Traverse City Record-Eagle

Arts & Entertainment

July 13, 2012

Cherry Pie XXI tour rocks Buckley Sunday

Venue features new, massive stage system

BY JAMES COOK jcook@record-eagle.com

BUCKLEY — Those wanting to finish off their Cherry Festival experience with a little pie can add some music to that experience as well.

The Cherry Pie XXI tour is coming to Buckley on Sunday, July 15, featuring Warrant, Skid Row, Firehouse, Trixter and Banshee.

Warrant is touring again for the 21st anniversary of the release of their biggest hit, "Cherry Pie."

"We were looking at what tour packages were available," said Traverse City-based Zuni Worldwide Entertainment CEO Callahan said. "And when I heard it, I thought, 'We've got to do this.' How could this fit any better?"

This is the first show at the new Southside Festival Grounds, featuring a huge stage behind the Southside Hideout.

Callahan's company started out handling various entertainment services for the Hideout, but that morphed into leasing the approximately 15 acres of land behind the bar for an 8,000-capacity festival grounds complete with a 40-foot-wide stage with a full sound system and massive lighting rigging.

"Southside Hideout is a separate entity," Callahan said. "That's a restaurant and bar that we're working with, and they are the anchor for the food and beer for the event. Southside Festival Grounds is under Zuni."

The names are similar, but Callahan said the festival grounds is intended more to reflect the south side of Traverse City than the bar — which happens to be immediately south.

"There's people that made me aware of an older concert facility that used to be in the area up in Charlevoix about 20 years ago," said Callahan, who was in an industrial metal band called 13 mg before getting into the business side of music. "I'd ask people what was going on up here for larger outdoor concerts and they'd just stare off into space and reminisce about Castle Farms and how cool it was. It seems that there's a real need in the area and a void in the market. There's a whole lot of acts going through Interlochen with a certain demographic, and there's a whole other demographic that needs to be met without having to go downstate to Grand Rapids or Detroit. With the research we've done, we think it's a good time to reach that demographic."

Last summer, Zumi brought in country act Colt Ford and Traverse City native Kenny Olson for a show before they broke ground on the new stage.

An addition to the Hideout will serve as a green room for the bands.

"People are used to coming up north for the weekend," Callahan said. "That's what we're trying to do is give them the opportunity to come up for a few days, give them their concert experience while they go about the area and support the other vendors and businesses in the area with their dollars."

While there's no on-site housing, he'd like to work in conjunction with area campgrounds to give visitors the option of camping in the vicinity as well.

Callahan figures the Cherry Pie show will draw a slightly older crowd, so the event is free for kids 12 and under.

Gates open at 2 p.m., with Banshee starting off the music at 4:30 p.m. and Skid Row closing out the evening starting at 10 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 the day of the show, and are available online at www.zuniwe.com.

Other shows currently planned for this summer are a blues festival on July 21 featuring Johnny Winter, Billy Branch and renowned barbecue chef Jim Johnson, and a rock show featuring Buckcherry and other acts on Aug. 11.

Callahan said the grounds won't focus on just one genre of music, as evidenced by the first four major shows there featuring country, '80s hair metal, blues and modern rock.

"It'll take some time for people to recognize the brand and the venue," Callahan said.

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