Thousands of visitors and Morgan Hill residents attended the 2013 Kihncert, which was also the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Complex’s first attempt to pull off an all-day rock and roll concert complete with food, beer, wine and merchandise vendors.
Kihncert organizers said about 7,000 people attended the show throughout the day. Performances started at 12 p.m and continued to about 11 p.m.
“For a first-time effort, I think this was a good showing,” said Gary Harmon, President of Kihncert co-producer Arts Related Technical Training for Entertainment Careers (ARTTEC). “That says something about the capabilities of (the OSC).”
The Kihncert is a South Bay live entertainment tradition emceed by Greg Kihn and featuring a full day of classic rock performers.
Neil Marlow, 46, and his wife Christine traveled to the OSC with a group of friends from San Jose for the Kihncert. Veteran attendees of the annual South Bay classic rock concert, the Marlows were drawn to the event this year by one act – Greg Kihn himself.
“He always puts on an awesome show – lots of energy,” Neil Marlow said.
In previous years, the Kihncert has been held at larger venues such as Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View. Earlier Kihncerts might have featured bigger names on the lineup than the 2013 Kihncert, Marlow explained while standing a few feet from the front of the stage between sets, but the OSC was a “more intimate” venue than places like Shoreline.
The headliner at this year’s Kihncert was former Poison frontman Bret Michaels. Also performing were The Tubes, dada, Tommy Tutone and the Brodie Stewart Band. The event also featured an “emerging artists” stage featuring local and youth acts.
Police reported no significant incidents related to the event, other than a few complaints of concert noise from nearby residents.
The Kihncert was co-produced by ARTTEC, ISE Entertainment and the Morgan Hill Youth Sports Alliance.
ARTTEC’s mission is to work with local youth who are interested in careers in video and concert production. About 50 students participated in the production of the 2013 Kihncert through ARTTEC, Harmon said.
“My opinion is we’ve demonstrated to the music industry that the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Complex is a viable concert venue,” said Jeff Dixon, president of MHYSA which runs the City’s OSC.
It was the first time the OSC had hosted an event as complex as the all-day Kihncert, with two stages, more than a dozen vendors and even a video arcade.
Harmon and ISE Entertainment President Mike DiRubio said they “definitely” hope to produce more concerts – including hopefully the 2014 Kihncert – at the OSC and other Morgan Hill venues in the future. Kihn and Michaels have already offered the producers positive feedback on the venue and the city of Morgan Hill.
“The show was great, the artists enjoyed being here, there was a lot of crowd from outside Morgan Hill,” DiRubio said. “We believe we definitely generated some revenue for the City.”
Dixon called the event a “community success,” as scores of local businesses, volunteers, residents and local agencies worked together to make sure all the logistical details were taken care of, right up to the day of the show.
ARTTEC’s only “disappointment” with the event was the cancellation of a flyover and transportation of military servicemen to the show due to the federal government shutdown, DiRubio said. Kihncert producers organized the show of support for the troops through the nonprofit Operation: Care and Comfort weeks before the Kihncert, but the effort was nixed due to lack of federal funding.
“Greg Kihn is a big supporter of the troops and the military, so is Bret Michaels. It was really important to them that we recognize (the troops),” Harmon said. “But for everybody that did go, the feedback we got was very positive.”
