How to go
Who: Bret Michaels
When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7
Where: J.D. Legends, 65 Millard Lane, Franklin
Cost: SOLD OUT
FRANKLIN — Just as Bret Michaels dodged a bullet this year, so did the venue J.D. Legends in booking him for a sold-out Aug. 7 concert.
The combination bowling alley/restaurant/concert spot managed to book the Poison singer and reality TV star long before he suffered a brain hemorrhage in April, said Steve Miller, a manager at J.D. Legends.
“We started looking in January. We took into account the popularity of several projects he had, including his VH1 show (“Rock of Love”) and ‘Celebrity Apprentice.’ ” Miller said. Michaels won that NBC reality show earlier this year.
After J.D. Legends booked the singer, “We went back and forth on whether it was positive that the show stood. It worked out for the best,” Miller said, as Michaels recovered from his trauma.
Even with all that uncertainty, “We never had to fix the date. He was playing somewhere before us that routed here nicely, so we never had to cross that bridge,” Miller said.
The storm of publicity that followed Michaels’ health problems did have one distinct effect: It resulted in J.D. Legends’ first show that sold out long before the concert took place.
Besides that, the concert series at J.D. Legends has been growing in stature, having landed well-known acts like Travis Tritt, Blues Traveler, Tone Loc and Vanilla Ice. Michaels’ show is even attracting overseas interest.
“All those things pick up a lot of steam ... a couple from Germany e-mailed me and told me they were going to be in the States around the time of the show. I thought, ‘Wow. This show might do all right,’ ” Miller said.
And J.D. Legends still books regional acts such as The Menus and The Whammies.
“We try to book things you haven’t seen in awhile or have never seen. It’s great in that you don’t have to drive to Riverbend, and it’s different from what the Fraze Pavilion offers. As we’ve grown, that’s enabled us to do bigger and bolder things,” Miller said.
Upcoming national acts at J.D. Legends include Jamey Johnson on Aug. 21 and the returning 32 Below on Oct. 9. For the Bret Michaels show, the opening act will be the local bands Spungewurthy and Last Call.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2836 or erobinette@coxohio.com.
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