Hootie & The Blowfish announce plans for concert in Columbia

Noah Feit

Hootie & The Blowfish are coming home ... again.

On Monday, the group that formed when the members were students at the University of South Carolina in the 1980s announced it will perform in Columbia in 2024.

Hootie & The Blowfish will return to the stage at Colonial Life Arena on Aug. 29, when its “Summer Camp With Trucks Tour,” stops in Columbia. The group includes Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim ‘Soni’ Sonefeld.

“Hootie is getting back on the road!!” the band said on social media.

Darius Rucker and Jim Sonefeld perform with Hootie and the Blowfish during the first of three shows in their hometown during their “Group Therapy Tour” at Colonial Life Arena Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. The band, on hiatus since 2008, formed in 1986 while the members attended the University of South Carolina.
Darius Rucker and Jim Sonefeld perform with Hootie and the Blowfish during the first of three shows in their hometown during their “Group Therapy Tour” at Colonial Life Arena Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. The band, on hiatus since 2008, formed in 1986 while the members attended the University of South Carolina.

This is the band’s first appearance in Columbia since a three-night stay in 2019 as part of the “Group Therapy Tour.” But Hootie & The Blowfish’s roots in Columbia go deeper, dating to the 1980s when the then-college band was playing gigs at frat houses and bars in Five Points.

Tickets for the 2024 concert might be a little more expensive then back in the old days, and exact prices have not been released.

Tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday at 10 a.m. at ticketmaster.com, but multiple presale events will be held beginning Tuesday.

Any tickets that are still available after Friday can be purchased at the Colonial Life Arena box office on Nov. 14.

Hootie & The Blowfish will be joined on the tour by fellow veteran rockers Collective Soul as well as fellow South Carolina native Edwin McCain.

“I’m thrilled to announce I’ll be on the Summer Camp With Trucks Tour 2024 with my great friends Hootie & The Blowfish and Collective Soul!” McCain said on social media. He’s best known for his hit single “I’ll Be.”

Georgia rock band Collective Soul, known for songs “Shine,” “December,” and “The World I Know,” among other hits issued a similar statement, saying “We are beyond excited to announce we will be joining the Summer Camp With Trucks Tour 2024 with Hootie & The Blowfish and Edwin McCain!”

Hootie & the Blowfish perform during the first of three shows in their hometown as part of their “Group Therapy Tour” at Colonial Life Arena Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. The band, on hiatus since 2008, formed in 1986 while the members attended the University of South Carolina.
Hootie & the Blowfish perform during the first of three shows in their hometown as part of their “Group Therapy Tour” at Colonial Life Arena Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. The band, on hiatus since 2008, formed in 1986 while the members attended the University of South Carolina.

The “Summer Camp With Trucks Tour,” includes two performances in North Carolina in September, but the Columbia show is the only scheduled stop in South Carolina.

Hootie & the Blowfish hit it big when the 1994 album “Cracked Rear View” went platinum 21 times. More than 10 million copies of “Cracked Rear View” have been sold and it remains one of the best-selling albums of all time and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1995.

In the early 2000s, the group went on hiatus, and Rucker became an award-winning country music star, and a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

While they continued to make appearances and play together as Hootie & The Blowfish, it wasn’t until 2019 that the band launched a full-scale reunion tour and their first new album in 14 years.

Darius Rucker performs with Hootie and the Blowfish during the first of three shows in their hometown as part of their “Group Therapy Tour” at Colonial Life Arena Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. The band, on hiatus since 2008, formed in 1986 while the members attended the University of South Carolina.
Darius Rucker performs with Hootie and the Blowfish during the first of three shows in their hometown as part of their “Group Therapy Tour” at Colonial Life Arena Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. The band, on hiatus since 2008, formed in 1986 while the members attended the University of South Carolina.

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