Oak Ridge Boys Excited For Rialto Christmas Concert

JOLIET, IL — They are four legends in music with more than 30 Top 10 hits. They were asked to sing "Amazing Grace" at President George H.W. Bush's funeral service on Dec. 5, 2018 in Houston. And they will be on center stage at Joliet's Rialto Square Theatre next Sunday night, Dec. 22.

The Oak Ridge Boys are bringing their "Down Home Christmas tour" to downtown Joliet for a 7:30 p.m. show. A sell-out performance is close to 2,000 tickets. As of Wednesday, Dec. 11, Rialto officials told Patch that about one-third of the tickets for Oak Ridge Boys remained available.

The Oak Ridge Boys perform in Joliet two days after Martina McBride performs her Joy of Christmas show on Friday, Dec. 20. McBride's show is practically sold out.

In late November, the Joliet Patch did a phone interview with one of The Oaks, Richard Sterban.

Now 76, Sterban joined the country gospel quartet in 1972. He has performed in Joliet's Rialto before. Sterban told Patch he is looking forward to the upcoming concert at the Rialto, remarking how he loves performing in front of their fans who live in the Midwest.

"It's such a beautiful place; the theater is beautiful," Sterban said. "It's one of the parts of the country, where we have a lot of fans of ours."

Sterban told Patch that the first 30 to 40 minutes of the show, of course, will feature The Oak Ridge Boys performing some of their crowd favorites such as "Elvira," "Bobbie Sue," "Thank God For Kids," American Made" and "Y'All Come Back Saloon."

"People still want to hear 'Elvira,'" Sterban told Joliet Patch as he laughed.

The Christmas portion of the show, which is produced by Nashville's Dave Cobb, will involve the four Oaks sitting on Cracker Barrel rocking chairs. Sterban said that the four Oak Ridge Boys will reflect on their lives, their own memories of Christmas from their childhoods and the true meaning of Christmas, in between songs.

There will be a Santa Claus who will appear on stage as part of the event.

"It is a family show; it's a very down home part of the show and we have a great Santa Claus," Sterban told Joliet Patch.

Sterban said the "Down Home Christmas" show blends rockabilly with gospel.

Cobb, a six-time Grammy Award-winning American record producer and songwriter, is based in Nashville.

"He's a young, new, hot songwriter and it turned out very well," Sterban told Joliet Patch.

"This latest album, it's all brand-new songs. And we made them sound retro and we made them sound Christmassy."

Most importantly, The Oak Ridge Boys want their Joliet audience to leave the show convinced that they saw a remarkable concert. They also want to remind their crowd about the true meaning and message of Christmas: the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

"We get into the true meaning of Christmas," Sterban said. "A little Jesus is not going to hurt anybody."

The Oak Ridge Boys have captured five Grammy awards. They have sold over 41 million units worldwide and are synonymous with “America, apple pie, baseball, and country music," their promoters tout.

The Oaks were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015.

The lowest price tickets to see next Sunday's Oak Ridge Boys Down Home Christmas show are priced at $43.50.

If you want to get tickets, or perhaps buy tickets for somebody as an early Christmas present, here is the link for the Rialto Square Theatre's available seats and ticket prices.