honestav rings in 2027 at the Shrine Mosque

The Missouri-bred singer behind "I'd Rather Overdose" takes New Year's Eve at Springfield's 1923 landmark, a room that once hosted Glenn Miller and Elvis.

The Shrine Mosque turns 103 today. Its story began on Nov. 3, 1923, as KOLR's OzarksFirst noted in a look back at the building. Eight weeks from now, the old Moorish hall on St. Louis Street gets a New Year's Eve booking aimed squarely at the people who'll be around for its next hundred.

honestav plays the Shrine Mosque on Thursday, Dec. 31, with the show starting at 9 p.m. The date was announced Oct. 30, and tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster. The room holds 3,289 for this one, which makes it one of the biggest New Year's Eve tickets in town.

If the name is new to you, the music probably isn't to whoever in your house is under 25. honestav is the stage name of Av Freeman, a Missouri-bred alternative singer-songwriter whose songs mix melodic hip-hop, pop-punk and very direct songwriting. The breakout was "I'd Rather Overdose," a 2024 single with MOD SUN that went viral, according to The Concert Chronicles. The debut EP *hara-kiri* followed that November and reached No. 10 on Apple Music's chart.

Things have moved quickly since. The 2025 No License Tour sold out nearly every date across the country, per Happens. A sophomore album, *Sweet American Boy*, deals with family history, addiction, grief, love and life on the road, and its namesake tour has been running through 2026, with Live Nation dates this month including Miami on Nov. 13. After a support slot on mgk's tour, Freeman heads to Australia and New Zealand for club shows in January, per 100% Rock. Springfield, in other words, gets the last American night before that run, and a homecoming of sorts for a Missouri kid who's spent two years on the road.

The room has seen this kind of night before. The Abou Ben Adhem Shrine Mosque was finished in 1923 and takes its name from a Leigh Hunt poem, according to Wikipedia. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The orchestras of Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway and Glenn Miller played here, and so did Elvis, per the city's own Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau. Harry Truman was made an honorary member of the Shrine there in 1952. For generations of Ozarks kids it was also simply where the Shrine Circus came every year.

It hasn't been easy for the building. The Depression hit soon after it opened, and money troubles have followed it since, according to Ozarks Alive. Every big night like this one helps keep the lights on.

Springfield gets the last American night before that run.

So that's New Year's Eve sorted for a few thousand people: a Missouri songwriter, a 103-year-old hall, and a countdown under that ornate ceiling. Thursday, Dec. 31, 9 p.m. Dress warm for the line.

Sources: Frightly News Investigates: Is the Shrine Mosque haunted? (KOLR/OzarksFirst) (digital-release.ozarksfirst.com); honestav announces deluxe 'hara-kiri' EP (The Concert Chronicles) (theconcertchronicles.com); honestav announces his No License Tour (Happens) (happens.vip); honestav: The Sweet American Boy Tour (Live Nation) (livenation.com); honestav: The Sweet American Boy Tour (Miami and Beaches) (miamiandbeaches.com); honestav announces Sweet American Boy Tour Australia/New Zealand 2027 (100% Rock) (100percentrock.com); Abou Ben Adhem Shrine Mosque - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); Six facts to know about Springfield's Shrine Mosque (Springfield CVB) (springfieldmo.org); History shines through Springfield's Shrine Mosque (Ozarks Alive) (ozarksalive.com); honestav at Shrine Mosque (JamBase) (jambase.com)