The upcoming Reese’s Senior Bowl will feature a free concert by Counting Crows, organizers of the game announced Wednesday.

The concert, like a 2023 performance by rapper Nelly, will take place in downtown Mobile in Mardi Gras Park. But Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy said things will play out a bit differently this year, with the concert and other festivities shifting from the Friday preceding the game to game day itself.

The game will kick off at noon on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the University of South Alabama’s Hancock-Whitney Stadium. At 6:30 p.m., several groups will hold their Mardi Gras parades back-to-back in downtown Mobile, and once those have cleared the area, the concert will start. That much is similar to last year, when the Nelly concert followed the city’s first parade of Carnival season.

1/26

The Counting Crows concert is free and open to the public. Nagy said Wednesday that it continues a plan begun five years ago “to grow Senior Bowl week, grow the platform, bring more people into our region, to come to Mobile to really grow this event to help the overall city of Mobile.”

The band’s hits include “Mr. Jones,” “Round Here,” “A Long December,” and “Accidentally in Love.”

For full information on the Senior Bowl, including advance ticket ordering, visit www.seniorbowl.com. For continuing coverage, visit www.al.com/topic/seniorbowl/.