THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060058
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 89 lines
IF IT'S ONLY rock 'n' roll that floats your boat, you'll like the 10-day music festival beginning Friday in Virginia Beach.
Ditto if your taste runs to blues, jazz, country and world beat.
The concerts are part of the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts' Boardwalk International Arts Festival, a large-scale lineup of theater, visual arts, films, dance and a children's festival.
It began last month with the VBCA exhibit, ``It's Only Rock and Roll.'' The centerpiece, the 41st Boardwalk Art Show, is next Thursday through June 16. A special section in today's Virginian-Pilot includes the complete schedule.
Among the headliners are rock perennials Jefferson Starship, Blood Sweat & Tears and Bachman Turner Overdrive. Rising country star Steve Azar and the swinging Roomful of Blues will be in town, too. Bluesman Gibb Droll and jazzman Jae Sinnett top the local talent.
Music will be on screen, too, with classic rock flicks presented in the great outdoors.
Catch them all at the 17th and 24th street Oceanfront stages and/ or the VBCA; most concerts are free.
Here are the highlights:
BeatleMania Live! re-creates in a few hours what the Fab Four took decades to accomplish. Friday's fancy kickoff party at the VBCA is $44 per person; they play free Saturday night at 7:30 at the 24th Street stage.
Jefferson Starship has been around, under one banner or the other, since busting out of 1960s' San Francisco as Jefferson Airplane. Vocalist Mickey Thomas fronts the latest incarnation. 8 p.m. Sunday, 24th Street.
The 18-piece Orquesta de Guitarras, one of the most intriguing acts on the festival, was founded 13 years ago in its native Costa Rica. The repertoire includes Latin-American pop, plus classical works by Bartok and Manuel de Falla. This is their first U.S. trip. 7 and 9 p.m. next Thursday, VBCA, $10; 7:30 p.m. June 16, 17th Street, free.
Rhode Island's Roomful of Blues has been a regular on the Hampton Roads club circuit for 15 years. Jazz? Blues? R&B? Swing? It's all here. 7:30 p.m. June 14, 24th Street.
``Someday'' is the current single off ``Heartbreak Town,'' the debut album by Steve Azar. Country insiders say the Greensville, Miss., singer/songwriter is one to watch. 7:30 p.m. June 14, 17th Street.
Blood Sweat & Tears is hardly the pioneers who cut ``The Child Is Father to the Man.'' But with David Clayton Thomas manning the mike, later hits such as ``Spinning Wheel'' and ``You've Made Me So Very Happy'' should ring as true as ever. 7:30 p.m. June 15, 24th Street.
Guitarist Randy Bachman left the Guess Who to form Bachman Turner Overdrive. ``You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet'' and ``Taking Care of Business'' have been top-down, summer hits since. 7:30 p.m. June 16, 24th Street.
The regional/local lineup also touches all the bases: popular blues-rocker Gibb Droll; the jazzy Jae Sinnett Trio; Apollo, the Virginia Symphony chamber ensemble; Schola Cantorum, a 36-voice chorale; the reggae beat of Zion Wave, and, for country-music fans, Chesapeake's own Mann Sisters and the Cruzin' Coyotes, the pride of Elizabeth City.
And that's just for starters. Again, check the schedule in today's special section.
As part of the festival, the VBCA is screening a series of rock 'n' roll-related films in its auditorium and outside.
The schedule includes the documentaries ``Woodstock,'' ``Hard to Hold: Dylan,'' ``Janis Joplin: The Way She Was'' and ``The Last Waltz,'' Martin Scorsese's film about the star-studded final concert by The Band. Among the feature films are Milos Forman's ``Hair'' and ``Tommy,'' directed by Ken Russell; John Travolta in ``Saturday Night Fever,'' and ``Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,'' with Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. MEMO: Staff writer Teresa Annas contributed to this story. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Starship, with Mickey Thomas, will play Sunday.
Color art by Woodstock Ventures Inc.
The movie "Woodstock" will be one of the documentaries shown in the
festival. by CNB