Wishbone Ash bring the Time Was Tour to Homer's old church in March

The twin-guitar pioneers behind Argus play the 400-seat Center for the Arts of Homer on Sunday, March 7, 2027.

Picture it: a March Sunday in Cortland County, stained glass on both walls, a former choir loft for a balcony, and two guitars locked in harmony where the altar used to be. That's the setup DSP Shows announced on Oct. 20, when Wishbone Ash added the Center for the Arts of Homer to the Time Was Tour 2027.

The date is Sunday, March 7, 2027. Doors are at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8, according to DSP Shows' listing, which bills it as all ages. Tickets are $59.50 through Tixr. The room holds 400, so for a band with a half-century of fans this is about as close as it gets.

DSP's listing says the set will mix songs the band has never played live with long-time staples from *Argus*, *There's the Rub* and their debut, *Pilgrimage*. That's a pitch aimed squarely at the people who already own those records and have heard the hits a dozen times. The tour has already been through the UK this fall; Ropetackle Arts Centre in Shoreham marked its Oct. 20 date sold out.

If you're newer to them, the short version: Wishbone Ash formed in Torquay, England, in 1969. Bassist Martin Turner and drummer Steve Upton couldn't choose between two guitarists, Andy Powell and Ted Turner, so they kept both, and the twin-lead sound that came out of that indecision became the band's signature. Melody Maker called Powell and Turner "the most interesting two-guitar team since the days when Beck and Page graced The Yardbirds."

The record that made the case was *Argus*, released April 28, 1972. Readers of both Sounds and Melody Maker voted it album of the year. It is still the album most fans point to first, which is why it keeps turning up in the band's setlists five decades later.

Lineups have changed many times since. Powell is the one constant member, and the Wishbone Ash touring now is his band. (Martin Turner performs separately as Martin Turner ex-Wishbone Ash.) The Time Was billing reads like a band looking back over the whole catalog rather than replaying one album front to back.

A room built for hymns turns out to suit harmony guitars just fine.

The room matters here. The Center for the Arts of Homer sits at 72 South Main St. in a former Baptist church that Cortland County's visitors guide puts at about 140 years old, with the sanctuary left largely as it was. The stage sits where the altar was, in the 400-seat Whiting Theatre, and Richie Havens, Judy Collins and Arlo Guthrie have all played it. The nonprofit dates to 2005, and in 2024 State Sen. Lea Webb gave it the New York State Senate Empire Award.

For Syracuse readers it's a short drive south, and for a band built on two guitars talking to each other, a quiet, seated, acoustically live room is a better fit than another bar stage.

When to buy: tickets are on sale now, and 400 seats on a Sunday night tend to go faster than you'd think. If *Argus* was ever on your turntable, this is the March night to circle.

Sources: DSP Shows — Center for the Arts of Homer (Wishbone Ash – Time Was Tour 2027) (dspshows.com); Tixr — Wishbone Ash: Time Was Tour 2027 (tixr.com); Ropetackle Arts Centre — Wishbone Ash: The Time Was Tour (ropetacklecentre.co.uk); Wikipedia — Wishbone Ash (en.wikipedia.org); Cortland County 2023 Travel Guide, p. 11 (experiencecortland.com); Center for the Arts of Homer (center4art.org); NY State Senate — Senator Lea Webb honors Center for the Arts of Homer (nysenate.gov)