Weird Al and NeedToBreathe - 2016
BAY CITY, MI - NEEDTOBREATHE played to a massive audience for the first night of River Roar Friday June 24, 2016, at Veterans Memorial Park.
People packed the hillside park gathering around the stage to see the night time performance. NEEDTOBREATHE, a Christian rock band, came from South Carolina to headline the start of River Roar.
Impact and the Angst opened for NEEDTOBREATHE. The two bands are both from the Saginaw Valley area.
"Weird Al" is performing this evening, gates open at 5 p.m. General admission tickets are $30; VIP tickets run for $50.
The concerts are sponsored by Soaring Eagle and Saganing Eagles Landing casinos. The title sponsor for the overall event is Maier & Associates Financial Group Inc.
The Bay City River Roar Inc. is a nonprofit organization funded by community support. Donations can be made online here
Weird Al
BAY CITY, MI -- Get ready to "Eat It" and spend a few hours in an "Amish Paradise" this summer. That's right, preeminent pop parody performer "Weird Al" Yankovic is headlining the 29th annual Bay City River Roar concert.
"It is true -- 'Weird Al' is playing Saturday night," said Chad Cunningham, a member of River Roar's board of directors.
The maestro behind such hits as "Eat It," "Fat, "White & Nerdy," "Like a Surgeon," and "Smells Like Nirvana" is taking the stage in Veterans Memorial Park the evening of Saturday, June 25. It's one of three stops Yankovic is making in Michigan this year.
Cunningham said the news of Yankovic's participation came earlier than ideal as organizers wanted to unveil his presence at a press conference. However, Yankovic's official website on Tuesday, Feb. 23, disclosed Bay City as a tour stop.
Cunningham acknowledges this is a marked change in style of previous River Roar headliners, which have included more rock-centric acts like Collective Soul in 2015 and Alice Cooper in 2014.
"We look to see who's available for that weekend," Cunningham said. "He came up. We know he's done really well in our market, so we just plugged him in."
For the rock fans, fret not. There will be a show in Vets Park Friday night that will feature more rock-oriented acts, though Cunningham said that lineup is pending.
"There will still be two nights and the nights will differ," he said. "Friday will be a rock-type show. A comedy thing Saturday night will be really fun to do."
The concerts are sponsored by Soaring Eagle and Saganing Eagles Landing casinos, Cunningham said. Tickets for the events go on sale Saturday, April 23, though the cost is yet to be determined.
Organizers in November 2015 announced they were canceling River Roar, but an outpouring of support convinced them to change their minds and bring it back. Donations can be made online at www.riverroar.com.