Falling into place

On Saturday the Show Me Center will kick off its 20th anniversary season with a comedy and music concert by none other country-style funny man Rodney Carrington.

Beware, this concert is for mature audiences only.

But the venue recently announced two other big concerts this fall: blues legend Buddy Guy on Nov. 11 followed by pop-rock superstar band Daughtry on Nov. 15.

This got us thinking: Is this a trend? Is fall just a busier, better time for Show Me Center concerts?

After all, fall was a big season last year, when Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood kicked off the season.

Turns out, there's no trend. While fall is a desirable time to book concerts with students coming back to campus, it isn't necessarily always busy. Here's a look at the fall season, according to Southeast Missourian archives, since 2000. For our purposes, fall coincides with the Southeast Missouri State University academic semester, August through the end of December.

2000

Kennett, Mo., native and music world superstar Sheryl Crow made a return to her home region in December 2000. She performed before 2,996 people, a far-from-sellout total. Hers was the only concert of the fall that year.

2001

In 2001, it was a dry fall at the Show Me Center. No major acts performed at the venue.

2002

In 2002, the story was much the same. One exception was country music singer Neal McCoy, who performed before 1,570 people on his Christmas tour that December.

2003

In 2003, the fall started out with a concert by ZOEgirl. The contemporary Christian group played to some amount of people, we just couldn't find a crowd count in the Southeast Missourian coverage of the event.

Unlike previous years, the fall of 2003 was actually packed with concerts, in more than one genre. Following ZOEgirl, Montgomery Gentry performed in October, followed by Nickelback, Trapt and Three Days Grace the following night. In December, Matchbox Twenty performed with Fountains of Wayne. Three Doors Down and Brooks and Dunn followed in the spring.

2004

The fall of 2004 started with what would over the next few years become a Cape Girardeau tradition when the Trans-Siberian Orchestra played its first local show to an audience of about 4,300 (sell-out level is about 7,000). It was the only Show Me Center concert that fall.

2005

2005 was a little better, with three big-name musical acts coming through the Show Me Center starting in early October. Alison Krauss and Union Station kicked the season off with their bluegrass hybrid, followed later that month by Willie Nelson and Trans-Siberian Orchestra's second Cape performance in November.

2006

Things looked bleak to start out fall 2006, but quickly improved, as the Show Me Center booked a string of concerts from October through November that year.

Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and Jake Owen opened up the fall in October, followed by TSO's last Cape performance, the GAC Country Christmas Tour and, finally, Rick Springfield's benefit concert for Sahara Aldridge.

Sara Evans and Radney Foster just missed the cut, appearing in January.