Taylor Swift is coming to Moline’s Spotlight Theatre.
Well, not the real global pop star, but some of her biggest hits will be played by a string quartet as part of the worldwide Candlelight Concerts. The intimate, extraordinary, dazzling events usually feature 3,000 LED candles throughout the theater, Spotlight co-owner Brent Tubbs said Wednesday.
On Friday, Jan. 12, the Listeso String Quartet will play the music of Coldplay at 6:30 p.m. and music of Taylor Swift at 8:45 p.m. in the former Scottish Rite Cathedral, 1800 7th Ave., Moline.
Candlelight Concerts reached out to Spotlight to rent the theater for its unique programs, Tubbs said.
“They’re all over the world. The last time I looked, I think it said they perform in 120 different cities all over the world,” he said, noting that includes Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Chicago.
“They just kind of look for unique spaces that would look cool with all the candles,” Tubbs said.
At the Spotlight, the concerts have all been string quartets — the first one was held in October (Halloween themed), the second in November (all Vivaldi), and last one in December (with holiday music). The first and third were completely sold out (over 500 tickets sold), Tubbs said.
“I highly anticipate that Coldplay and Taylor Swift will be completely sold out as well,” he said.
You need not be concerned about any safety hazards — instead of using actual candles to provide light, they use flameless candles.
“I mean, it is incredible when you walk in,” Tubbs said of the atmosphere. “They spend all day setting them up and they have to go up the aisles and surround the musicians and they’re just all over. They say that’s the only light they want on all night long. So we don’t even have to turn the lights on for them. They just show up, set the candles up and yeah, it’s incredible.”
“The acoustics in there when they’re out there playing, it’s just awesome,” he added.
The Jan. 12 shows will not feature a vocalist, but string arrangements of the pop hits.
“I’m really curious to see how this one goes, because I’ve heard when they do these kind of more popular ones, sometimes audiences will sing along,” Tubbs (who owns Spotlight with his wife Sara) said. “You kind of get a mix of people who want to just kind of sit and listen to the music, but then you also get people that are singing along to it. So it’s always an interesting mix of audiences for these shows. Like Sara and I are huge Coldplay fans, so we can’t wait for that one.”
In 2019, Fever (a European company) made headlines when they introduced the concept of candlelight concerts. The idea is to host an event of a local or a well-known talented musician in a dimly-lit indoor environment to create a very personal and memorable concert experience for the attendees, says a review at musthaveclassicalmusic.com.
“The idea was an enormous success, mainly owing to the attention to detail that went into every concert, as well as the reasonable pricing,” the review said. “However, these concerts are fairly uncommon and if you miss a concert near you, it might be quite some time before another one is hosted.
The tentative program for the Jan. 12 Taylor Swift program is:
- “Lavender Haze”
- “Love Story”
- “Cardigan”
- “Blank Space”
- “Enchanted”
- “Anti-Hero”
- “Snow on the Beach”
- “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”
- “Wildest Dreams”
- “Lover”
- “I Knew You Were Trouble”
- “You Belong With Me”
- “Shake It Off”
Spotlight plans to schedule more Candlelight Concerts in February and March, and Fever has roughly 100 musical programs from which to choose.
“I will say like they’re marketing geniuses, the way they do it and they have it down to a science of — if we do this program this time, we should do this program that after that,” Tubbs said.
The Spotlight concert admission starts at $33, and tickets are available HERE.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sMHRqqyanJOewaqx0meaqKVfo7K4v46lppyZnGK7psPSaJirrKNirq%2BwjJyspaylp7Jwsc2jprJlpJbGrbvRZqqwoZapeqq6jJyYp5ycmrmqs8etZJqsXai9sMDLop6hrF8%3D