First off, let me say, I had an amazing time at the Rock N America festival in Oklahoma City.   It was a three day event, but  I was only able to attend Saturday and Sunday.

What a venue!  Having never been to a show there before, I did not know what to expect.   First of all, there was free parking which really surprised me!  Second, there is hardly a bad seat in the place since the amphitheater is built on a slope.  Last, but certainly not least, even if you didn’t pay extra for VIP tickets, you could still get close enough to the stage to get some good pictures and see the bands. 

The line ups were phenomenal to a die hard hair band fan like me!  Saturday’s bands included Steelheart, Firehouse, MSG, Cinderella, and the Scorpions on the main stage.  Sunday’s main stage hosted Warrant, Slaughter, Lita Ford, Dokken, and Ratt. 

The majority of the bands sounded just as good as I remember them, but there were a few stand out performances…..

Cinderella, though predictable, put on a good show and played all of their hits and fan favorites. Everyone was on their feet as soon as they heard the opening guitar riff of “Gypsy Road” and stayed that way until Tom Keifer and crew left the stage.

If any of you get a chance to see the Scorpions on this, their farewell tour, see them.  They were amazing!  I had never seen them in concert, so they were one of the main reasons I went to the festival.  They far exceeded my expectations.  They tore the place down with favorites like “The Zoo”, “Rock You Like a Hurricane”, and “Big City Nights”.  Concert goers also got the treat of seeing past band members Michael Schenker and “Herman ze German” Rarebell  jam with the band. 

Sunday, though there were many problems with sound equipment and a torrential downpour with no umbrellas allowed in the park, a good time was had.  Slaughter wins my best of show for Sunday simply because they sounded amazing, played all of their old hits, and Mark Slaughter came out into the crowd.  A band that caters to the fans gets me every time.  They also had a guest back up singer for the 80’s anthem “Up All Night“…..Vince Neil. 

Lita Ford, who I am convinced brings the rain (if you were at Rocklahoma in 2008, you know what I am talking about!) sounded great and ended her set with predictably asking the crowd if any of them went to a party last Saturday night! 

Though not as high pitched as the old days, Don Dokken and band delivered the goods!  Hit after hit after sing along hit.  They really got the crowd going….. as they always do.  They are and always will be one of my favorites of that genre. 

In closing, the Rock N America Festival was definitely worth the trip to OKC!  I don’t know how they will top this year’s line up, but hopefully they will try it again next year.  If you get the chance to check out this venue in the future, pack some sunscreen and a poncho….just in case Lita Ford is in the area.  And to all my peers and fellow fans….Keep on Rockin’!!!

Thanks for the review Shelley, I think we may have to attend this festival next year, awesome line up.

This year’s lineup:

Friday, August 13th

The Clintons
Bret Michaels
Dokken
Commander Cody
The Winters Brothers Band
Jamelution

Saturday, August 14th

Randy Hansen
Collective Soul
Cracker
Too Slim and the Taildraggers
The Jared Stewart Band
Kenny James Miller Band

Sunday, August 15th

Pinky and the Floyd
Doobie Brothers
Legends of Southern Rock
The Dave Walker Band
Blue Jack
House of Quist

To get tickets visit rockintherivers.com

First off, I would like to say Don Dokken’s current lineup of musicians did a great job! Jon Levin on guitar, Sean McNabb on bass and I’m not familiar with the drummer. Mick Brown, the original drummer, performed with Montrose Sunday at the RibFest instead of with Dokken on Saturday. My wife spoke to him Sunday night and he said he was supposed to tour with Ted Nugent over the summer but it was cancelled and Don Dokken had already gotten someone else to replace him.

The various Dokken hits such as “Alone Again”, “Just Got Lucky”, “It’s Not Love” and “Breaking The Chains” were played perfectly and there was a great stage presence making the show entertaining. My favorite part of the show was early on, they played “Dream Warriors” signifying the 25th anniversary of the Nightmare on Elm Street soundtrack. Once the music started I was really pumped until Don Dokken (one of my favorite 80’s rockers) opened his mouth.

I couldn’t hardly believe what came next. Not only did Don not hit any of the high notes, he didn’t even try. I was talking to a gentleman next to me that saw Dokken a couple of weeks earlier that said Dokken wouldn’t try to hit any high notes at that show either and if you notice they have his microphone turned way down. Sure enough he was right. Don’t get me wrong, I know everyone can’t be great forever but putting on a lackluster performance just didn’t cut it for me. Musically the show was great and it was great to hear the classics again. Don Dokken fans were disappointed on this particular evening though.

Saturday’s line up was awesome. Jackyl started our weekend out right. Jesse’s on stage antics were stellar as always. L.A. Guns and Dokken played during the hottest part of the day, but they put on a great show anyway.

The highlight of the day was Bret Michaels. We were suprised that he was even there and never expected the caliber of performance that he delivered. We’ve seen Poison before but Bret Michaels and his band blew us away. People magazine and VH1 were there. Tonight, Monday, May 31 at 9/10 PM CT/ET on VH1 you can check out the footage that was filmed during this performance. It is a half hour special to promote Bret’s new show coming out later this year, “Life As I Know It”.

Sunday’s entertainment did not disappoint either. A local band, Houses of The Holy started our day with the best cover show of Led Zeppelin I’ve ever seen. Montrose rocked the house in the heat of the day with Wild Mick Brown on the drums. Everclear really engaged the crowd and Collective Soul ended the night with an awesome performance.

We met some new friends and got a chance to catch up with some old friends from RibFests in the past. Several people approached us on Saturday because Brian was wearing a Cant Stop Rockin tshirt and they recognized the website. Thanks to all our readers for supporting us and buying Tshirts and using our affiliate links to purchase tickets, CD’s, etc… We really appreciate it!

Shout out to Brian and Karly, Steve and Mary (we should have taken your picture), and Fred and Janice!!! Hope to see you all at many RibFests to come.

Watch for the reviews of all the bands.  We’ll get the reviews and the pictures posted soon.

Main Stage Lineup

There is VIP reserved seating which includes seating in rows closest to the main stage, climate controlled hospitality tent with private bar and screens with a live feed from the main stage. Concessions are also available. There are showers, clean portable toilets, a general store and food vendors on the grounds. There are discounted hotel rates available also. Get your tickets now!

Bands playing on the Second Stage are: Monkeysoop, Sol34, Shattered, La Sed, House of Moist, Wide Open Throttle, Death From Afar, Busted, Soulbound, Dirty Penny, Dewar, Los Gallos, WolfeBlitzer, All Is Black, Little Green Men, Square Wheel, Bring On The Destroyer, Staggercrawl, Fifi Larue, Vain, Desangre, Metal Loyd, PJ Flowers, The Hectic, Six Minute Century, Mudd Spyder, Lost Heroes, Forever Falls, Rockets To Ruin, Beautiful Creatures, The Hates, Ultra Siberian Pant Factory, Downfall 2012, The Ali Cat Project, The Apostles, Under The Green, Autumn Effect, Whorehound, and Pantrix.

Bands for the Third Stage: Trashy and the Kid, The Mighty Orq, Stone Satellite, Swinging Teresa, Steady Grind, Eden Burning, Victim, Azraels Bane, Element 115, Guppies From Outerspace, Oneness Darkness, Tommy Bones, Slickfest, Metavenge, Snakeskin Prison, Faulter 42, The Blue Threads, Sun Machine, The Last Great Assault, Engulf, The Huns, Sister Mary Tarantula, Rated E The Band, Epic, Seven Story Drop, Stamen, Jumping Monks, Knocturnal Madness, Crank Case, Helstar, Think Tank, Half of Forever, Rain Child, 359, Low Man’s Joe, Killjoy 72, Skepticynic, Out of Real, Adrenaline, and New Disaster.

Bands for the Fourth Stage: Stealing Summer, Verdict of Vengence, Dimitri’s Rail, Dogs on Parole, Alligator Assassins, Age or Reason, Madstone, Cockpit, Texas Hippie Coalition, Darkflame, Mac Adams, Revengence, Sintense, Seven Cries, Luce Image, Black Molly’s, Via Linda, Almost Sober, Mineflow, Conumned, Proximity, Krucible, Gypsy Pistoleros, Opulent, Sevi, Platapus Angst, Venture, Shattered, and Vatos Locos.

We have some friends going to this festival so hopefully we’ll have some reviews for you in September. If you make it to the fest, be sure and let us know about your experience.

[tags]Rock the Bayou, Alice Cooper, Black ‘N Blue, Bret Michaels, Britny Fox, Bullet Boys, Dokken, Enuff Z’Nuff, Firehouse, Great White, Lynch Mob, Queensryche, RATT, Sammy Hagar, Skid Row, Slaughter, Twisted Sister, Warrant, Y&T[/tags]

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