THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 31, 1996 TAG: 9608310361
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE ADDIS AND BILL REED, staff writers
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 89 lines
On opening night of the biggest bash of the year, city officials and concert planners were figuring out what to do should a gate-crasher named Edouard throw wind, rain and heavy surf at their party.
As plastic banners were lashed Friday afternoon to a massive portable stage set up in the sand at 5th Street, those in charge of the city's third annual American Music Festival kept a show-must-go-on attitude while setting plans to move concerts inland should the weather turn nasty.
``We've always had a plan,'' said Bill Reid, president of Cellar Door Entertainment, which is staging the weekend concerts. ``It's just a question of fine-tuning the plan because new situations create new circumstances.''
Some of the headline acts at the 5th Street stage could be moved a few blocks inland, to the protected environs of the Pavilion Convention Center. Reid said decisions would be made each morning through the weekend.
``Generally speaking,'' he said, ``the weather looks good through Saturday. Sunday morning we'll make a decision for that day, and each morning we'll make a decision on that day's event activities. . . . If we have to move shows to the Pavilion, we'll honor all tickets there and sell tickets there.
``We've planned for this all along,'' he said. ``Well, really, the plan was for rain, not for a hurricane.''
He encouraged ticket-holders to listen through the weekend to rock 'n' roll and oldies radio stations for concert updates.
Reid, others with his company and city officials were encouraging everyone involved Friday not to over-react, at that point, to a hurricane that was still hundreds of miles southeast of the Carolinas and giving no indication where it might go.
High-volume media alerts in advance of other storms often have driven business from the beach days before any real threat existed. And Labor Day, as hoteliers and restaurateurs will attest, is the last weekend they'd choose to have the crowds scared away for no good reason.
Reid and city staff members were annoyed, for example, that a Roanoke-area radio station had erroneously announced that the American Music Festival had been canceled.
``That storm could take two to three days to get here, if it comes here at all,'' Mark Higgason said Friday, as he waited tables at the outdoor cafe of Fogg's Seaside Grill, which sits virtually in the shadow of the massive stage at 5th Street.
``Nobody's really frantic about this, nobody wants to spread any panic or bad rumors about it.''
There was certainly no sign of Edouard at the Oceanfront Friday night, as Chuck Berry put several hundred people into a wiggling, shaking mood.
``Why should we worry?'' Charles Verschoor of Miami asked as he headed to an outdoor french fry stand with his wife, Alba.
``We're used to hurricanes. We get blasted every few weeks. We see it as a normal hazard - like crime.''
People strolled by on the beach side of the berm that separated ticketholders from bathers. Some did little dances as they passed by.
Terry Bream of Buffalo, N.Y., played a funky air guitar as he watched his boys play in the surf. Was he worried about the weather?
``Absolutely not. I've got Chuck Berry and rock 'n' roll.''
But if heavy winds from Edouard do threaten Virginia Beach this weekend, the stage itself could be problematic. Made of metal scaffolding, wood and fabric, it towers 47 feet - nearly five stories - above the beach. A foreman on the construction crew estimated Friday it would take 16 hours to disassemble.
The beach area that has been cleared for concert crowds is protected from heavier-than-normal surf by a sand berm that was bulldozed 6 to 8 feet high, from 5th to 7th streets. It would be of little value in a hurricane, though.
Reid, the concert promoter, seemed confident that today's major show - Willie Nelson and the Atlanta Rhythm Section in the afternoon - would go on as planned. Huey Lewis and the News are to play there Sunday, and the Temptations and the Four Tops Monday. Those shows, which carry an admission charge, could be moved to the Pavilion.
Other name acts were to play free throughout the weekend at stages at 24th and 17th streets.
Details on where those shows would be held in bad weather were still being worked out Friday.
Though Edouard's path remained uncertain and the day was sunny and warm, treacherous surf forced lifeguards to close resort beaches to swimmers Friday morning.
Surfers and Boogie-boarders were reveling in shoulder-high waves that rolled in through the afternoon.
Hotel reservations remained strong going into the weekend, said Mary Pat Fortier, executive director of the Virginia Beach Hotel and Motel Association.
``We've had reports from a few hotels that some people had canceled reservations for the last two days - Sunday and Monday,'' she said. ``Generally speaking, (reservations) are comparable to last year.'' MEMO: Staff writer Paul Clancy contributed to this story.
KEYWORDS: AMERICA MUSIC FESTIVAL by CNB