YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Demand is high for tickets to the Rascal Flatts reunion tour, and the fact that it includes a Youngstown stop speaks well of the city’s strength as a country-music market.

The supergroup will play Covelli Centre on Saturday, March 8, as part of its “Life Is a Highway” tour. The show sold out in one day, and resale tickets are mostly in the $300 range.

The 21-city tour is playing a lot of secondary markets, and a few major cities such as Columbus, Orlando, Fla., and Fort Worth, Texas.

Covelli Centre is almost certainly the smallest building on the tour.

“It’s a feather in the cap of the Youngstown community and also JAC Management,” said Ken Bigley, COO and vice president of JAC, which manages Covelli Centre.

The decision to route the tour – which is being handled by Live Nation – through Youngstown is no accident, he said.

“A lot of those buildings have 15,000 to 20,000 seats, which is three times the size of Covelli,” Bigley said. The rest are in the 12,000-seat range.

Interest was strong from the moment the reunion tour was announced. The tour is playing two other Ohio cities: Columbus and Toledo.

“Rascal Flatts is from Columbus, so obviously the state is a hot spot,” Bigley said.

The band could have played nothing but pro hockey or basketball arenas but didn’t. Bigley said it appears the band is hitting a mix of markets that they not only like to play but make sense financially.

The act last played Youngstown in 2013 at Covelli Centre. 

“Youngstown has always loved Rascal Flatts,” Bigley said. “Coming back from a five-year hiatus, there had to have been consideration of buildings they had to play for sponsorship or contractual reasons. There is some give and take, but I would say that Youngstown was handpicked.”

The March 8 concert sold out in 24 hours. “It was stronger than everyone was thinking,” Bigley said. “You could sense the excitement of fans. It’s just a big day for the area.”

Because it’s a Saturday, he expects crowds to show up early and party and dine in downtown bars and breweries.

The Band

Rascal Flatts announced its breakup and final tour in 2019 after 20 years. However, the pandemic forced the cancellation of the tour.

The band announced its reunion in October and the upcoming 25-year anniversary tour.

Rascal Flatts consists of cousins Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus of Columbus and Joe Don Rooney.

The band was named Vocal Group of the Year by the Country Music Association for six consecutive years in the 2000s and won the American Music Award for Artist of the Year in 2006. The band was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2011.

In January, Rascal Flatts and the Jonas Brothers teamed up to release the single “I Dare You.”

“We’re so excited to kick off this next chapter of Rascal Flatts with this single,” DeMarcus said in a press release. “Working with Kevin, Joe and Nick [Jonas] is such a blast. I think this song fits perfectly into our catalog while also showing off something new and exciting, and we can’t wait to share it with our fans on the road.” 

Joining Rascal Flatts as opening acts on the tour are Lauren Alaina and Chris Lane.

Pictured at top: Rascal Flatts is Joe Don Rooney, Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus.