Fourth Annual Hootie & The Blowfish “Homegrown Concert”
Over 6,700 Fans Set Concert Attendance Record at Family Circle Magazine Stadium

Hootie & The Blowfish fans arrived on Daniel Island very early on Friday, August 18th, 2006 to begin a day of serious tailgating for the fourth annual “Homegrown Concert” held that evening in Family Circle Magazine Stadium.  Seven Farms Drive and every available parking lot near the stadium was filed with fans of all ages who could be seen grilling food and having a great time as they waited for the night’s event to arrive. As they made their way to the main entrance of the Family Circle Tennis Center, fans dropped off hundreds of bags of school supplies to be donated to the Charleston County School District, filling an entire school bus for the fourth straight year in a row.

Opening act Gin Blossoms kicked off the show at 8pm as they took the stage in front of thousands of fans who rushed to enter the grounds of the Family Circle Tennis Center to see a high-powered rock band kick off the evening as the sun set over this island town. The weather was perfect as the knowledgeable crowd sang along with hit after hit including several tracks from their August 8th release “Major Lodge Victory”, including the new single “Learning the Hard Way”. After forty five minutes of rocking the house, their set concluded with the crowd on its feet cheering for more.

After a thirty minute break, the stadium went dark as the voice of Samuel Jackson filled the record setting sold-out stadium packed with over 6.700 fans with a specially recorded intro presenting Hootie & The Blowfish to the crowd with a spectacular display of light and sound that brought the crowd to a deafening roar. Opening with fan favorite “Soup Song”, the night came alive for the next two hours with classic Hootie hits such as “Hold My Hand”, “I Go Blind”, and “Let Her Cry”. Just as the night seemed that it couldn’t get any better, the Gin Blossoms joined Darius Rucker and the boys as they performed “Keep Your Hands to Yourself”, which nearly everyone in attendance sang along to. Charleston’s favorite sons chose the often featured “Killing Stone” as their curtain call during the third and final encore of the evening before the lights came on and thousands of satisfied fans poured out of the grounds of the Family Circle Tennis Center, many talking about the great night they just enjoyed as the best Hootie show they’ve seen to date.

The multi-platinum quartet of Hootie & The Blowfish consists of Mark Bryan, guitars, mandolin, background vocals; Dean Felber, bass guitar, background vocals; Darius Rucker, lead vocals, guitar and Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, drums, percussion, background vocals. More information about Hootie & The Blowfish can be found at their official website http://www.hootie.com/.

The Gin Blossoms consist of Scott Johnson (rhythm guitar), Bill Leen (bass), Jesse Valenzuela (guitar & vocals), and Robin Wilson (lead vocalist). More information about Gin Blossoms can be found at their official website http://www.ginblossoms.net/.
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