Singer-songwriter Ari Hest will perform Sunday in a union between Ohio University and an Uptown establishment.
Hest will perform at 8 p.m. downstairs at The Blue Gator, 63 N. Court St. Tickets are $3, and the show is open to all ages. Tamara Bedricky is opening for Hest.
The University Program Council is sponsoring the event, which looks to be the first of a number of partnerships with The Blue Gator.
UPC concert co-chair Maggie Brown said she saw Hest perform at The Feeling Better than Everfine Festival in Cleveland and also saw a lot of OU students there. UPC decided on him because he played in Cincinnati and was moving through the area, and also because people sent e-mails requesting a Hest performance to the UPC concert account.
His music is acoustic and the sing-along stuff
she said. He has a similar style to John Mayer and is touring colleges right now.
She said they chose The Blue Gator for the type of music Hest plays. The Front Room was too small of a venue, and using the Baker Center Ballroom would lose the intimacy that The Blue Gator provides.
Public Relations Director Lee Freedman said UPC is planning smaller shows right now and said the intimate setting of The Blue Gator will be a good atmosphere. He said they have worked with The Blue Gator owner, Joel Schechtman, before with catering events. UPC also is trying to organize a non-smoking event in the future at the venue.
We're trying to develop a relationship with them he said.
Curtis Manley, entertainment director for The Blue Gator, said UPC contacted them with the show idea and wanted to move the event off-campus to the more entertainment-central area of Court Street. He said they look forward to working with UPC again.
This opens doors for The Blue Gator and hopefully the UPC as well Manley said.
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Megan Chew
