Nickelodeon's Fresh Beats set Charlotte date

The Fresh Beat Band, the stars of Nick Jr.'s hit series of the same name, will play Time Warner Cable Uptown Amphitheatre September 28 followed by a date at the Raleigh Amphitheatre, September 29. The news of the fall tour comes right before the Fresh Beat Band's sold out concert in Durham Thursday, April 5. I'd planned on getting tickets for my kids when that show was announced last November, but I waited until after Christmas. By that time it was sold out.

Tickets for the September concerts go on sale Friday, April 13. Pre-sale tickets will be offered by Nickelodeon and Ticketmaster and to Citi card members through its Citi Private Pass program starting Thursday, April 5 at 10 a.m. VIP tickets will also be available.

For those without preschool age children scratching their heads wondering who this perky foursome is, the group consists of four actor/musicians that make up the fictional teen pop band (pictured below with guest star Jason Mraz, whose August 21 headlining date at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre was also announced today). Each character plays a different instrument and everyone sings and dances.

The cast (I viewed their bios on IMDB when the series debuted because I wanted to know if they really played their instruments) is made up of mostly experienced players. Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer (Kiki) is a trained opera singer and skilled violinist and guitarist. Thomas Hobson who plays Shout is a Yale graduate that appeared in everything from "A Different World" to "In Living Colour" as a child. Jon Beavers may be the least experienced cast member (it's his first credit) but, as my husband said recently, the show wouldn't be the same without his rapper/DJ Twist's comic relief. The newest addition, Tara Perry, who we refer to as new Marina (she replaced original member Shayna Rose), is a comedic actress whose voice is obviously Autotuned on the group's latest singles, but the kids don't seem to know the difference. She brings more of a slapstick silliness to the role that the kids seem to dig.

Although the songs are simple tween pop they stylistically cover everything from country to opera to Bollywood with an emphasis on dance music and hip-hop. Some are pretty darn catchy. Every episode has a different theme, but many center around music school and heavily feature dance.

Tickets will be available at www.livenation.com, www.ticketmaster.com, at The Fillmore box office, select Walmart stores, and by calling 1-800-745-3000.