Blue Öyster Cult to play in LG at ‘Festival for Lake,’ 9/24

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

Blue Öyster Cult, the 1970s hard rock band whose classics include “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” “Godzilla” and “Burnin’ for You,” will headline opening day of the outdoor American Music Festival for the Lake at the Charles R. Wood Park in Lake George on Saturday, Sept. 24.

Last year’s festival drew huge crowds for headliner Sawyer Fredericks, the Capital Region-bred winner of TV’s The Voice music competition — but scant crowds for other performers.

Producer Robert Millis initially cancelled the festival for this year after Lake George Village booked a three-day “Chill Festival” a week earlier in September.

Mr. Millis had said it was too much competition for what he believes is the same audience.

But “Chill” fell through for Lake George, when the producers did not get camping rights at Battlefield Park from the State Department of Environmental Conservation. Mayor Bob Blais had told The Chronicle that inexpensive nearby camping was key to the festival. Now it has relocated to Lakewood,Pennsylvania.

“I was kept abreast of things, ” Mr. Millis says now. “The Mayor and I were keeping in conversation even when I was looking at other places like Plattsburgh.”

Once the Chill Fest pulled out, Mr. Millis says, “The Mayor rang me up, and we renegotiated a funding deal.”

The festival will receive $15,000 in Occupancy or “Bed Tax” funding from the Town and Village of Lake George, plus an additional $3,000 of Bed Tax funding from the Village, as well as “other considerations,” Mr. Millis said, of in-kind support and “cost-savers” that he did not specify.

“It all added up to where we could reverse the process and come back,” Mr. Millis said. “Boom, done.”

He said that Saturday, Sept. 24, will be a “Classic Rock” day headlined by Blue Öyster Cult, but likely with a mix of alternative and indie rock as well.

Sunday’s theme is to be determined. Mr. Millis said modern country music last year on Sunday did not succeed, so he’s likely to go for jam bands and bluegrass, and at a more palatable ticket price than the $40 he charged for Sunday last year.

Given extreme cold last year that drove after dark audiences away, Mr. Millis said he’s also thinking “day only” for this year.

Mayor Blais was out of the office for the week, and unavailable for comment.

LG Festival Space: 12 events, so far, for 2016 season

Twelve events are currently scheduled at the Charles R. Wood Park Festival Space for the 2016 season. Another 13 weekends are still open for bookings between May 7 and October 30. On the schedule:

• Electric Love Festival, May 21-22.
• Americade & Americade concert, June 9-12.
• Adirondack Wine and Food Festival, June 25-26.
• King George Fishing Derby (by registration), July 8-10.
• Grand opening of the Charles Wood Park Skatepark, July 23.
• British Music Invasion by the Strand Theater project of Hudson Falls, Aug. 13-14.
• Bacon Festival (tentative), Aug. 27.
• Adirondack Nationals Car Show, Sept. 10-11.
• Shriners Circus, Sept. 16.
• American Music Festival for the Lake, Sept. 24-25.
• Adirondack Independence Music Festival, Sept. 30-Oct. 1.
• Lake George Harvest Festival, Oct. 21-23.

— Cathy DeDe

Copyright © 2016 Lone Oak Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved.