Taking Flight Festival
Featuring Big Daddy Kane, Tone Loc, Steve Earle and Reckless Kelly
THURSDAY, MARCH 26
7:00 p.m. / Doors at 5:30 p.m.
Open on Season Members Only
2026 Season Memberships are available at squirrelsbaseball.com
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CarMax Park will host Taking Flight Festival presented by 804Live, the first concert at the new multi-use entertainment venue, on Thursday, March 26, featuring Big Daddy Kane, Tone Loc, Steve Earle and Reckless Kelly.
Tickets for the concert will be distributed exclusively to Richmond Flying Squirrels Season Membership Holders. Information about Flying Squirrels Season Memberships is available at SquirrelsBaseball.com.
The concert will begin at 7 p.m. on March 26. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.
“We couldn’t be more excited to officially open CarMax Park with the Taking Flight Festival and welcome fans to experience this incredible new venue for the first time,” said Lou DiBella, Managing General Partner of the Richmond Flying Squirrels. “This concert is just the beginning of what CarMax Park will bring to the Richmond community, and we’re especially thrilled to offer this exclusive opportunity to our Season Membership Holders. Events like this are one of the many ways CarMax Park will deliver unforgettable experiences to Richmond.”
Big Daddy Kane is a GRAMMY Award-winning rapper and actor who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap group the Juice Crew. A Brooklyn, New York M.C. who undisputedly defined the term “lyricist” in the world of hip-hop by introducing a lyrical ingenuity to a genre that had not yet been heard before, Big Daddy Kane proved that he was not only a dynamic M.C., but demonstrated his appeal by combining innovative live performances with choreography, theatrics and a tailored look that have become his trademarks. BDK revolutionized hip-hop fashion and the way hip-hop shows were and are performed.
Tone Loc soared from obscurity into pop stardom in 1989 when his hoarse voice and unmistakable delivery made the song "Wild Thing" (using a sample from Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'") a massive hit winning GRAMMYs and countless other awards. The song “Wild Thing” was co-written by Marvin Young, better known as Young MC, as was the second single smash, "Funky Cold Medina." The album "Loc-ed After Dark" became the second rap release ever to top the pop charts and one of the most popular of all time.
Steve Earle is one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of his generation. A protege of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, he quickly became a master storyteller in his own right, with his songs being recorded by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, The Pretenders and countless others. 1986 saw the release of his record, “Guitar Town,” which shot to number one on the country charts and is now regarded as a classic of the Americana genre. Subsequent releases like “The Revolution Starts...Now” (2004), “Washington Square Serenade” (2007) and “TOWNES” (2009) received GRAMMY Awards.
Reckless Kelly has tied Austin rock and cowboy poetry together seamlessly for more than 25 years, evolving from a barnstorming Idaho outfit into a coast-to-coast torchbearer for independent Americana. Over more than two decades, the band has released 10 studio albums and two live albums, toured internationally, and established the annual Braun Brothers Reunion festival as a three-day cultural bellwether for Challis, Idaho. Perhaps most importantly, they have earned the enduring respect of their musical peers across the Texas, Red Dirt, and wider Americana landscapes.