TAMPA - A free concert promising big-name country music stars, Gen. Tommy Franks and Gov. Jeb Bush is being organized to honor military personnel.
No performers were announced Tuesday and there are no sponsors yet, but the event is being billed the "Freedom Concert" and is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 11 at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Attendance is being restricted to active and retired military personnel and their families.
"It is to say thank you to all the troops," said Pat Roberts, president of the Florida Association of Broadcasters.
He said the concert is not to celebrate the end of the war. Thousands of troops remain in Iraq, he said. The purpose is to honor the military in the home of U.S. Central Command.
The concert is being organized by Roberts, who lives in Tallahassee and lobbies for TV and radio stations, and is supported by city leaders, including Mayor Pam Iorio, who plans to attend.
U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base will help with preparations. The Times Forum is donating space.
Ticketing logistics are still being worked out, said Bill Wickett, Times Forum vice president of public relations. It is undetermined whether tickets will be issued or if concertgoers will show military identification at the door.
It is also unknown which big-name country acts are signing up. Roberts said a radio representative is in Nashville this week to sign up artists. An announcement will be made Thursday or Friday, he said.
Organizers expect about 15,000 to attend the Freedom Concert, which will be competing with another free concert that night. At Coachman Park, Grammy winner and jazz vocalist Norah Jones kicks off the 2003 Verizon Music Festival.
Franks is a big country music fan. He gets up at 4 a.m. and listens to Garth Brooks and Travis Tritt while running on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Often, he sings along.
