The Old Friends Acoustic Tour

The Old Friends Acoustic Tour is a 2020, 2023, and 2024 concert tour from American singer-songwriter Ben Rector. The original tour, featuring Cody Fry, was slated to perform throughout the first half of 2020, but enforced lockdowns amidst the growing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States saw the tour cancelled after 4 performances, compromising 12 concerts. The tour was later revived in 2023 featuring Jordy Searcy and Stephen Day, performing an additional 27 concerts. Two additional dates were performed in October 2024. The concert is named after Rector's single "Old Friends".

The Old Friends Acoustic Tour

Tour by Ben Rector
2023 poster
Location	United States
Start date	February 27, 2020
End date	December 1, 2023
Legs	3
No. of shows	33
Ben Rector concert chronology

Having missed his acoustic performances from his college years, Rector headlined the Old Friends Acoustic Tour to perform laid-back, stripped versions of his music. The concert would feature music mainly from his two albums prior, Magic and Brand New. Following enforced national lockdowns and the cancellation of the tour, he would find the open schedule relieving and would rework his upcoming album The Joy of Music in the meantime, among other releases. Some of his new music he released since 2020 would be featured in the 2023 revival.

Background

2020 poster

When Ben Rector was in college, he would tour with just an acoustic guitar, an experience he missed.^[1] Rector announced the tour in November 2019; the tour was designed to perform stripped versions of his songs, mainly those from 2018's Magic and 2015's Brand New, with a more relaxed atmosphere.^[2] The tour featured Cody Fry.^[3] In January 2020 he recorded the songs for his upcoming album following Magic, and began touring for the concert the following late February.^[4] At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading in the United States, and national lockdowns started to take effect, enforcing stay-at-home orders. Most entertainment fields were impacted around the same time. Rector had just flown to Dallas, Texas to perform at the Majestic Theatre that night, but was forced to return home in Nashville, Tennessee.^[5] Attempts to postpone dates failed, and he ultimately cancelled the tour in August 2020. The following September, he held a pay-per-view livestream of the concert.^[6][7]

Although he was disappointed about the tour being cancelled he found the lack of a schedule to be liberating for him creatively. The day after flying home he immediately wrote "It Would Be You" via voice memos during quarantine with record producer John Fields.^[8] With the free time, he would re-write and re-record most his next album from scratch,^[4] as well as release A Ben Rector Christmas among other singles.^[9] Meanwhile, Fry returned to production work; shortly afterward his song "I Hear a Symphony" from the 2017 album Flying became a viral hit on the social media platform TikTok, helping advance his career.^[3]

The tour was revived in 2023, with musicians Jordy Searcy Stephen Day, and Austin Goodloe.^[1][10] The new tour received a new set, updated to include songs from The Joy of Music and Rector's single "Range Rover".^[11] He cites The Old Friends Acoustic Tour as his favorite tour to perform.^[6]

Setlist

2020 tour

The following setlist was obtained from the concert held on February 28, 2020, at The Magnolia in El Cajon, California. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.

1. "You've Got a Friend in Me"
   (Randy Newman cover)
2. "Crazy"
3. "Never Gonna Let You Go" / "My Girl"
   (The Temptations cover)
4. "When a Heart Breaks"
5. "Let the Good Times Roll"
6. "When I'm With You"
7. "Loving You is Easy"
8. "Note to Self"
9. "Paris"
10. "The Men That Drive Me Places"
11. "Duo"
12. "Old Friends"
13. "Brand New"
14. "Sailboat"

2023 tour

The following setlist was obtained from the concert held on March 29, 2023, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.^[11]

1. "When I'm With You"
2. "Sunday"
3. "Living My Best Life"
4. "When a Heart Breaks"
5. "Forever Like That"
6. "Let the Good Times Roll"
7. "It's a Great Day to Be Alive"
   (Darrell Scott cover)
8. "30,000 Feet"
9. "Old Friends" / "Forever Young"
   (Alphaville cover)
10. "Love Like This"
11. "The Men That Drive Me Places"
12. "Kiss the Girl" / "Under the Sea" / "Part of Your World"
    (Alan Menken and Howard Ashman cover)
13. "Brand New"
14. "Range Rover"

Tour dates

Opening act Jordy Searcy performing at the tour, 2024

Ben Rector performing at the tour, 2024

Ben Rector (left) performing with Austin Goodloe (center) and Jordy Searcy, 2024

Ben Rector (left) with Austin Goodloe (right), 2024

Austin Goodloe performing at the tour, 2024

2020 tour

Dates performed

Date	City	Venue
North America
February 27, 2020	Riverside, California	Fox Performing Arts Center[12]
February 28, 2020	El Cajon, California	The Magnolia[13]
March 6, 2020	Denver, Colorado	Paramount Theatre[14]
March 7, 2020	Rexburg, Idaho	BYU-Idaho's Center Stage[15]

Dates cancelled

Date	City	Venue	Reason
North America
March 13, 2020	Dallas, Texas	Majestic Theatre[16]	COVID-19 pandemic
March 18, 2020	Nashville, Tennessee	Ryman Auditorium[17]
March 20, 2020	Little Rock, Arkansas	Robinson Center Stage[18]
March 27, 2020	Minneapolis, Minnesota	State Theatre[19]
March 28, 2020	Chicago, Illinois	Athenaeum Theatre[20]
April 4, 2020	Boston, Massachusetts	Boch Center[21]
April 9, 2020	Charlotte, North Carolina	North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center[22]
April 10, 2020	Atlanta, Georgia	Atlanta Symphony Hall
April 17, 2020	Greenville, North Carolina	Peace Center[23]
April 18, 2020	Birmingham, Alabama	Alabama Theatre[24]
April 23, 2020	College Station, Texas	Rudder Auditorium[25]
May 1, 2020	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Fountain Street Church[26]

2023 tour

Date	City	Venue
North America
March 9, 2023	Seattle, Washington	Moore Theatre[1]
March 10, 2023	Portland, Oregon	Keller Auditorium[1]
March 16, 2023	San Antonio, Texas	Majestic Theatre[1]
March 17, 2023	Fort Worth, Texas	Will Rogers Memorial Center[1]
March 24, 2023	Grand Rapids, Michigan	GLC Live at 20 Monroe[1]
March 25, 2023	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Riverside Theater[1]
March 29, 2023	Nashville, Tennessee	Ryman Auditorium[1]
April 14, 2023	Athens, Georgia	Classic Center[1]
April 15, 2023	Greenville, South Carolina	Peace Center Concert Hall[1]
April 21, 2023	Durham, North Carolina	Durham Performing Arts Center[1]
April 27, 2023	Little Rock, Arkansas	Robinson Center[1]
April 28, 2023	Tulsa, Oklahoma	Tulsa Theater[1]
May 5, 2023	Wichita, Kansas	Cotillion Ballroom[1]
May 6, 2023	Denver, Colorado	Paramount Theatre[1]
October 7, 2023	Sandy, Utah	Sandy Amphitheater[27]
October 13, 2023	Saratoga, California	Mountain Winery Amphitheater[28]
October 14, 2023	San Diego, California	Humphreys Concerts by the Bay[29]
October 19, 2023	Chesterfield, Missouri	The Factory Theatre[30]
October 20, 2023	Kansas City, Missouri	Midland Theatre[31]
November 3, 2023	Cincinnati, Ohio	Aronoff Center[32]
November 4, 2023	Detroit, Michigan	Fox Theatre[33]
November 9, 2023	Louisville, Kentucky	The Kentucky Center[34]
November 10, 2023	Knoxville, Tennessee	Tennessee Theatre[35]
November 17, 2023	Orlando, Florida	Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts[36]
November 18, 2023	Clearwater, Florida	Ruth Eckerd Hall[37]
November 30, 2023	Austin, Texas	The Moody Theater[38]
December 1, 2023	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	The Criterion[39]

2024 tour

Date	City	Venue
North America
October 11, 2024	Waco, Texas	Magnolia Silos
October 12, 2024	Orlando, Florida	Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

See also

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the music industry
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage
• The Biggest Tour I Have Done So Far Tour