When the Keb’ Mo’ show at The Music Hall sold out on March 16, it became the venue’s 10th sold-out performance of the 2006-2007 season, hot on the heels of Ladysmith Black Mambazo on March 25. The music programs, in particular, are enjoying unprecedented success. The venue is offering more live music than ever, and half of the sold-out acts have been musicians. Upcoming shows by Brandi Carlisle and Mary Chapin Carpenter are likely to be added to the list as well. 

“When we started Intimately Yours (music series last year), The Music Hall was not known for doing pop music shows. I think now agents and artists have really gotten excited about the Music Hall, and we’re getting offered more shows,” says executive director Patricia Lynch. “We can’t tell if this is a trend, or if there just happens to be a lot of people on tour this spring.”

Lynch points out that the Hall has been waiting patiently for some artists on this year’s roster, like Keb’ Mo,’ and there are acts on next year’s schedule that they’ve been waiting two years to secure. “If they’re good, they’re worth it. Keb’ Mo’ is better than timeless, he just keeps getting better,” she says.

Getting in a variety of acts has also proven to be a key to attracting audiences to the historic 900-seat hall. By offering a range of artists, from Gaelic Storm to The Bad Plus to Brandi Carlisle to Keb’ Mo’, the venue does well by appealing to diverse audiences with diverse tastes.

“The artists are different enough. It’s not the same people coming to the same shows. At Gaelic Storm (on March 3), for example, we had a lot of people we’d never seen before. That was sold right to the rafters,” Lynch says.

What’s good for The Music Hall is also good for downtown Portsmouth. When the folks in Gaelic Storm asked the audience from the stage where they should go out after the show, a good portion of the theater agreed to meet the band at The Press Room.

Lynch, like many of the performers, thinks a special chemistry develops between the artists and the audiences at the theater during the shows. “Seu Jorge said, ‘I’m moving to Portsmouth.’ You get people who get that special feeling The Music Hall has, they just want to be a part of it.”