Robert Randolph and the Family Band headline the Valley Bank Big Lick Blues Festival!
August 17, 2012 by Larry
Filed under Our Events
Saturday, September 29!
The Band of Oz wraps up the Kroger Cabin Fever Series!
February 11, 2012 by Larry
Filed under Music, Our Events
The Band of Oz
The 2012 Kroger Cabin Fever Series wraps up the series Friday March 9, with the 2011 CAMMY Award winning “Group of the Year” the The Band of Oz. Considered by us and anyone that’s seen them one of the best party bands in the region. The Band of Oz also boasts countless other CAMMY’s, including “Best Group,” “Best Album,” “Song of the Year,” and they were inducted into the Beach Music Hall of Fame in 1997.
Remember doors open at 6:00pm, at the Roanoke Civic Center Exhibition Hall. Music from 6:30 – 10:00pm.
Don’t wait to purchase your discounted advance ticket, for information, click here!
4th Annual Derby Day Gala- May 5, 2012- Tickets now available!
January 12, 2012 by Larry
Filed under Our Events
Don’t miss out on THE event of the year;
the Fourth Annual Derby Day Gala at Rockledge.
This fabulous event, on Saturday May 5, 2012, is in its fourth year of fund-raising for EventZone and it’s Festival in the Park’s Scholarship for the Arts Program, which has donated over $125,000 to area students who are pursing a degree in arts. Don’t just hear about this event, be a part of it! Tickets purchased are tax deductible. See photos of the past Derby Day Galas.
Here’s an idea of the Gala activities
4:00pm – Hors devours available, Champagne available at entrance
4:30pm – “Lucky Lane” – friendly wagering opens
4:45pm – Project 4 performing
6:00pm – Scholarship for the Arts Presentation
6:24pm – Official post time for 138th Kentucky Derby
6:35pm – “Derby fare” Buffet
6:30pm – Project 4 performing
7:30pm – Derby Day Auction
7:45pm – Best & Derby Attired Gentleman & Lady Winners
8:00pm – Project 4 performing
Read more about last year’s Derby Day Gala, continue scrolling.
Make your 2012 Derby Day Gala Reservation
DELBERT McClinton headlines SunTrust Big Lick Blues Festival – Sat. Oct.1
July 21, 2011 by Larry
Filed under Music, Our Events
Delbert McClinton
It’s Roanoke’s award winning “Sizzlin’ Hot Blues & Smokin’ Ribs Festival” – the SunTrust Big Lick Blues Festival. Make plans now for Sat. Oct. 1, 2012 in Elmwood Park, downtown Roanoke VA. This year we’re planning to bring you some killer music and killer food. Starting with the return of 3x Grammy winner Delbert McClinton and his band Dick 50. Delbert was a huge hit at the festival in 2009, plus we know he had a great time too, as his folks called us to request coming back! Also on the bill is Bernard Allison, son of the legendary bluesman Luther Allison. Bernard spends most of his touring in Europe but this fall he has scheduled a few U.S. shows – including the SunTrust Big Lick Blues Festival – we are thrilled! And more including Roanoke’s own The Fat Daddy Band and and the yet to be determined winning act from the upcoming Blue Ridge Blue’s Society’s competition. By the way that competition takes place at the Blue Ridge Blues & BBQ Fest scheduled for Sat. July 16 here in Roanoke as well (headlined by Tommy Castro).
Don’t for
get the SunTrust Big Lick Blues also features finger lickin’ eats as well – with a emphasis on ribs. Each year local restaurants serve up delicious food and we have plenty of cold beverages as well. This fine combination of world class blues artists, and world class eats makes the SunTrust Big Lick Blues Festival one of the region’s “must attend” festivals each year.
Advance discount tickets are available now online. Make plans now!
Bernard Allison
See the SunTrust Big Lick Blues Festival web site for complete details.
Be certain to “Like” us on Facebook!
’11 Kroger Cabin Fever Series – Band of Oz – Friday Feb. 18th!
March 20, 2011 by Larry
Filed under Music, Our Events
Our all-star lineup for this winter’s Kroger Cabin Fever Series continues Friday Feb. 18th at the Roanoke Civic Center – remember a new start time where doors open at 6:00pm and music from 6:30 to 10:00pm.
The Cabin Fever ticket information. Individual concert advance tickets are $17.00. You save $3.00 – because “day of” admission is $20.00. Also remember this is a 21 & older event.
Friday, February 18, 2011- Band of Oz
Friday, March 4, 2011- Jim Quick & Coastline
Become a fan on Facebook and stay up to date with specials and giveaways!
John Lee Hooker, Jr. has truley lived the “life of a bluesman.”
August 23, 2010 by Larry
Filed under Community, Music, Our Events
John Lee Hooker Jr. was born in Detroit “Motor City” with Delta blues-filled blood running through his Motown veins. The son of the great John Lee Hooker, he was exposed the life of 
the blues from a young age. At only eight years old Jr. performed on Detroit’s WJBK radio and knew from that moment that he wanted to follow the path of his father and become a world-class musician. Touring alongside Hooker, Sr. throughout his teens, Jr. had already performed in prestigious venues such as Detroit’s Fox Theatre with acclaimed musicians like Jimmy Reed by the time he was 16. In 1972, an eighteen year-old John Jr. was singing vocals alongside his father for the recording of Hooker, Sr.’s album Live at Soledad Prison.
Unfortunately, while living the “life of a bluesman” he succumbed to the demons that surround it, derailing his musical career for many, many years. Drugs, alcohol, divorce, incarceration, and death nearly brought his once promising career to a screeching halt, but it was living the blues and his faith in the Almighty that resurrected Jr. Hooker. With the support of his family and friends, and a crew of talented musicians who never ceased to believe in him, Jr. Hooker finally found his own inner muse, making music that expresses the depth of emotion he has experienced in his personal life.
His first album, Blues with a Vengeance, is what he called his “celebratory redemption.” After struggling through years of extreme hardship and nearly losing himself to the streets, the remarkable John Lee Hooker Jr. overcame the adversity to begin a rapid emergence into the blues spotlight. Released in April 2004, Blues with a Vengeance certainly lived up to its name by wrapping up 2004 with a Grammy nomination in the Traditional Blues Album category and a nomination for a distinguished W.C. Handy Award as Best New Artist Debut. The California Music Awards (formerly the BAMMYS) named Blues with a Vengeance 2004′s Outstanding Blues Album of the Year, and the Bay Area Blues Society presented John Lee Hooker Jr. with the 2004 Comeback Artist of the Year award, as he performed alongside world-class musicians Jimmy Reed, BB King, Bo Diddley, Lenny Kravitz, Taj Mahal, Koko Taylor, Charlie Musslewhite, Etta James, and John Lee Hooker.
Cold As Ice, Jr. Hooker’s second album, was released in June of 2006 and showed his progression as a contemporary blues artist. Blending his roots with a modern sound, his style is indicative of his Motown base. Music enthusiasts describe his style as R&B, Jazz, Funk, and “down home blues”. While the record did not gather as much attention as his debut, it received positive reviews across the board and solidified Jr. Hooker as one of blues’ rising stars. Epitomizing the synthesis between traditional blues and the new age funk, the record at times pays homage to his father while at others it blazes a trail of its own.
John Lee Hooker Jr. releases his third CD, All Odds Against Me only to discover the impact it has made worldwide in its infancy… it generated a ’08 Grammy nomination. Jr. Hooker continues to carry the blues into the 21st. century. The 12-song album was his first effort to include only new original tracks, a contrast to either of his previous solo projects.
Additionally, Jr. continues to stretch the envelope, becoming blues’ first animated superhero in a cartoon included on the enhanced disc. The first episode of “Bluesman” introduces Jr. Hooker. as a crime-fighting musician, singing in clubs by night and cleaning up the streets by day. Conceived by Frenchman Laurent Mercier at the Callicore Animation Studios in Paris, the video series has also inspired work to begin on a comic book. Mercier, son of a French jazzman contemporary of Hooker Sr., dreamt up the idea as a way for the two sons to pay tribute to their fathers’ legacies and Jr. immediately embraced the vision. Set to “Blues Ain’t Nothing but a Pimp” from Blues with a Vengeance, the video is the first of three to be released in 2008.
From the gravely blues of the Detroit streets to a new era of sound; from the shadow of his father’s accomplishments to standing apart from his namesake; from criminal to crime-fighter; from San Quentin to the Red Carpet, its no wonder the album is called All Odds Against Me. John Lee Hooker Jr. has built upon his colorful past as he continues to distinguish himself as a contemporary “Bluesman.”
See John Lee Hooker. Jr, at the Sat. Sept. 2, 2010 SunTrust Big Lick Blues Festival in Elmwood Park, downtown Roanoke. Advance discount tickets are available now online or at all regional SunTrust Bank branch locations for just $22.00. Also appearing are Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps and 4x Grammy winner, “Mr. Tuff Enough” Jimmie Vaughan.
Rockin’ Blues & Smokin’ Ribs! Discount Tickets on Sale NOW!
August 16, 2010 by Larry
Filed under Community, Music, Our Events
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The award winning SunTrust Big Lick Blues Festival, Sat. Oct. 2, 2010 – promises once again to deliver “Rockin’ Blues & Smokin’ Ribs!” And this year’s entertainment
lineup will blow you away. Featuring 4x Grammy winner and guitar legend Jimmie Vaughan and his Tilt-A-Whirl Band (featuring Lou Ann Barton). 2x Grammy nominee John Lee Hooker, Jr. and his band with their funky Blues & Soul sound! The Virginia debut of Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps will keep you on the dance floor! Plus Clarence “The Bluesman” Turner, the U.S. Foods Rib
Cook-Off Competition, the Martin’s Rib Eating Contest and all the ribs and BBQ you can handle!
Winner of three 2010 “Best of City Awards”
March 22, 2010 by Larry
Filed under Community, Music, Our Events
City Magazine’s March issue, on stands now, has published the Best of City Awards 2010. EventZone and Festival in the Park are awarded again! Festival in the Park received “Best Festival” (in the la
st 12 months). “Best Non-Profit” is EventZone! There are a lot of great, local non-profits so we were thrilled to find out EventZone was recognized and appreciated. With the more recent launch of EventZone’s website, being named one of the “Best Local Websites,” has proved all the hard work has paid off. Thanks to our fans and please continue to support EventZone and all of the festivals and events in Roanoke. 2010 is going to offer more than ever!
If you’re not already a fan on Facebook, please become one! There are many great incentives to being an EventZone fan, as well as up to date information.
BB&T’s Party in the Park Facebook Fan Page
Festival in the Park’s Facebook Fan Page
The Holiday Band & our First-Ever Glow-Stick Dance Contest
March 3, 2010 by Larry
Filed under Community, Music, Our Events
This Friday night promises to be a fun night, as the Kroger Cabin Fever Series continues. The Holiday Band, considered one the Southeast’s premier party and dance bands, will play a variety of musical styles that promise keep all of you involved and on the dance floor.
Plus get ready and don’t miss the first ever (at least for the Kroger Cabin Fever Series) Glow-Stick Dance Contest. Up to five couples decked out in glow sticks compete for BB&T Party in the Park Tickets, dinner for two at 
Martin’s Downtown Bar & Grill, and bragging rights!
The Holiday Band
The Holiday Band, formed in 1991 in Burlington, NC, has been honored by the Carolina Association of Beach Music many times receiving Cammy Awards for “Group of the Year” and “Album of the Year” among many others. They have 6 musicians on stage including saxophone, trumpet, keyboards, drums, guitar and bass, and feature several lead vocalists and smooth background harmonies. The Holiday Band has performed everywhere from Lincoln Center in New York City, to private gigs in Florida; and soon will play its first cruise to Mexico. To date, the Holiday Band has released 8 CDs, many of have been nominated and won various awards at the Carolina Beach Music Awards Show. With an eclectic song list that includes Soul, R&B, Rock, Funk, Top 40, Beach Music, Disco and even country, The Holiday Band can please any Crowd!
Friday March 26, 2010 marks the first appearance at the Kroger Cabin Fever Series for the Holiday Band – every summer their performance at BB&T’s Party in the Park is so impressive and fun we just knew we had to have more of these guys.
If you’re not already a fan on Facebook, please become one! There are many great incentives to being an EventZone fan, as well as up to date information.
BB&T’s Party in the Park Facebook Fan Page
Festival in the Park’s Facebook Fan Page
Roanoke’s Riverdance Challenge – Lord of Roanoke!
February 27, 2010 by Larry
Filed under Community, Our Events
We’re going to challenge the World Record for the longest Riverdance line and we need you particpation! Get to downtown Roanoke early before the McDonald’s St. Pat’s Parade and be part of the fun event! We hope to fill Jefferson Street with Riverdancers of all spaces and sizes. If you can move your feet and chew gun at the same time – you can do it! We’ll show you how. Tell you friends and spread the word. See our Facebook event page for continual updates. The line will start at the parade judges stand at Franklin Road & Jefferson St. (in front of SunTrust) and hopefully run all the way down to the Celtic Festival site (in front of Corned Beef & Company). Who knows, maybe even longer than that.
It all happens about 30 minutes before the McDonald’s St. Pat’s Parade steps off.
Get there EARLY, the Riverdance Challenge starts at approx. 10:30am!
