News: Art & Culture

Stone Soul Picnic at Ampitheatre May 29

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Michelle Heller, KBLX, (415) 284-1029

May 16, 2006

The Pioneer Amphitheatre at California State University, East Bay will open its summer music season at the Hayward campus with the ninth annual KBLX Stone Soul Picnic on Memorial Day, May 29.

The lineup for the daylong music festival includes five R&B bands, including Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The O'Jays and The Dells. Also appearing will be Bobby Womack, The Dramatics and The Whispers. Tickets are on sale at Tickets.com and all Tickets.com retail outlets.

The Pioneer Amphitheatre at 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd. in Hayward has a capacity of more than 7,000 spectators and became the new home for the KBLX Stone Soul Picnic in 2004. The event has always sold out.

On Memorial Day the gates will open at 10 a.m. and the show will run from noon to about 6 p.m. Tickets are $76.50 for reserved seating and $55 for general admission lawn seating, The cost of parking is included in the ticket price.

Cal State East Bay has ample parking as well as service from the Hayward BART station by AC Transit Line 92. No picnic coolers will be permitted, but food and drink will be available in the amphitheatre.

The lineup:

The O’Jays were at the forefront of Seventies soul music. Racking up a string of modern R&B classics, including “Back Stabbers,” “Love Train,” “For the Love of Money,” “I Love Music” and “Use Ta Be My Girl,” they helped put the “Philly Soul” sound on the map.

Bobby Womack, known as ‘The Preacher,’ was mentored by Sam Cooke, and made the transition from gospel to soul music. “Woman’s Gotta Have It,” and “Lookin’ For Love” both reached No. 1 on Billboard’s singles charts. He has collaborated with such artists as Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, and Wilson Pickett.

The Dramatics are part of the lineage of black harmony groups and hail from the birthplace of rhythm and blues, Detroit, Michigan. Their hits include the No. 1 single “In the Rain,” and “Me And Mrs. Jones.”

The Whispers are one of the most enduring vocal groups of the last 40 years. ‘(Let’s Go) All The Way’ and ‘Rock Steady’ were hits for The Whispers and remain dance club standards.

The Dells’ were 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees and their success started in 1956 with the No. 1 hit “Oh What A Night,” followed by another No. 1 single in 1968 with “Stay In My Corner.” Between 1956 and 1992, The Dells collected 46 rhythm and blues hits.

For more information about the Stone Soul Picnic, go to the KBLX Web site at www.kblx.com.

© Copyright California State University, East Bay

California State University, East Bay is the San Francisco East Bay Area’s regional public university of choice. It serves the region with two campuses, one in the Hayward Hills and the other in Concord, and a professional development center in downtown Oakland. With a growing enrollment approaching 14,000, Cal State East Bay attracts students from throughout the region and from more than 80 countries. The university supports the quest of students of all backgrounds to discover and develop their potential and career paths. It offers small classes, low fees, individualized instruction, and an emphasis on student academic and personal achievement. Cal State East Bay offers students a choice of more than 100 fields of study, including majors, minors and program options. It confers bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees as well as a new Ed.D. in educational leadership offered in conjunction with U.C. Berkeley.