Hey y'all . . .

I was telling JR about this last night in the mixer after everyone had left and thought I'd tell you just in case someone might be interested.

There is a very small town about 30 miles from me called Comstock, Nebraska. A few years ago, a rancher had an idea to become the central US hot spot for concerts. He collects windmills and has many old windmills on his ranch. The first year, he did a country music weekend and called it the "Windmill Festival". He got several big name country stars to show up including Brad Paisley. I've heard that Brad has since been invested in the project but not sure about that.

Anyway, now he is doing three concert weekends every summer. The country festival is this weekend, the rock concert is July 14-17, and a Christian concert August 5-7. My wife worships Keith Urban so she will be going to see him on Sunday.

The July "Comstock Rock" will feature:

July 14: Randall Zwarte, Brian Howe (Bad Company), Jackyl
July 15: 3-D, Harmony Road, Quiet Riot, Smashmouth, ZZ Top
July 16: Full Circle, UFO, Eric Sardinas, Joan Jett, Cheap Trick
July 17: Jerry Neeman, Walter Trout, Gregg Rolie (Santana), Grand Funk Railroad, .38 Special

Just FYI, the Country concerts this weekend will be:
June 9: Green River (local band), Buddy Jewell, Oak Ridge Boys, Lonestar
June 10: Bull riding (not a band), Western Underground, Sugarland, Ronnie Millsap
June 11: Bull riding, Josh Turner, Jamie O'Neal, Montgomery Gentry
June 12: Brian McComas, Jessica Andrews, Tracy Lawrence, Keith Urban

The Christian weekend "Godstock" will be:
Aug 5: 10th Hour Calling, KJ52, Kutless, Sonic Flood
Aug 6: Fresh IE, John Buller, Katinas, Michael W Smith
Aug 7: After The Order, Jeremy Camp, Rebecca St. James, Mercy Me

So, as you can see, we are going to have some pretty big names hanging around here this summer. We are the next biggest town from where this happens so we get many of the performers staying here in our motels. It's kind of fun to drive around in the mornings and try to guess which bus belongs to which band. The Oak Ridge Boys have been here every year and they usually show up at our main cafe and just walk around and shake hands and sign autographs.

Lots of fun stories like one year Brad Paisley stopped at the local department store (kind of like Wal-Mart) and bought a pair of jeans. No one recognized him until he went to pay with his credit card and the clerk then saw who he was and then went nuts.

One year "Trick Pony" were so stoned that the county Sheriff told them that if they ever came back and were like that, again, he would search them and their bus and they would be prosecuted for anything he could find.

Then there are the rumors of if this ranch owner is actually making any money at this. My dad is on the County Board of Supervisors and the owner has been getting matching grants for several years now and he's not paying his share of the grant. Last year at the Rock weekend, they raffled off a Harley. A couple months after the event, the winner of the Harley had it re-possessed because the Harley dealer was not paid. That is fraud - raffling off something you don't own. I don't know if he ever got his Harley back or not.

There have been local complaints especially during the Rock weekend that our county has to pay for every available law enforcement officer to come help with this and then the ranch owner makes the money from it. I think you are always going to have these kinds of things with any event of this size though.

So anyway, if you need something to do this summer come on over! We have a pretty low density population so we can always fit a couple more in. We live 30 minutes away from this event and have a queen size sleeper and shower if anyone needs it.

You can read more about the event and see pictures here:
Windmill Events