprise guests.
After an exhausting 10 minutes of Gamecock Athletics celebration, Rucker took the stage. Wearing a Final Four hat and Gamecock T-shirt, Rucker kicked off his set with a few of his popular solo hits like “Radio” and “Southern State of Mind.”
“Here I am, people,” Rucker said, before kicking off into an hour-long set that spanned his career with the Blowfish to his forthcoming album. Rucker broke up his songs with gushings of pride for the Gamecocks and memories of the campus and Five Points (where he got the inspiration for “Let Her Cry”) and even invited more guests onto the stage — Hootie and The Blowfish member Mark Bryan and Gamecock great Connor Shaw.
Although the turnout was huge, many students were unable to make it due to the flash flooding that affected the Whaley/Olympia areas of Columbia and many more. But for those that attended, no one seemed upset that the show had gone on.
Rucker himself sent out an apology to fans missing the show. “I’m so sorry,” he said repeatedly. Rucker did look on the positive side and noted that the cancellation of afternoon classes allowed for an “awesome pregame."
Apocalyptic weather aside, the night was filled with lots of music, lots of Gamecock pride and a Keith Urban lookalike that kicked the whole night off with an electric guitar rendition of the national anthem — it was a night to remember.
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