The Strand Theatre in downtown Vicksburg will host a concert billed as “The Last? Fall Ball” on Nov. 12.

The event will showcase performances by Lee. H. Abraham, the Boone Brothers, Bruce Lundgren, Bob Ingram, Danny Scallions, Mike George and Julie Harrison and feature special guest Patrick Smith on keyboard and vocals. There will also be video clips from the Fall Balls of the past.

What is Fall Ball?

In October 1980, Vicksburg guitarist Kenny Boone wanted to celebrate his birthday doing what he loved best: playing music.

He asked some friends to join him and the result was the first Fall Ball. Five bands from Vicksburg and central Mississippi assembled on a Sunday afternoon in a field in north Warren County.

“We built a stage out of a trailer and some whatnot and threw together a sound system. There was no internet, so we just went to the Biscuit Company and told everyone it was happening and handed out Xeroxed maps,” Kenny Boone said. “They came. Hundreds of them. It was fun. We didn’t charge anything to get in. My brother, Daniel silkscreened t-shirts to commemorate the day.”

There were editions in 1982 and 1983, by which time it was becoming overwhelming, so, “for the next few years we helped organize the Vicksburg Music and Heritage Festival in town in cooperation with the city instead of the Fall Ball. Then we grew up and got over it.”

“We videotaped the Fall Balls in ’81, ’82 and ’83, and each year we’d get together at the Biscuit Company a week or so afterward and watch it all on TV. They weren’t big screens back then, either,” said drummer Daniel Boone, Kenny’s brother. “Those tapes have been sitting on the shelf, and every now and then I think I can hear the music, and remember the Fall Balls and how much fun they were.”

In 2013, 30 years after the last Fall Ball, the brothers organized a two-day event as a reunion.

“We had a Sunday afternoon of live music featuring many of the surviving musicians, preceded by a night at the Strand Theatre watching clips from the 16 hours of videos,” Daniel said. “It was so great to see not only those bands, but the audience members dancing and having a good time, living again.”

“Now 10 more years have passed. More friends and participants have left the planet. It’s time to gather and remember, while we can. Kenny is organizing the music and I am working on the films and of course, a new t-shirt. It’s like old times. Kenny decided to call it the Last Fall Ball. I added the question mark,” Daniel said.

“We’re excited about the lineup we’ll have at the Strand,” Kenny said. “There will be veteran musicians from past Fall Balls, but it’s not all about the past. This is a show with a lot of talented local folks.”

Tickets are $25 and available at Highway 61 Coffeehouse in advance.

For more information and to see film clips and photos from the past Fall Balls, go to facebook.com/fallballreunion.