Arena Rock: Catching country fever: New style of metal festival set north of Pryor in July
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| Officials of Catch the Fever Music Festivals announced Tuesday the lineup of a three-day rock festival that will be held north of Pryor in July. Tracii Guns of LA Guns (second from left) smiles at Dokken guitarist Jon Levin and Eric Stacy of Faster Pussycat during the press conference held at Los Angeles famous bar, the Whisky A Go Go. |
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By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
3/28/2007 7:16 AM
Seventeen bands from the 1980s already have been announced for Rocklahoma.
LOS ANGELES -- Country Fever's organizers are singing a new tune, and offering Green Country a big dose of arena rock with Rocklahoma, a festival in July featuring at least 17 1980s-era rock 'n' roll and metal bands.
The three-day festival is expected to bring thousands to the same outdoor venue north of Pryor used by the Country Fever festivals.
Performing the July 13-15 festival will be: Poison, Quiet Riot, Slaughter, Y&T, Ratt, Vince Neil, Dokken, Winger, Warrant, Firehouse, Enuff Z'Nuff, Faster Pussycat, BulletBoys, Bang Tango, Jackyl, Great White, LA Guns and Steelheart.
Rumors about the lineup had leaked in the days leading up to Tuesday's press conference, and organizers said that tickets already have been sold to fans as far away as South Africa and Spain.
"There's never been anything like this done on this level in America," said VH-1 VJ and radio personality Eddie Trunk, who will emcee the show.
"I've heard from so many rock fans over the years who have said, 'How come we don't ever have anything like this in America?' " said Trunk. "It's always in Europe that there
Organizers say Rocklahoma will become an annual counterpart to the Country Fever festival, which is held in June.
Catch the Fever Music Festivals, the company that puts on Country Fever, announced the show's lineup Tuesday at a press conference at Los Angeles' famous Whisky A Go Go nightclub. The venue, located on a west Hollywood street corner along the Sunset Strip, was the place where many of the scheduled bands got their start.
The concert venue north of Pryor, along U.S. 69, has a capacity of 50,000 people and is the largest in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas, said organizers.
Although there will be more bands added to the festival lineup, organizers pointed out that the bands already announced sold millions of albums in the 1980s and early '90s.
For LA Guns' guitarist Tracii Guns, Rocklahoma is a chance for many of the bands to reconnect with each other and their fans.
"It takes all of the bands of our time and puts them in one place at one time for a weekend," said Guns, who started his glam-metal band with Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose in 1983.
"And it can't be bad, you know what I mean? It is a great reason to party and it's a good reason for people to call in sick that Monday," said Guns.
Although many of the bands are missing some original members, the bill reads out like a who's who of 1980s rock stardom. Several of the band members have achieved a new notoriety by appearing on reality television shows, and most of the bands continued releasing albums throughout the 1990s.
Poison, led by singer Bret Michaels, was one of the most popular groups to come out of the glam metal movement. Poison's albums "Open Up and Say -- Ahh!" and "Flesh and Blood" both went platinum.The band completed its 20th anniversary tour last year, featuring all original members, including guitarist C.C. Deville.
Quiet Riot, fronted by singer Kevin DuBrow, had brief but shining success with 1983's hit album "Metal Health," which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
Slaughter came into the picture later than the other bands but saw no less success in 1990, when the band cornered radio and television with its singles, including the ballad "Fly to the Angels" and the rocker "Up All Night."
Ratt, led by singer Stephen Pearcy and guitarist Warren DeMartini, achieved mega-stardom in 1984 with the album "Out of the Cellar," featuring hit songs including "Round and Round."
Vince Neil headed the quintet Motley Crue, a band that took a harder edge than most of the competition but generated success on the level of its peers. Although Motley Crue recently reunited and began a new tour, Neil will be appearing as a solo act.
Catch the Fever has a proven track record with big-talent festivals. Last year's Country Fever brought in huge numbers of country music fans to the rural festival site, including a crowd that topped 25,000 to see a concert by superstars Brooks & Dunn, according to festival organizers.
This year's Country Fever, set for June 7-10, will feature performances by such acts as hitmakers Big & Rich and Oklahoma's own Reba McEntire.
"Everyone should know we have a hell of a lineup here and three solid days of music that I challenge anyone to find anywhere else," Trunk said.
Matt Elliott 581-8366
matt.elliott@tulsaworld.com
By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
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