MercyMe puts Chattanooga near the front of its 2027 tour

The Christian music headliners play UTC-McKenzie Arena on Saturday, March 13, 2027, two nights into a 31-date spring run with Ben Fuller and Peter Burton.

Most arena tours get to the Tennessee Valley eventually. MercyMe is getting here almost first.

MercyMe plays UTC-McKenzie Arena on Saturday, March 13, 2027, at 7 p.m. The show was announced Oct. 20, and tickets are available through the Visit Chattanooga listing for McKenzie Arena. With room for 10,928, the arena on UTC's campus is one of the biggest rooms in town, and it's the right scale for a band that tours arenas in the spring.

The date is part of MercyMe LIVE 2027, a 31-show run that starts Thursday, March 11, at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia, and wraps Sunday, May 2, at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. That puts Chattanooga on the tour's first weekend — the third night of a two-month run, when the production is new and the band is fresh.

Chattanooga lands on the tour's first weekend, two nights after opening night in Roanoke.

Two openers are along for the run: Ben Fuller and Peter Burton. Fuller's lane is contemporary Christian music with a country-leaning, storytelling bent, per the tour announcement coverage, which makes him a natural fit ahead of a band whose audience spans church youth groups and the parents who drive them.

If the timing sounds familiar, it should: spring touring has become a MercyMe habit. The band's 2025 run brought Zach Williams and Sam Wesley out on the road, and MercyMe has also stretched tours into the fall in recent years, including a run with TobyMac and Matthew West. The 2027 run follows the same model — a long spring arena swing with younger artists on the front of the bill.

On tickets: the general on-sale for the tour began Wednesday, Oct. 21, so seats are available now. Presale codes and local on-sale times varied by venue, so the McKenzie Arena listing is the place to check for what's left and where. A Saturday night in an arena this size tends to draw families and church groups buying in blocks, which is worth keeping in mind if you're hoping to sit together.

For Chattanooga, the appeal is simple. A Saturday show in mid-March, close to home, on the opening weekend of a national tour — no drive to Nashville or Atlanta, no Sunday-morning hangover from a late road trip. Get the tickets now, and spend the winter deciding which songs you're hoping make the set.

Sources: MercyMe announces LIVE 2027 tour dates, schedule, presale tickets and openers (SeatGeek) (seatgeek.ca); Christian music band MercyMe heads to Lincoln in April (WOWT) (wowt.com); MercyMe Lincoln tickets on sale for Pinnacle Bank Arena concert (TicketNews) (ticketnews.com); MercyMe: Live 2025 Tour with Zach Williams & special guest Sam Wesley (Nutter Center) (nuttercenter.com); MercyMe announces fall tour with TobyMac, Matthew West (GMA) (gospelmusic.org); McKenzie Arena (UTC) – Visit Chattanooga (visitchattanooga.com); MercyMe at UTC-McKenzie Arena (JamBase) (jambase.com)