The third Common Ground festival opens Tuesday at Riverfront Park with large music and small changes.
The music will be heavy on classic rock. It piles up enough names-from Foreigner and Smokey Robinson to Kool & The Gang and Earth, Wind & Fire - to fill a jukebox.
It will also have some young rock and country, plus an opening-night avalanche of heavy metal.
Such music, live and loud and large, is the heart of Common Ground. "When you're all on, when you're all cookin', there's nothing like it," said Randy Bachman, the guitarist for the Guess Who, which performs Thursday.
Music, with an emphasis on classic rock, has dominated the festival. Still, Common Ground director Kevin Meyer said there will always be some changes.
Last year, Common Ground managed to increase its size and shrink its deficit. The total attendance over six nights was 58,000 (up 20 percent); the total loss was $33,190 (down from $98,000).
This year, the event at least has a shot at breaking even. "We've always said it would take 3 to 5 years," said Peter Sullivan, who co-founded Common Ground with Meyer.
They'll keep the same basic plan: Tickets are $60 for all six days, $20 or $25 for one day, free for kids 10 and younger. Once you're in the gate, the music is free; also free, on Saturday and Sunday, are various family and action events.
Beyond that, however, there are the changes and the bits of growth.
In the second year, Common Ground added a second main stage. It also added a giant Ferris Wheel.
This year, the changes include:
· A crafts show, opening Friday. "We happen to be between the Muskegon and Ann Arbor shows, so our timing is perfect," Meyer said.
· A chunk of land that will be just outside the Common Ground fence. That chunk, in the northwest corner of Riverfront Park, will let people catch the crafts and local concerts for free.
· Two Lansing Center events that are linked to Common Ground. There will be a swing-dancing Friday and a late-night DJ party Saturday.
· An outdoor restaurant, complete with video monitors showing what's onstage. "It's going to be a full bar, Sullivan said. "If you want a martini, you can get it without missing the concert."
All of those are minor adjustments. Common Ground will fly or flail with music.
That starts at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, when Skid Row booms onstage. For the next five plus hours, Lansing gets unblinking, unbending, unrepentant rock 'n' roll.
"The crowd gets to hear four top-of-the-heap bands," said Tommy Skeoch, the Tesla guitarist.
Common Ground ends July 14, with chronological opposites. On the stage will be the rockers of The Calling, who are in their 20's; on the other will be Smokey Robinson, still smokin' at 62.
Sandwiched between the metal start and the Smokey finish, there will be large layers of old rock and new country.
Classic rock? Try Foreigner or Journey or Little Feat. Try Edgar Winter or George Thorogood, Kool & The Gang or Earth, Wind & Fire.
These guys have rocked for decades. "We were blessed in that what we do has lasted," said Ralph Johnson, 51, who's been doing percussion and vocals for Earth, Wind & Fire for 30 years.
New country? In a two-night blur Thursday and Friday, Lansing will hear Blake Shelton, Jamie O'Neal, Phil Vassar, Steve Azar, Brad Martin, Sixwire and Little Big Town. In a few years, some of them will be big; some others will be back home, singing demos.
If some of those draw a shrug, don't fret. The two-stage system gives visitors a choice.
On opening night, the metal crowd will be at the West Main Stage. Meyer figures that area can hold about 12,500 people - some sitting on blanket or lawn chairs, others thrashing about. On the same night, Thorogood and Little Feat will be on the other side of the river; the East Main Stage holds about 5,000.
Counting other areas, Common Ground might hold as many as 20,000 people at a time. Sullivan is hoping to sell up to 7,500 Common Cards (last year's total was 5,000) for all six days, with the rest being daily tickets.
There will be more going on during the final two days, when the non-music activities arrive. They'll include a climbing wall, a maze, a "Ground Assault" course and more.
Kids, who get in free if they're 10 or younger, can catch a playground and a stage, complete with six performances of Garfield's 25th anniversary show.
There are also two events at the Lansing Center, which is logical. Common Ground is a co-production of Meridian Entertainment (Meyer's group) and the Lansing Entertainment & Public Facilities Authority (Sullivan's).
"If you think about FestEve, the best attendance was always for the big band," Sullivan said. "You get the older crowd, but you also get the younger swing dancers."
So on Friday night, Those Delta Rhythm Kings will perform there. The next night, there will be a DJ party; Sullivan considers the Lansing Center a natural lure. "We're air-conditioned, and we're right by the main gate."
Rock'n'roll and country, of course, don't need air conditioning. They like it hot and heavy.
Steve Azar can verify that. One recent country concert in Grand Rapids felt just like he was back home in Mississippi.
"I love it," he said. "Playing in the heat, lookin' at that big stretch of people. This is where my heart is."