We've been hearing a lot of questions around town about the Sonoma Music Festival taking place Oct. 2 to 4 which, earlier in the year, found itself with a new name (formerly the B.R. Cohn Charity Fall Music Festival), a new location (the Field of Dreams, north of the Plaza) and its first-ever Beatle (Ringo!).
We spoke with festival founder and longtime Doobie Brothers manager Bruce Cohn (while he was in Nashville with the Doobies) and asked him about all the changes taking place, and most importantly – where are we going to park?!
What was the primary reason for the move from B.R. Cohn Winery to the Field of Dreams?
Basically the festival had just gotten too big for the facility. The hillsides and stairs made accessibility difficult and, lets face it, the classic rock acts that we bring to the festival and the crowd aren't getting any younger. The Field of Dreams is flat and accessible and seeing Jazz Plus put on successful shows there, it just made sense. In addition, we will save almost $100,000 in set-up costs, money that can be donated to the charities we support by putting on the festival.
Will the winery still be involved with the festival?
Absolutely. All the wines poured in the VIP areas and chalets will be B. R. Cohn wines but, in addition, we'll have at least 10 other local wineries pouring, and local restaurants will be there as well.
How will the festival deal with parking?
We've worked with the city quite a bit on this and we're going to just see how it goes this year and make adjustments if we have to. We're encouraging locals to walk or bike to the festival. We are also in talks to have some of the schools or churches that are close - to open up their lots for the festival and charge a small fee that they can keep and use to help their organizations. The Fourth of July events bring 10,000 to 15,000 people to the city that day. Our events will bring in a little over 3,000. We're really thinking it will be a non-issue and our website will be updated as we get closer to the festival with parking options around town.
Will there be an auction fundraising dinner?
No, we've replaced the Friday night dinner with an additional show. The costs of putting on the dinner were approaching the amount we could actually raise. The concert will be much more profitable for the charities. There will be auctions of one-of-a-kind items during one of the set changes each day of the shows, giving people access to items that were previously only available to the dinner crowd.
Can people bring food into the festival?
No, all food profits will be donated to the charity fund so we're encouraging folks to buy food inside the festival.
What about water?
No, that is the same as food. There will be plenty of beverages available for purchase inside the festival.
How will the festival deal with the noise ordinance?
We plan to comply with the city's ordinances. We have a 10 p.m. cut-off time for noise and we'll likely wrap up the night-time shows even before that time.
Are any new features or events planned for the weekend?
We're working on something fun that will raise additional money for the charity fund but we can't announce anything quite yet. Soon though.
Will more acts be announced?
Not really, we really don't have any more time open. The evening shows can't run too long and no one wants to get up earlier on a Sunday. The line-ups are set.
Who personally are you looking forward to seeing?
Wow, it's hard to pinpoint one act with this lineup. The Doobies have toured with Chicago in the past and it's nice to have them together again. In all the years I've been in the business, I've never seen America live, so I'm looking forward to that. Ringo, of course, and having him in Sonoma really is a once-in-a-lifetime event. I mean, a Beatle in Sonoma? The man is 74 years old and who knows how long he'll be touring. Most of the folks in his band we've had at prior shows and are friends so that will be fun. I've probably seen the Doobie Brothers 3,000 times and they honestly just keep getting better, and having Gregg Allman with them the same night is going to be great. We did a rock-and-roll cruise earlier this year and saw Edgar Winter and were so impressed with his show we knew we had to have him on the bill. The Doobie kids are always fun to see and Tommy Castro, as well. The only time he played the festival he was ill, but played anyways. Will be nice to see him healthy and play a set. Really, I'm looking forward to all three days, which is why we put together the three-day discount ticket package, and you don't have to go all three days to buy one, share it with a friend or two.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: