DATE: Saturday, October 4, 1997             TAG: 9710030095

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   43 lines

FEST'S CO-PRODUCER TOUTS CONCERTS' VENUE

BILL DOUTHAT was booking cover bands in 1974, but he'd always had an eye on the big acts. That's one reason he went to see Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young play at ODU.

He and some 30,000 others at Foreman Field that sticky August afternoon . .

``What do I remember?'' he said. ``It's kind of vague; when you get this old, the chips go out on you. But I remember it being a huge show, it may have been the biggest show at the time. It was great.''

And it made an impression. In the 1980s, Douthat brought The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Billy Joel, Madonna, David Bowie, The Police, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, R.E.M., Jimmy Buffett and U2 to venues throughout Hampton Roads.

He even booked Prince. That was in 1983 at Scope. ``He actually showed up and played,'' said Douthat, 47.

Douthat, president of Whisper Entertainment Inc., will be back at ODU today as co-producer, with Festevents, of the first Foreman Field Fall Music Fest.

It's the first concert there since CSN&Y. Make that concerts. ODU, the festival's sponsor, wanted music that would appeal to both sexes and all age groups, Douthat said.

At 2 p.m., on the east side of Foreman, the popular R&B trio SWV and 98 Degrees perform. Capping the festival is a 4 o'clock show by the Foo Fighters, the alt-rock outfit fronted by Dave Grohl of Nirvana, and Talk Show, Stone Temple Pilots sans vocalist Scott Weiland. They'll set up across the field.

``We had to put two programs together to cover that broad range of music,'' Douthat said. ``It's like the Neptune Festival or Harborfest. They do entertainment on different stages. We just took that same format and programmed it for the college market.''

The capacity for each concert is around 7,000. Douthat expects SWV to do 80 percent and the Foo Fighters to sell out. The stages will be set up midfield near the stands. There is no seating on the field.

``We didn't want to do 30,000,'' Douthat said. ``That would be too much of an impact. You've got a community over there. You have to consider parking, crowd control, all kinds of different things.

``We had to scale it to where it makes some sense, then build from there - or stay where we are. Fifteen-thousand is not bad.''

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu