Hey there, Time Travelers! The Mayor has officially proclaimed August 1st to 7th as “80s Week” in Louisville, KY! In celebration, the Stadium Rock 80s festival will take place, now recognized as the largest all-80s rock festival in the nation. Hosted by Don Jamieson. Grab your tickets now @ https://www.stadiumrock80s.com/ The Biggest 80s Weekend Since… The 80s!

Huge 80’s Pop Culture Fan Zone! Movie & TV Cars, Giant Rubix Cube, Ghostbusters Crew & Display, Back To The Future Time Machine, Photo Booths, 80s DJ Dance Party, Movie & TV Trivia, Classic Video Games & More!

Incredible Lineup For The Event: QUEENSRYCHE – GREAT WHITE – SLAUGHTER ALDO NOVA – LA GUNS – JOHN CORABI – VIXEN – RON KEEL BAND – TRIXTER – ENUFF Z NUFF – PRETTY BOY FLOYD – NOVA REX

All Happening At The Totally Awesome Lynn Family Stadium! 350 Adams St, Louisville, KY, USA.

VIP tickets (and a VIP camping pass) have been purchased! It’s almost time again for my annual trip to Pryor, OK for the Memorial Day Weekend musical party known as Rocklahoma. As a fan of 80s Hair Bands and early 90s bands mislabeled as Grunge, I am more excited about this year’s lineup than any other Rocklahoma I’ve attended. I’m happy to see that Red Sun Rising, The Cult, and Diamond Head are returning in 2018 since Mother Nature had other plans for most of the bands who were scheduled to play on the Saturday schedule in 2017.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Friday, May 25th, brings us bands familiar to Rocklahoma, such as Adelitas Way, along with some other bands I’m looking forward to seeing. Stone Temple Pilots, The Cult, and A Perfect Circle are on the top of my “to see” list on this day. I never got to see the original STP lineup, but having seen video of them with their current singer, Jeff Gutt, I have a feeling they’re going to give us a kick ass performance. The Cult and A Perfect Circle are also on my “never seen” list, with the exception of having seen Maynard perform with Tool once.

Saturday, May 26th, brings us Pop Evil, another Rocklahoma veteran. The highlights of this day include Powerman 5000, Diamond Head, Vince Neil, Ghost, and Godsmack. With the exception of Vince fronting Mötley Crüe, these are all first time shows for me. It promises to be a good day.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Sunday, May 27th, is the day I’m most looking forward to, having never seen Lynch Mob or Candlebox, this promises to be the highlight of the day for me. I’m also happy to see Cinderella’s Tom Keifer, Halestorm, Cheap Trick, and Poison again as they always deliver.

With any luck, I’ll get a chance to interview a few people from these bands. Regardless, this will likely be the best Rocklahoma I’ve attended (weather permitting). If you’re on the fence about attending, I urge you to come and experience it for yourself. Visit Rocklahoma.com for ticket information and the full list of bands (there are more than 75 bands on three stages). I hope to see you there!

Photo by Mike Inns (Source: Wikipedia)

Singer, bassist, and songwriter John Wetton died on January 31, 2017 after a battle with cancer. He worked in bands Mogul Thrash, Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry, Uriah Heep, and Wishbone Ash. He found commercial success as the front man and primary songwriter for the supergroup Asia.

Allen is going back to Rocklahoma!

After having to take a couple years hiatus due to work responsibilities, I will be returning to Pryor, OK for Rocklahoma 2017! I’ve never seen Soundgarden, The Offspring, The Cult, Suicidal Tendencies, Diamond Head, or Fozzy so I’m pretty excited about that. I’m also looking forward to seeing Jackyl, Ratt, Skillet (all Rocklahoma alumni), Def Leppard, Buckcherry, and Slaughter again. Note that Nova Rex is also on the bill. We interviewed their bassist, Kenny Wilkerson, back in September. I’m looking forward to checking them out again. On a side note, I interviewed Jesse James Dupree WAY BACK in 2008 for another rock website. That dude is a riot.

This year, I treated myself to the VIP seating and camping package so that I can spend less time fighting for a good spot on the lawn and more time watching the bands so that I can bring a better reporting experience to the Ages of Rock audience. Stay tuned. I’m going to do my best to write about some of the artists between now and the weekend of the show.

Rocklahoma 2017 Lineup

Photo by: Adamsharp (Source: Wikipedia)

George Martin died on March 8, 2016 at the age of 90. His death was announced by Ringo Starr on his Twitter account. A spokesperson for the Universal Music Group confirmed his death. The cause of death has not been announced. He was survived by his wife of nearly fifty years, Judy Lockhart Smith, and his four children. (Source: Wikipedia)