Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel has announced the lineup for this year’s Rockin’ the Downs concert series, and classic rock and country music fans will be very excited.
Kicking off the series on Sunday, June 4th is country powerhouse Lonestar. Known for merging their country roots with strong melodies and rich vocals, Lonestar has sold over ten million albums, and achieved ten #1 country hits including No News, Come Crying To Me, and their crossover smash Amazed, which was also #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band's awards include the 2001 CMA Vocal Group of the Year.
Next up, on Friday, June 23, is Dennis DeYoung and the Music of Styx. DeYoung was the songwriter of the band Styx’s hits like Come Sail Away, Babe, Mr. Roboto, The Best of Times, Don’t Let It End, Show Me the Way, and Lady.
On Friday, June 30, the money man, Eddie Money, will rock the house with his slew of massive hits that includes Baby Hold On, Two Tickets to Paradise, Think I’m in Love, Shakin’, Take Me Home Tonight, and I Wanna Go Back. Along with having sold more than 28 million records, Money’s songs have appeared in dozens of movies and television shows, and have recently been included in hit video games like Grand Theft Auto and Guitar Hero.
Founding member of “Foreigner”, Lou Gramm will be bringing down the house on Friday, July 7. A native of nearby Rochester, Gramm has brought his amazing voice to the rock scene for more than 40 years. Gramm performed vocals on such hits as Hot Blooded, Feels Like the First Time, Cold as Ice, Double Vision, Dirty White Boy, Head Games, and Juke Box Hero. With Gramm at the helm, Foreigner's first eight singles cracked the Billboard Top 20, making them the first band since The Beatles to achieve this.
Southern rockers The Marshall Tucker Band bring their 40 years of hits to Batavia Downs on Friday, July 14. With hit singles like Heard It In a Love Song, Fire On The Mountain, Can't You See, and Take The Highway, The Marshall Tucker Band earned seven gold and three platinum albums while they were on the Capricorn Records label. During the 90's, the MTB scored four hit singles on Billboard's country chart and one on Billboard's gospel chart. Their music has also been featured on the soundtracks of movies such as Smokey and the Bandit, Blow, The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, Shipwrecked, Crank 2, Don’t Mess with Zohan, Stop Loss, Swing Vote, Taking Chance and many others as well as many TV Shows.
On Friday, July 21, Lee Greenwood brings his chart-topping music to the Downs. His hit song, God Bless the USA has been voted the most recognizable patriotic song in America. Greenwood has won numerous industry awards including, Male Vocalist of the year for the Academy of Country Music in 1983, two Male Vocalist of the Year awards from the Country Music Association, 1983 & 1984 and a Grammy for Top Male Vocal Performance in 1985 for “I.O.U.”. With seven #1 songs & 25 charted singles, his hits include It Turns Me Inside Out, Ring On Her Finger, Time on Her Hands, She’s Lyin, I Don’t Mind the Thorns if You’re the Rose, and Dixie Road.
Tickets for all six concerts will be available at BataviaConcerts.com beginning at 10:00 am on Friday, April 21. Individual tickets to each concert will be $10 for General Admission while VIP tickets will be $25. Tickets can also be purchased in-person at Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel at their “Made in America” store located in the lobby.
“We are very proud to offer our loyal patrons and the people of this region an amazing lineup of music legends that are sure to electrify Batavia Downs with their hits from today and yesterday,” said Ryan Hasenauer, Director of Marketing at Batavia Downs Gaming. “The fact that we are able to keep General Admission ticket prices at just $10 ensures that local music fans aren’t priced out of seeing their favorite artists.”
Hotel room/ticket packages will be available for each concert. Each concert ticket is also redeemable once at Player’s Club in the three days following the concert for $10 Free Play to be used on one of Batavia Downs Gaming’s 800+ gaming machines. Additional information may be found at BataviaDownsGaming.com.
(with files from Batavia)