40 Years of College, shown in a recent concert, will play a fundraising concert for The Crump Theatre this weekend.
Photo provided
The local docs who rock, people by day dedicated to medical charts but with enough talent for the music charts, make their first return to the Columbus stage in at least five years at 7 p.m. Saturday at The Crump Theatre in downtown Columbus.
Tickets are $15 for general admission, and $25 for VIP, including a venue tour.
And the good doctors, three of whom still make up the heart of the 40 Years of College pop-rock band, also will return to more of their original material that comprised the 1998 album “Long Way to New York City.” The group expects to include in concert perhaps six cuts from that disc.
“Frequently, we play maybe only one song live from that album,” said drummer Kevin Welsh of the songs penned by guitarist/vocalist Dr. Roy Goode. “But since we haven’t performed in Columbus in a fairly long time, I thought it would be pretty cool to do more of Roy’s originals.”
Welsh is building a setlist that will include Paul Simon, Heart, Tom Petty, Carly Simon, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and more for the show that stretches, with intermission, to 10 p.m. The event is a fundraiser for the continuing refurbishment of The Crump, coordinated by Jessica Schnepp, the venue’s project manager.
The band, sometimes best known for its multiple performances opening the Our Hospice of South Central Indiana concert before thousands, has played benefits at The Crump in 2011 and at other times. Members besides Welsh and family doctor Goode are ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. Tony Sanders, retired pediatrician Dr. David Larson, Becky Burbrink and Robert Caudell. The group is among the longest continuing local ensembles, dating to 1994.
In fact, in the pre-cellphone mid ’90s, the band’s rehearsals featured medical beepers harmonizing with tunes such as “Anticipation” and “I Feel the Earth Move,” according to The Republic archives.
“We consider our practices a boys’ night out,” Good said in 2022.
Except now, with added female powerhouse vocalist Burbrink, the band features added artist gender versatility, just as it did in part of the 1990s when longtime local vocalist Janie Gordon added Shania Twain, Carole King, and other tunes to the ensemble’s repertoire.
Welsh hopes Saturday’s concertgoers can gain an “added appreciation for the lengthy and expensive process of renovations at The Crump,” as Welsh put it. “I hope that people realize that they don’t have donations of big amounts such as $5 million at a time or anything like that.”
About the show
Who: 40 Years of College in concert.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday.
Where: The Crump Theatre, 425 Third St. in downtown Columbus.
Admission: $15 general admission and $25 VIP.
