DATE: Saturday, September 6, 1997           TAG: 9709060404

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHEN KIEHL, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   49 lines

STADIUM CONCERTS WILL RETURN TO ODU AFTER 23-YEAR ABSENCE

Outdoor stadium concerts will return to Old Dominion University next month as the school begins what it hopes will be an annual tradition.

The alternative rock band Foo Fighters and the rhythm and blues groups SWV and 98 will play in a daylong festival Oct. 4 at ODU's Foreman Field. It will mark the return of concerts to the stadium after a 23-year absence.

The last concert at Foreman Field was Aug. 17, 1974, when Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young played to 32,000 fans. That show was billed at the time as ``the biggest rock extravaganza'' ever in this area. It may still hold that title, since local music venues hold at most 20,000 people.

Several factors converged that took concerts away from Foreman Field, said Dana Burnett, ODU dean of students and vice president for student services. Most notable was the opening of the 11,500-seat Scope arena in 1971, which provided a venue for concerts that could not be rained out. And Hampton Coliseum, with a capacity of 11,000, opened in 1970.

Foreman Field opened in 1936 and hosted ODU football games until 1940 - the last year the school had a football team.

Until last year, Norfolk State University played its football games at the stadium. This year, however, NSU opened its own stadium, freeing up Saturdays this fall for events like the Oct. 4 concerts.

The concerts, called the Foreman Field Fall Music Fest, are being planned by Festevents, a nonprofit concert planning group, and Whisper Consultants. The university plans to host a similar music festival at Foreman Field in the spring.

``We hope to make this at least an annual event,'' Burnett said. ``There may be more (concerts) than that. We'll see how successful we are in the fall.''

The 98 /SWV concert at 2 p.m. Oct. 4 and the Foo Fighters at 4 p.m. will require separate tickets. For ODU students, tickets are free. For the public, tickets can be purchased for $5 in advance at Ticketmaster locations and $7 at the gate on the day of the concerts. They cannot be charged by phone.

Two stages will be constructed on the 50-yard line - one for each concert. That means only one set of bleachers will be used for each show, providing a seating capacity of about 10,000.

Though Festevents approached ODU with the concerts idea, the university was eager to participate, Burnett said.

``Students are interested, as we become more residential, in activities on campus,'' he said. ``This is one of many different things we're doing to provide an exciting campus life at Old Dominion.''

The school has about 18,500 students and 10,000 undergraduates. About 6,000 of the undergrads live on or near campus.

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