Rock ‘n’ roll will take on a whole new meaning at the Halfway to Nelsonville Music Festival party Saturday, where attendees will not only get to enjoy live music at an unlikely venue — Rollerbowl Lanes — but also find out headliners for the spring event.
The party marks the halfway point to the festival, which will begin May 30, 2013. Stuart’s Opera House planned the event as an expansion of the smaller-scale shows at Casa Nueva, 4 W. State St., that took place around the halfway point in previous years.
“It’s an exciting thing for us and a lot of folks who look forward to the festival,” said Brian Koscho, marketing and promotions coordinator for Stuart’s. “It makes it not seem as far away as it is.”
Two headliners and some smaller acts will be announced at the event, something Tim Peacock, the executive director of Stuart’s Opera House and the Nelsonville Music Festival, said is atypical of this point in the organizing process.
Along with line-up reveals, attendees can purchase super-early-bird tickets for the festival, which will be the cheapest price available. A drawing will also be held, which will include two weekend passes to the event.
Saturday evening will include two aspects not normally seen at Rollerbowl Lanes: beer, which is not normally permitted to be sold at the alley, and live music.
The event will feature music from two local bands, the D-Rays and County Pharaohs, along with Columbus-based Nick Tolford & Company.
“I believe this is the first-ever rock show at the Athens Rollerbowl,” Peacock said in an email. “I think (all three bands) fit well with the seemingly weird atmosphere that a bowling alley will provide for the rock show.”
All of the performers for the event have also played at the Nelsonville Music Festival in the past.
“It was really awesome, the bands were really good … the crowd was very receptive and had no problem coming up and talking with us about whether or not they liked it, and a lot of them seemed to enjoy it,” said Tolford, who played at the festival two years ago. He said he would play again “in a heartbeat.”
Although Koscho would not comment on booking decisions, he said the bands that performed at past halfway events, which were on a smaller scale, were asked to play at the festival.
Only a small number of the bands are booked, Peacock said, but more announcements will be made after the new year as the line-up is cemented.
“It is a big undertaking and the biggest event that Stuart’s Opera House produces every year,” Peacock said. “But all of the work that goes into it makes it super fun and exciting for those of us involved. Our work on this event and most of what we do is never boring. I think we all feel lucky to be involved.”
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