We are now officially halfway to Halfway.
The inaugural Halfway to Halfway to Everywhere concert welcomed music lovers from near and far Saturday to the Granada Theatre where a familiar face took to the stage.
Mike Silverman, known professionally as That 1 Guy, returned to Emporia after being one of the featured performers at the inaugural Halfway to Everywhere Music and Arts Festival in 2019. Silverman, who has pre-existing ties to the local community, was ecstatic to be back in Emporia.
Silverman, a Las Vegas-based musician, began his one-man show over 20 years ago by creating a one-of-a-kind instrument with tubing, string and sensors to bring a unique sound to the stage. He would later incorporate magic into the act to create what has been described as a “psychedelic mind-bending audio-visual show.”
Silverman says combining music with magic made sense to him as they are two art forms that lend themselves perfectly to one another.
Silverman says his show is continuously evolving saying he originally developed it to challenge himself as an artist.
Before the evening’s main performance, H2E Inc founder Hank Osterhout made some important announcements regarding changes to this year’s festival. This includes the concert no longer being a free event, largely due to sustainability, safety and tracking purposes.
Additionally, the festival will be expanded to a two-day event between September 6th and 7th with the Granada Theatre hosting concerts Friday night and serving as the main hub for VIPs on Saturday. The festival will also see a change in locations this year moving from the 600 and 700 blocks of Commercial and 10 block of West Seventh to the 1000 block of Commercial thanks to a partnership with Champions Landing Owner Jeremy Rusco and the 800 and 900 blocks of Commercial.
Osterhout also announced a presale for event tickets which will go online starting Tuesday with tickets at a significant discount. Tickets will be a third of their face value with three price increases between now and the festival.
For more information on the event schedule, upcoming artists or tickets visit H2EFest.org.
Click here for a video of Saturday’s performance.
Photos by Tagan Trahoon/KVOE NewsÂ
