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RANCHO RESORT MAINTANANCE POSITION Health Care Sierra Tucson Eating Disorders Program Coordinator General A1 Communications Cable Techs Hourly UpdateJackson, McGraw to headline country music festival in Florence4-day passes on sale today
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.02.2008
If Country Thunder USA were a cat, it would have used up six of its nine lives by now.
But a pair of veteran concert promoters with a history of mounting successful concerts and festivals throughout North America hopes to give the venerable country music event a few more lives.
Next year's festival — its 16th — is being run by Brian Andrews and Troy Vollhoffer, who own the Nashville-based Premier Global Productions. The pair stages 150 concerts and festivals throughout North America, including the hugely popular 25-year-old Craven Country Jamboree in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Andrews and Vollhoffer are taking over Country Thunder from founder and longtime operator Larry Barr.
Among the pair's immediate changes:
– Reducing the price of beer to $4 from $6.
– Reconfiguring the festival grounds in Florence from the traditional bowl setup, making it longer versus wider. The hope is that it will allow more fans access to the stagefront.
– Moving the festival from mid-April to April 1-4; the first day will feature acts performing in the beer garden to entertain folks setting up in the campgrounds.
– Rearranging performance times so that the headlining act each night will come off stage no later than 10:30 p.m. The aim is to make the festival more family-friendly so that families aren't driving home at midnight, according to a written release from the festival's publicist, Kirt Webster of Nashville-based Webster & Associates Public Relations.
The biggest change: an all-star lineup including mega-hitmakers Alan Jackson and Tim McGraw.
"That's a pretty strong lineup. And that's what these guys do. They know to draw people they have to have the names," said Terry Ree, half of the comedy team Williams & Ree, who will emcee the 2009 festival. Williams & Ree have worked with Andrews and Vollhoffer for 25 years.
"This year the headliner in Craven is George Strait. He won't be doing this one (Florence) right away, but eventually he will get there. These guys know how to run a show," Ree said.
Country Thunder has suffered declining attendance for several years after it moved from its home of nine years in Queen Creek to Florence in 2003. Much of it can be blamed on weak lineups that featured one superstar act and a cast of modestly high-profile or up-and-comers. Last year, the biggest name on the bill was Sugarland, a duo that is gaining ground but hardly holds sway to such names as Jackson (2003's headliner) or Reba McEntire (who last headlined with Trace Adkins in 2007).
The last time the festival boasted a truly all-star lineup was in 1999, when Faith Hill opened for McEntire. That festival also saw Brooks & Dunn on the bill.
"You have to have good entertainment," Andrews said Monday. "That's the draw for people. There will be nothing but national acts on the main stage."
To celebrate the changes, Country Thunder will offer 2,009 four-day passes for $99 starting today. Afterward, the four-day passes will cost $129.
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