The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
RoverFest will not make 2017 encore
Port chief says negotiations continued through summer
RoverFest, the summer party of Cleveland radio personality Shane “Rover” French, will not return to Lorain this year.
On July 31, the morning show host and his team on WMMS 100.7 announced the annual concert would not happen in 2017.
The news was confirmed by “Rover’s Morning Glory” co-host Duji and Tom Brown, executive director of the Lorain Port Authority.
Starting in 2014, RoverFest moved to Black River Landing, the riverfront festival site operated by the Lorain Port Authority.
The news sparked some public debate about whether Lorain should host the sometimes raucous and risqué radio crew.
However, the events in 2014, 2015 and 2016 drew national acts and thousands of fans with no major trouble.
“I think it meant a lot to the city in the fact that it showed Black River Landing in its capability and capacity,” Brown said.
Lorain hosted a large number of people in a safe and secure manner and people noticed, he said.
In 2015, the Port landed the Rockin’ on the River weekly concert series when it left Cuyahoga Falls.
Brown conceded that Rover’s humor is not everyone’s cup of tea.
“But for those that enjoy that, it was a great time,” he said.
There were lengthy negotiations to bring RoverFest to Lorain in 2017, Brown said.
Once the Port Authority and Rockin’ on the River had their schedules set, a tentative RoverFest date was for the weekend of July 15.
However, Live Nation planned back-to-back concerts in Cleveland with Billy Joel on July 14 and Luke Bryan on July 15.
There were issues with attempting to hold RoverFest the same weekend with those shows, Brown said, but talks continued.
The wrangling was “complex,” based on timing, schedules, availability of Black River Landing and other factors, Brown said.
Black River Landing can accommodate an event the size of RoverFest, but it takes a week to build up the site for the show, he said.
As late as July 28, and even the morning of July 31, there was hope of working out a plan for RoverFest on Sept. 9, Brown said.
“Unfortunately for Rover, they just couldn’t get the acts they felt were suitable for RoverFest in time,” he said.
“Rover said it, that he wasn’t going to put out half a product for his fans.
“It was a difficult decision. They didn’t want to put together a lineup that would disappoint their fans.”
If there is another RoverFest, it could come back to Lorain, Brown said, adding he has reached out to the radio crew to talk about future dates sooner rather than later.
Incidentally, Brown served as a Lorain Port Authority board member when RoverFest came to Lorain, but he never attended the show.
“I voted for it, I planned for it,” he said. “I have never been in town that week.
“They ran a good ship and the city put on a good show. It’s unfortunate that it won’t work out this year, but we tried.”