A country kickoff at Ray Jay

Why start the Strait tour in Tampa? The fans and the venue make it an easy decision, the festival's coordinator says.

By DAVE SCHEIBER

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 22, 2001

Tampa has been a stop on George Strait's country caravan before, but Saturday is the first time the city gets to kick off the festival's tour.

"It's a great place and a great stadium," says Louis Messina, the executive with concert-promotion giant SFX, which coordinates the festival each year.

Messina also credits Raymond James Stadium building manager Mickey Farrell for making the site a preferable starting point. "He makes it very easy for us to do this," Messina says.

Tampa is a logical first stop for another reason, according to WQYK-FM 99.5 operations manager Eric Logan: "If you look at the top 25 country markets, Tampa is No. 21, but in terms of audience share, this area is usually in the top three."

Then there's this fact: the Tampa stop of the 1999 Strait festival, featuring the Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw, Lee Ann Womack, Jo Dee Messina and Kenny Chesney, was the highest-grossing show on the entire tour.

Tickets for Saturday's event are $62 and $52. Call Ticketmaster at (813) 287-8844. For more information, check the Web site: www.georgestrait.com.

Here is the schedule for the show, which will also feature a second stage outside the stadium, "Straitland," featuring the Warren Brothers and BR549.

• 11 a.m. -- Doors open in Straitland.
• Noon -- Doors open in the stadium
• 1-1:30 p.m. -- Asleep at the Wheel
• 1:50-2:20 -- Sara Evans
• 2:50-3:30 -- Brad Paisley
• 4-5 -- Lee Ann Womack
• 5:20-6:20 -- Lonestar
• 6:50-8 -- Alan Jackson
• 8:30-10:15 -- George Strait

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