Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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Discussion

July 17, 2011

Second Chance rocked

GREG JORDAN Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — Music fans filled parking lots and flowed into Mitchell Stadium as the bands warmed up Saturday for the Second Chance Rocks the Two Virginias Concert.

Cowboy boots and cowboy hats dotted the crowd like flowers in a field as they found their seats in the stadium’s bleachers or in the June O. Shott Field as crews and musicians made final preparations. As they worked on the last details, the fans kept coming and coming.

At nearby Bluefield College, people parked on campus and walked down Stadium Drive.

“How far from here?” one man driving a truck yelled to an attendant as he pulled into the field near the campus dome.

“Five hundred yards,” was the reply.

“Five hundred yards?!” the fan yelled back.

But fans walked to the stadium with no complaints while police from Bluefield and Bluefield, Va., monitored traffic. Some fans already had tailgate parties and games of bean bag toss going before any bands went on stage.

Outside the stadium, fans waited as their tickets were checked. For them, such a big concert in Mercer County was a major event.

“Yes, we usually don’t get anything like this up here,” said Anna Catron of Falls Mills. Va.

“It’s usually anywhere else but here,” added her son, Jeffrey Catron.

“I’m excited because Princeton never gets anything like this,” said Princeton resident Jessica Lunsford.

Just outside the stadium, fans stopped to buy T-shirts and other souvenirs while just inside the gate, people who were already hungry were getting food ranging from barbecue to fries from the concessions.

As 1 p.m. approached, fans were still arriving. Some Virginia residents had driven for hours to see the concert, but did not mind the wait. One group found their perch in the stands and waited for the music to begin.

“We’re here from Covington, Va.,” fan Sarah Leitch yelled above the crowd’s growing noise and recorded music playing from the stage. “It took over two hours to get here.”

Her friend Annette Williamson, also of Covington, Va., said any one of the performers would have been reason enough for her to make the trip.

“I like them all, love them all, especially Justin Moore,” she said. “It took about two hours to get from the Walmart to here, and it was worth every minute.”

Other fans waited along the fence until they could step onto the field and find their seats.

A lot of National Guard members and their families were also expected at the stadium, said Sgt. Michael Seabolt of the West Virginia National Guard. Some members were helping the concert by watching over musicians’ buses and shuttling them back to motels. Approximately 1,600 tickets had been made available to the National Guard.

As the evening continued, more fans packed into the stadium. Crowds in the space  between the playing field’s fence and the bleachers were almost elbow to elbow. Even more people found perches in high in the stands. Two fans were enjoying their first show.

“It’s been really cool,” said Victoria Grogan of Princeton. Her daughter Savannah, 4, had a big pink cowboy hat for the occasion. “This has actually been the first concert we’ve ever gone it. It’s my first, it’s her first.”

Mother and daughter had won their tickets from a Star 95 Radio contest for families of military personnel. Husband and father Jeremiah Grogan is currently serving with the Army in Kuwait.

During an intermission, visitors said having such a major concert was a plus for the region.

“I think it’s good. It’s good for the area. It shows people that if you come to something like this around here and support it, it will be successful,” said Justin Joseph, 26, of Bluefield.

People continued to arrive.

“We just got here,” said Tenesia Tabor of Tazewell, Va. “It’s been good, just crowded.”

Mayor Linda Whalen of Bluefield also arrived that afternoon.

“It’s wonderful for the whole area,” Whalen said over the noise of the audience, adding that the organizers had done “an amazing job.””

“It’s a great day for the Bluefields,” she said.

“It’s been great,” agreed Julie Jackson, 22, of Princeton. “I think it’s really good for the community to have so many stars here.”

“And it’s for a good cause,” added Brittany Handy, 23, also of Princeton.

Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Second Chance Learning Center, an organization that works to keep students from dropping out of high school and help them earn their diploma or GED.

The intermission ended and country star Justin Moore and his band took to the stage. Music thundered and the audience was on its feet dancing, cheering and shooting cameras or videos. Outside the stadium, the music could be heard clearly as more late arrivals headed for the stadium gates and a show slated to continue late into the evening.

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