Sawyer Brown opens a short fall run at Walker's Bluff next Thursday

The country veterans play the resort's 1,200-seat Event Center in Carterville on Nov. 5, the first of four dates on their late-year calendar.

Next Thursday, Southern Illinois gets the first night of something. Sawyer Brown plays the Event Center at Walker's Bluff Casino Resort in Carterville on Thursday, November 5, at 8 p.m. It's the first of four dates the band has listed for the rest of the year, before Nashville on November 13, Louisville on November 14 and Tempe on December 12.

Everything you need is on the resort's event page. Tickets are listed at $60.63, $76.71, $87.44 and $98.16, sold through the resort's box office site. There's an easy way to save a little: the $7 fee is waived if you buy in person at the Café at 22 & Vine inside the resort. Doors open an hour before showtime, so 7 p.m., and ADA seating is available. The address is 777 Walkers Bluff Way.

One thing to check before you bring anyone young. The resort's ticket page says all ages are welcome, with 21 or older required to gamble. If you're bringing a teenager, call the box office to confirm before you buy.

A band that usually plays rooms near 2,000 is playing for 1,200 seats in Carterville.

The room is a big part of why this one's worth it. Our data has Sawyer Brown usually headlining rooms of about 2,000. The Walker's Bluff Event Center seats 1,200. That's a smaller and closer show than the band normally plays, in a seated room where nobody is fighting for a view.

The Event Center has made a habit of these nights. The resort's own page lists national headliners like Rick Springfield, .38 Special and The Oak Ridge Boys on that stage, so Sawyer Brown is in good company. If you've been to one of those, you know how it goes: you find your seat and the band comes on with no fuss.

For Carbondale-area country fans, the drive is the selling point. Carterville is a short trip, not a road trip to Nashville or St. Louis, and on a Thursday that makes the difference between going and skipping it. Make a night of it at the resort if you like, or just park, go in, and enjoy the show.

Opening night also matters. Sawyer Brown starts this short run in Carterville before taking the same show to Nashville and Louisville a week later, so Southern Illinois gets it first.

Buy at the café, skip the fee, settle the age question with a phone call, and be in your seat by eight next Thursday.

Sources: Sawyer Brown – Walker's Bluff Casino Resort (walkersbluffcasinoresort.com); Event Center – Walker's Bluff Casino Resort (walkersbluffcasinoresort.com); Tickets – Walker's Bluff Casino Resort (tickets.walkersbluffcasinoresort.com); Sawyer Brown to perform at Walker's Bluff Casino Resort Event Center in November – WSIL (wsiltv.com); Carterville, Illinois - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)