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We now know what the first concert at Longwood University’s new Joan Perry Brock Center will be. Oliver Anthony will be returning home to Farmville for one of his next concerts. The Prince Edward County resident announced Wednesday that he will be performing on Saturday, Oct. 28 in the new Joan Perry Brock Center on Longwood University’s campus. The show is set for 7:30 p.m. 

“This one’s going to be close to Halloween and we may or may not have gotten a gorilla suit,” Anthony wrote on his Facebook page. “I’ll leave it at that. If you want to bring a costume, no one is going to stop you.” 

The goal was to fit one last show in before a new addition to the family comes next month, Anthony wrote. 

“I had to squeeze in one more show before our baby boy comes,” Anthony wrote. “And there’s no place like home.” 

Anthony’s wife is set to give birth at the beginning of November. 

The concert announcement comes less than two weeks after Anthony signed a new booking deal with United Talent Agency Nashville. 

UTA represents a wide range of musicians, including everyone from Cardi B to the Jonas Brothers, Lil Nas X to Guns N’ Roses and Post Malone.

“I am pleased to announce that I hired two gentlemen in Nashville this week to help me with creating the 2024 tour,” Anthony wrote on his Facebook page on Sept. 22. “We’re going to be all over the US, and even doing some international travel. There’s no way I can pull that off by myself. Curt and Jeffery at UTA do all the legwork to make the performances happen safely and professionally.” 

Where can I get Oliver Anthony tickets? 

But then there’s the big question. How can we buy tickets to the event? The answer is coming later this week, but Longwood students get the first shot. A pool of 250 discounted tickets will be made available for Longwood students on a first-come, first-serve basis. Those go on sale Thursday, Oct. 5, beginning at 10 a.m. Understandably, the university is limiting tickets to just one per student. 

For the rest of us, the public will have a chance to buy beginning on Friday, Oct. 6 at 10 a.m. The cost of those tickets will be $25 each and you’ll be able to buy them on oliveranthonymusic.com. 

What is the Joan Perry Brock Center?

Opening its doors on Friday, Aug. 25, the Joan Perry Brock Center will be home to Longwood basketball and serve as a central community gathering spot for concerts like this one, along with performance arts events, and Longwood traditions. Basketball games will seat more than 3,000 fans, while concerts and other performances can accommodate more than 4,000.  That’s definitely the case here, with more than 4,000 tickets set to go on sale. And this is set to be the first of many such events at the facility, school officials say.

“One of the main goals of the new Joan Perry Brock Center is to draw to campus a broad range of performers that will appeal to our students and folks across our region,” said Longwood spokesman Matt McWilliams. “We’re excited that one of the arena’s first shows will welcome a hometown musician whose distinctive sound and voice have resonated so widely. Stay tuned for more announcements soon about a variety of other performers and events who will be coming to Farmville.”

That had been a promise made at the very beginning. During the ribbon cutting on Aug. 25, Longwood President W. Taylor Reveley IV said concerts and shows would take place throughout the year, whenever the school’s basketball teams aren’t playing. The Center will host its first basketball games on Nov. 11 and 12 during Homecoming Weekend. You can follow along as more events pop up by clicking here.