Carbon Leaf return to Elevation 27 on Feb. 20

The Richmond-rooted band, three decades in, comes back to the Virginia Beach room where it recorded a live album in 2020.

In February 2020, Carbon Leaf played Elevation 27, and the night was released as a live recording: Live – 2020/02/22 – Elevation 27 is still sold in its online store. Seven years later, almost to the week, they're coming back.

Carbon Leaf play Elevation 27 in Virginia Beach on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2027. It's an all-ages show starting at 8 p.m., listed on the venue's own site. The date was announced Oct. 20, and tickets are through Ticketmaster.

For Hampton Roads, Carbon Leaf are close to a home team. The band formed in 1992 and is based in Richmond, a couple of hours up I-64. Their roots go back to Ashland, Virginia. The current lineup is Barry Privett, Terry Clark, Carter Gravatt, Jon Markel and Jesse Humphrey. Over more than 30 years they've built a sound that pulls from Celtic folk, Americana and plain heartfelt rock, and a fan base that has stuck with them through every one of those years.

What's new is the record. In September 2024, Carbon Leaf released Time is the Playground, their 15th studio album and their first full-length in a decade. It's 12 songs about time, love and personal growth, the kind of themes a band reaches for when it has been around long enough to look back. They took it on the road with the "I Want to Be Leaf" tour, which started in fall 2025 and has kept them on the road through 2026, from the Midwest to Salt Lake City. The Virginia Beach date gives local fans a chance to hear those songs in a room they already know.

Seven years later, almost to the week, they're coming back.

Elevation 27, at 600 Nevan Road, holds about 600. It's a good size for a band like this: big enough for a real Saturday-night crowd, small enough to hear every mandolin line and every harmony.

All-ages matters here too. A band with three decades of fans now draws parents who first heard "Life Less Ordinary" on adult alternative radio and kids who grew up with it on in the car. A Saturday show where both can come is the right booking for a band at this point in its run.

If you were there in 2020, the live album is the best preview. If you weren't, Time is the Playground is the place to start.

Show at 8 p.m. It's a Saturday in February at the beach, so you'll find parking.

Sources: Elevation 27 — Carbon Leaf (elevation27.com); Elevation 27 — Official Site (elevation27.com); Carbon Leaf store — Live - 2020/02/22 - Elevation 27 - Virginia Beach, VA (shop.carbonleaf.com); Wabash College — Carbon Leaf at Salter Hall (photo album) (wabash.edu); Ticketmaster — Carbon Leaf, Virginia Beach (ticketmaster.com); Carbon Leaf - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); Carbon Leaf Announces New Album Time Is The Playground Releasing September 27th (myglobalmind.com)