Little Big Town bring 'For the Art of It' to the Egyptian Room on Nov 14

The country group's fall tour, built around August's It's A Dying Art, puts four voices in a 2,000-capacity room inside one of downtown's oldest stages.

Most nights, a band with Little Big Town's résumé would be booked into a room ten times this size. On Saturday, Nov. 14, they're playing the Egyptian Room, and that's the point.

Little Big Town play the Egyptian Room at Old National Centre on Saturday, Nov. 14, with the show starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on Ticketmaster. The Egyptian Room holds about 2,000.

The run is called the For the Art of It Tour, and it's built around *It's A Dying Art*, the group's new studio album, released Aug. 28 on MCA (Universal Music Canada; MusicRow). The band has described the tour as an acoustic, narrative-driven trek (Rural Radio / ABC News) — stories between songs, arrangements stripped back so the harmonies carry the weight. For a group whose whole identity is four voices locking together, that's less a gimmick than a statement of what they think matters.

The tour has been on the road since late September (BroadwayWorld) and has leaned on theaters and performing-arts halls: the Majestic in San Antonio on Oct. 29, the Chicago Theatre on Nov. 19, the Fox in Detroit on Nov. 20 (313 Presents; Choose Chicago). Indianapolis lands in the middle of a busy stretch, after Hampton Roads on Nov. 5, Raleigh–Durham on Nov. 6 and Charlotte on Nov. 7.

For a group whose whole identity is four voices locking together, that's less a gimmick than a statement.

The building is a big part of the appeal. Old National Centre, at 502 N. New Jersey Street, opened in 1909 as the Murat Shrine's temple and theater (Wikimedia Commons), and it's one of those downtown rooms that makes a show feel like an occasion before anyone plays a note. The Egyptian Room is the standing-and-dancing hall in the complex, and at 2,000 it's close enough that you'll see faces, not just a screen.

Why it's worth the night: if you've only heard Little Big Town on country radio or across an amphitheater lawn, this is the version of the band where you can hear who's singing which part. An acoustic-leaning show in a room this size rewards people who actually listen, and Indy crowds at Old National tend to.

Before you go: it's a Saturday downtown, so give yourself time for parking around the Mass Ave edge of the neighborhood, and eat beforehand. A 7:30 start means doors earlier — check your ticket. And if you've been meaning to spend time with *It's A Dying Art*, this week is the week. These songs are the reason for the tour, and they'll be the reason the room goes quiet.

Sources: Little Big Town Unveil New Studio Album It's A Dying Art (Universal Music Canada) (universalmusic.ca); Little Big Town Plots 'For The Art Of It Tour' (MusicRow) (musicrow.com); Little Big Town's touring For the Art of It (Rural Radio / ABC News) (ruralradio.com); Photos: Little Big Town Launches FOR THE ART OF IT Tour (BroadwayWorld) (broadwayworld.com); Little Big Town at the Fox Theatre Nov 20 (313 Presents) (313presents.com); Little Big Town: For the Art of It Tour (Choose Chicago) (choosechicago.com); Little Big Town: For the Art of It Tour (City of San Antonio) (sa.gov); Category:Old National Centre (Wikimedia Commons) (commons.wikimedia.org); JamBase listing (jambase.com)