Red River Revel Marks 50th Anniversary With One-Night Union of The American Tragedy and the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra
Shreveport rock band and hometown symphony share a stage for the first time, performing a set built and orchestrated exclusively for the occasion.
SHREVEPORT, La. – Red River Revel will close out its 50th anniversary season with a performance decades in the making: Shreveport rock band The American Tragedy, joined for the first time by the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, on Saturday, October 10 at 8:30 p.m. on the Chase Stage. Tickets are $10 at the door.
It isn’t the first time the Symphony has performed at Red River Revel, but will be the first time this arrangement of The American Tragedy’s music has ever been played live; a one-night-only reworking of the band’s catalog for full orchestra, composed specifically for this show. The pairing came together almost by accident. Red River Revel Executive Director Logan Lewis had spent nearly a year in conversations with members of The American Tragedy about performing at the festival when a chance encounter at a local show changed the shape of the idea entirely.
“I mentioned that we had a grant to include the Symphony in a show at the Revel this year, I just didn’t have the band to pair them with yet, and it was like the light bulb went off for both of us at that moment,” said Lewis. “Within days, Adam found Mike through mutual contacts and we were pretty committed at that point. It happened really fast.”
A Homegrown Story
The American Tragedy — guitarist and vocalist Adam Dale and guitarist Trey Danger — met in a church youth group in Shreveport in the late 1990s and formed the band around 2000. Throughout that decade, The American Tragedy was arguably the biggest independent music group performing in the region. Pulling hundreds and eventually thousands to their high-energy show at regional venues from Shreveport to Baton Rouge, Monroe to Little Rock, AR, and more, the band toured full time until 2007 and continued to play occasionally until going on hiatus in 2012. Over the past decade the band has played only one promoted show, a 2021 benefit for Hurricane Ida relief. October 10 will mark the band’s return to the stage, and its first-ever performance with a full orchestra.
“We all ended up moving and have families and have had great lives and opportunities. But when you are young and playing the music, you take for granted the moment and the people you do it with,” said Dale. “This time around it’s more of a special thing that we don’t want to take for granted.”
“The symphony portion really kind of feels like a celebration of life,” added Danger. “I have a lot of people who are coming, my kids have never seen me do this before. When you get to this age, you don’t really know if there is going to be a next time. But it’s always interesting that when it does come back around, it doesn’t feel like we have to bring it back to life. It’s always there, a part of us and the fans.”
Written for the Occasion
The orchestral arrangements were composed by Mike Esneault, a two-time Emmy Award-winning composer whose documentary scores have aired on PBS, and a two-time Grammy Award winner as orchestral arranger and conductor for six-time Grammy winner PJ Morton, having worked on the keyboardist’s last six albums. Esneault is Director of Arts in Education for the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, and previously taught at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), where his students included Jon Batiste and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews.
“The thing about Adam’s music is that it’s pretty intricate,” said Esneault. “When I first signed up, I had no idea how complicated it was. The balance is finding time to embellish what they are doing versus writing new parts to complement it.”
Dale and Danger built the orchestration around the band’s existing set, working closely with Esneault so every part could be heard and shaped collaboratively rather than layered on top of the songs. “I didn’t want the music to just be padded,” said Dale, who at first considered building the arrangements himself before he was connected with Esneault. “We wanted to write new parts to create wholly new, original versions of the music.” The band built the set list with the arc of a film in mind. “We come in hot with ‘The Flame’ and go out soaring like eagles,” said Danger. Musical themes recur between songs by design, and Esneault leaned on high strings, countermelody, and marimba to accent the band’s parts — with French horns and trombones brought in for the set’s biggest moments. “Those sections really work to heighten the drama,” he said.
A Full Circle for the Symphony
The performance will be conducted by Kermit Poling, who is beginning his 41st season with the Shreveport Symphony and has served as its Concert Master and Assistant Conductor since 1985. Poling noted the Symphony’s long history of collaborating with popular musicians, including a 1999 performance with Kenny Wayne Shepherd at Municipal Auditorium. “It’s a blast, as a general rule and the orchestra loves these concerts,” said Poling. “For me it’s magnificent to have the orchestra back at the Revel.”
Shreveport Symphony Orchestra CEO Todd Simmons said the partnership reflects the Symphony’s broader mission to reach beyond its traditional audience. “The symphony is the symphony of the whole community, and this is one of the ways that we can reach the entire community,” said Simmons. “So often classical organizations are expecting people to come to them and this is a great opportunity to show that we are here for everyone in the community.”
A Full-Circle Moment for the Festival
The performance is also a homecoming. The American Tragedy first played Red River Revel on October 11, 2006…almost exactly twenty years before this year’s show. “This is a full-circle moment for the festival,” said Lewis. “The American Tragedy are returning as heroes to a coming-of-age generation of Revel-goers. It feels like an opportunity for the next generation of leaders and community members in the region to celebrate their youth while etching their own contribution into the cultural history of this event.”
The pairing reflects a thread running through the entire Revel 50 lineup: a deliberate celebration of the region’s talent pool. This year’s bill includes regional artists such as Better Than Ezra, Brady Blade, Jeter Jones, Kevin Russell of Shinyribs, Papa Mali, Windstorm, Seratones, The LeBlanc Family and Maggie Koerner, alongside longtime friends of the festival: Trout Fishing in America, Cowboy Mouth, Squonk and Flow Tribe; who may not call the Ark-La-Tex home but have become, as Lewis put it, “the family we chose” through years of touring in the area.
Event Details
What: The American Tragedy with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra
When: Saturday, October 10, 2026, 8:30 p.m.
Where: Chase Stage, Red River Revel, Festival Plaza, Shreveport, La.
Tickets: $10 at the door. Full-festival VIP options available at redriverrevel.com/donate
About Red River Revel Arts Festival
Red River Revel is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving the region around Shreveport, Louisiana with cultural programming in the areas of “Art, Music, Food.” Program events include Shreveport Farmers’ Market, CORK: A Red River Revel Fundraiser, Bourbon & Barbeque, Wayne Curtis Objets D’Art, and the Red River Revel Arts Festival. MISSION STATEMENT: The Red River Revel is a multi-arts festival—a Celebration of the Arts—bringing to the people of the Ark-La-Tex quality in visual and performing arts, seminars, workshops, children’s aesthetic education and a variety of creative experiences. The goal of the festival is to provide the general populace with a Celebration of the Arts, which brings the finest in visual and performing arts experiences. The Revel is designed to be primarily educational in nature, entirely non-commercial, non-political, non-partisan and non-sectarian.
About the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra
Shreveport Symphony Orchestra is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to enrich our cultural community through inspiring symphonic experiences that serve a diverse regional audience. Our vision is to be a leading cultural force recognized for artistic excellence and innovative programming in our region, striving to enrich our community by sharing the inspiring power of music and fostering education, inclusivity, and collaboration, envisioning a future in which shared musical experiences uplift spirits and establish common ground.