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.

The festival features BBQ Ribs and Music! What a great way to kick off the summer. The lineup for this year’s musical entertainment is as follows:

Friday – May 22

• Healing Sixes – 5:00 PM
• Shooting Star – 6:30 PM
• Night Ranger – 9:00 PM

Saturday – May 23

• Sean Holland- Noon
• Shemekia Copeland – 1:30 PM
• Firehouse – 4:00 PM
• Warrant – 6:30 PM
• Bret Michaels – 9:00 PM

Sunday, May 24

• TBA – Noon
• The Elms – 1:30PM
• TBA – 4:00 PM
• Cowboy Mouth – 6:30 PM
• Third Eye Blind- 9:00 PM

Monday, May 25

• Fabulous Motown Revue – 11:30 AM
• Beatlemania LIve! – 1:30 PM
• TBA – 4:15 PM
• Saving Abel – 6:30 PM

(All artists and times subject to change)

Admission is FREE before 5:00 PM on Friday and before 1:00 PM on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. After these times, admission is $5 and includes the concerts. Children 12 and under are free. There are also a limited number of reserved seats in front of the stage available for $25 each Friday, Sunday and Monday. The reserved seating will be $40 each for Saturday night. These tickets include $10 in food and beverage tickets and if purchased before May 21 the tickets also include your $5 admission. Get your reserved tickets here!!

Brian and I have been to this music festival for the past 2 years and we really enjoy it. Jonny Lang was amazing last year and Night Ranger was good considering the show was rained out after 7 songs. I would like to share a few words of wisdom though, it usually rains at some point over the weekend and the grounds get really wet and muddy. I would suggest not wearing shoes that you don’t want to get wet or muddy and bringing along a rain poncho is probably a good idea. The music and the crowd are always very entertaining and we’re looking forward to the festival again this year!

[tags]Rib Fest[/tags]

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]

Bullet Boys
Rock the Bayou

The first band that started off the night was House of Nasty from Springfield.  These guys came out rocking hard.  They played a mixture of their own music and some classic favorites by some well known artists such as Golden Earring, Montrose, Led Zepplin, Puddle of Mud, and others.  Sorry fellas we weren’t familiar with your own songs but we will be when you come around Decatur again.  We will definitely come out and check you out.  We’ll put a word in for you at Sliderz too! Great job guys, way to get the night started.                                       

The second act of the night was the Bullet Boys.  The only original member was the lead singer Marq Torien, but from the way these guys played together you would think they have played together for twenty years.  Marq has got to be one of the most flamboyant lead singers I’ve ever seen.  He never ran out of gas.  Marq also played guitar, Ryche Green was on drums, Danny Watts on guitar and Tom Yates on bass guitar. They rocked the fairgrounds hard with all of their classics..”Hard as a Rock“, “Smooth up in Ya“, “Money“, “Talk to Daughter“, “THC Groove“, and more along with a new song called “Road to Nowhere“. Their new album will be released later this year by Chavis Records. The music was cool but what might have been even cooler was Britne and our friend Ted (corky) getting to go backstage and meet the band.  Brit said they were very cool guys and gave both her & Ted autographs. Brit didn’t have anything with her to write on so they wrote their autographs with sharpie markers on her back and stomach!  They stated they were very excited to play at Rocklahoma and the South Texas Rock Fest.  We learned that these guys were friends of the band Fatal Smile from Sweden that we saw earlier this year when we went to see W.A.S.P on the Crimson Idol tour.  A big thanks to Gayla from 106.7 The Fox for hooking us up!!  Bullet Boys don’t hesitate to come round these parts again soon.  We loved ya thanks!!!

Finally our headliner for the evening was none other than Firehouse.   Britne and I saw them a year ago in Bloomington and we told ourselves we were not going to miss them when they come around again because they flat out rock!!  I think most people think of the ballads when they hear the name Firehouse but they have plenty of rockin tunes to showcase as well.  Just like the show in Bloomington they also rocked the grandstands in Decatur.  The band pounded out hit after hit from the past with classics like “All She Wrote“, “Reach for The Sky“, “Don’t treat me Bad“, ”Ought to be a Law“, and don’t forget the ballads “Love of a Lifetime” and “Look into Your Eyes”.  I’m sorry they played many more but after a few $2.00 Miller Lites mixed with my age and that spells a bad memory!! 

Bullet Boys additional dates:
07/11/08 – S. Texas Rock Fest - Boerne, TX
07/13/08 – Rocklahoma – Pryor, OK
Rocklahoma Festival Single-Day (07/11) Tickets

07/18/08 – Canton, OH – Palace Theater
07/25/08 – Chesterfield, MI – Tickets
07/26/08 – Saginaw, MI – Hamilton Street Pub
08/01/08 – Clifton, NJ – Dingbatz
08/02/08 – Springfield, VA – Tickets
08/08/08 – Rockin The Rivers - Three Forks, MT
08/09/08 – Livingston, MT – Owl
08/15/08 – Tempe, AZ – Club Red
08/16/08 – Pueblo of Acoma, NM – Sky City Casino

I have to give a big shoutout to whoever picked this lineup and booked these bands. You made it a memorable evening.  Remember, don’t stop rockin because we can’t. 

Next stop Rockfest in Cadott!!

[tags]Bullet Boys, Firehouse, House of Nasty[/tags]

Brian and I saw Firehouse in March 2007 along with L.A. Guns and Warrant (Jani Lane was not with them) and Firehouse definitely stole the show. They rocked !! Firehouse has had many hits such as “Don’t Treat Me Bad”, “Love of a Lifetime”, “When I Look Into Your Eyes”, “Here For You” “All She Wrote” and “I Live My Life For You”.

We’ve never seen the Bullet Boys either but we’re very familiar with their hits “Smooth Up In Ya, “For The Love of Money” and “Hard As Rock”. I’m sure it will be a great show.

The best part of this show is the price. The tickets are only $10 if you get them before the show. If you wait until the day of the show, then they are $15. You can obtain tickets at the Fair Office: 217-875-0135, 3700 N. Westlawn, Decatur, IL 62526, or Coziahr Harley Davidson, 217-877-7115, 150 West Marion, Forsyth, IL 62535, or at Hickory Point Bank, call 1-800-872-0081 for locations.

See ya at the show! Cant Stop Rockin !