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Sammy Hagar,
Black Crowes among planned acts
NASHVILLE - Take
600,000 people, tens of thousands of motorcycles, more beer and
barbecue than anyone can imagine ... and add music.
The biggest
motorcycle enthusiast gathering in the United States is turning up
the volume. Producers are creating a music festival around the
massive 66th annual Black Hills Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, S.D.,
with a lineup that includes Sammy Hagar, Big & Rich, Keith Urban
and the Black Crowes.
The new Rock'n the
Rally festival is set for Aug. 6-10, right in the middle of Bike
Week. The undertaking includes the construction of an amphitheater.
Mark Russo,
production manager/site coordinator for festival producer Dork Fish,
says, "As opposed to the 'build it and they will come' theory,
we subscribe to the 'build it where they already are' theory."
They are there,
all right, and in huge numbers. The town of Sturgis normally has a
population of 6,500. When the Rally comes to town, its population
swells to 600,000. The total population of South Dakota is 754,000.
Dork Fish
Entertainment is building an $11 million permanent amphitheater on a
34-acre site at the Glencoe Camp Resort in Sturgis. Funding comes
from Sturgis entrepreneur and Glencoe Nation owner Gary Lippold, who
already has a strong presence in the city with the campground and
other business ventures. Dork Fish has a 10-year partnership
agreement with Lippold.
Hard-driving lineup
The event's
producers find themselves in uncharted waters, and first-year
festivals are unpredictable by nature. "No one has ever done a
festival like this in conjunction with an event like the Sturgis Bike
Rally," Russo says. "Every other festival exists on its own
merit and convinced everyone it was a destination they wanted to go to."
Capacity will be
as high as 60,000 at the venue, and the talent lineup for the
festival is strong. With a $3 million talent budget, the acts booked
include Sammy Hagar, Big & Rich, Keith Urban, Steve Miller, Cheap
Trick, Steppenwolf, Fabulous Thunderbirds, REO Speedwagon, 38
Special, Foghat, Georgia Satellites, Greg Rollie, Shooter Jennings,
Live, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Nickelback and the Black Crowes.
Hagar will close
the festival and wrap his summer tour in Sturgis. His Cabo Wabo
Village concourse attraction will be at the site all week.
"Playing for bikers for me is a natural thing," Hagar says.
"In my set, when I bust out with 'I Can't Drive 55,' 'Bad Motor
Scooter,' 'Let Sally Drive,' these are all drivin' songs, man. These
bikers are gonna love my ass."
Tickets range from
$40 to $70 per day and went on sale March 10 at starticketsplus.com.
Over a five-year
period, the new venue will add covered, fixed seats. "It will be
more like a conventional amphitheater, but on a very large scale
because there isn't another amphitheater in the U.S. on this much
acreage," Russo says. The venue will be used for events besides
Rock'n the Rally, including Memorial Day and Fourth of July concerts.
© 2006 Billboard
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