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Tiny Comstock draws 100,000 to annual music festivals
from: journalstar.com
BY L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / Lincoln Journal Star
COMSTOCK — "How many out there are as sweaty as me?" JOAN JETT asks. A roar comes back from the 5,000 or so packed in front of the stage. "I'll take it that as a yes," she says. "Sweatness rules." Photo gallery
David Benjamin reaches to the sky during the musical performance of JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS at Comstock Rock. (Michael Paulsen)
Wiping the stinging mix of sweat and makeup from her eyes, Jett kicks her band, the BLACKHEARTS, into "Bad Reputation."
Moving to the edge of the stage, she delivers some of the driving rhythm that earned her a spot on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 100 Guitarists of All Time. The front rows of the rocking crowd thrust their arms in the air and scream.
Looking out beyond the crowd, past the red-and-white striped beer tent, Jett can see a ridge of hills and a giant rolling pasture, some of which has been converted into a temporary parking lot.
She isn't in New York anymore.
She's at Comstock Rock.
"Beautiful weather, beautiful nature," Jett says sincerely, spreading her arms wide and looking around while the 93-degree heat bakes her and the audience.
Fittingly, the sun slips below the horizon and the western sky begins to glow just as the crowd screams at the opening riffs of her biggest hit, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll."
Comstock Rock, which wrapped up its fourth year on July 17, the day after Jett's performance, is one of three annual festivals held at the 2nd Wind Ranch, located in Custer County, three miles north of the little town of Comstock.
Godstock, a Christian music festival now it in its third year, will kick off Thursday. By the time it is over, more than 100,000 people will have come to one of this year's Comstock gatherings.
Nebraska's largest outdoor music venue grew out of a thought that came to Henry Nuxoll one day six years ago.
"I was looking off that porch of the 100-year-old house (on the ranch)," said the windmill collector who runs the ranch. "I looked down the canyon and I thought, 'This would be a good place to have a concert.'"
That was in 1999. The subsequent show, featuring local acts, drew 300 to the ranch.
The next year, Nuxoll and his partners decided they needed a national touring act for the canyon and signed up Brad Paisley just as his career was taking off. The first Comstock Windmill Festival drew 3,000 people for one night.
In 2001, the Comstock Windmill Festival became a four-day country music event.
In 2002, Comstock Rock started its run of four-day classic rock festivals.
In 2003, the first Godstock took place.
Like any business, the Windmill Enterprises festivals have survived and continue to grow because they make money.
The festivals bring in millions of dollars. Much of it is paid to the talent. But some of the cash stays in Comstock.
Tickets for next year's Comstock Rock are already on sale. Through Aug. 31, a four-day pass will cost $84 and single-day admission is $32. By July 13-16, the festival dates, the four-day rate goes up to $150 and it will cost $55 a day to get in. That kind of sliding pricing encourages early reservations and provides cash throughout the year rather than a rush a few weeks before the festival.
If, say, the average admission price is $40 and 30,000 people attend the festival, ticket sales alone would generate $1.2 million.
More revenue comes from campsite rentals. At this week's Godstock, a tent campsite goes for $45, a camper campsite without electricity goes for $60, and a preferred site, with electricity and water, for either tents or campers is $140.
A card purchase system for food, drink and other concessions also provides some money for Windmill Enterprises. Rather than paying cash, festival goers buy cards representing a specific amount of money, say $20. Those systems kick back a small portion of the money to the organizers.
But economics aren't the only reason the Windmill Enterprises festivals work.
"Our motto is: We deliver a lot more than anybody expects in an area where they expected nothing," Nuxoll said. "Our big secret to success is our 300 volunteers who welcome everybody, take pride in their responsibilities and make everybody feel at home."
Among those who feel at home at Comstock are the artists. Paisley, for example, took off on a horse during his second visit to Comstock, riding around the festival grounds and heading out into the hills that Jett looked at from the stage.
"We have no trouble getting anybody back that's ever been here," Nuxoll said. "It's a break from the action, from the brick walls and atmosphere of a building. You've got elbow room here, and they love it."
Not bad for what was formerly just a pasture just north of Highway S21C, far off the beaten path in north central Nebraska.
"It's in the middle of nowhere, that's what makes it cool," said Earl Whitsel of Hastings. "This is so much fun. It's a carnival atmosphere. I think it's evolving into the mini-Woodstock of the Midwest."
Fortysomethings Whitsel and his co-worker Dave Uden are festival regulars, taking a couple days off from their jobs building houses to load up the motorcycles and some camping equipment and head for Comstock.
"We work our butts off all year long and come out here for a couple days and have fun," Uden said. "There's all kinds of people here. There's farmers and lawyers and doctors and business people. I give 'em an A-plus on this."
Whitsel and Uden are typical of Comstock Rock regulars in another way: Saturday morning, they hopped on their bikes and drove to Broken Bow to get breakfast.
One of the goals of the festival organizers was to pump some life into the tiny town of Comstock, population about 100. But it also gives a jolt three weeks out of the year to the economies of nearby communities.
"We sell motel rooms as far away as Kearney and Grand Island," Nuxoll said. "It's a boost for the whole area."
Dale Crawford and his wife Cynthe of Beatrice have been at the last three Comstock Rock festivals. The first year, they slept in a tent. They've since graduated to a camper. Like many in the crowd, they plan on coming every year, regardless of the entertainment lineup.
"It doesn't matter who's playing," said Crawford, who is in his early 40s. "Every year you find one or two you really like."
Jeff and Kelli Murphy of Wymore made their first trip to Comstock this year, joining the Crawfords.
"I'm impressed by how well organized it is," Jeff Murphy said. "There's not any fighting or other problems. When you go into the campgrounds, everyone's enjoying themselves. There's a lot to do."
The size of the crowd, which grows into the 10,000 range during the headline acts each night, also got the Murphys' attention.
"I went up on the hill last night," Kelli Murphy said. "I couldn't believe it. There were people everywhere. And I've seen a lot of things I've never seen before."
Such as the guy whose pants didn't cover his backside. And there was plenty of female nudity, with Mardi Gras-style flashing of breasts for beads.
Crawford talked about a Friday night party in the camping area with impromptu amateur stripping. That late night gathering got broken up by some of the police contingent that included 20 uniformed Nebraska State Patrol officers and another half-dozen working undercover.
"You don't see things like that in little Wymore," Kelli Murphy said.
Back at the bed-and-breakfast house that serves as the dressing room for Comstock performers after their intense 75-minute show, Jett and the BLACKHEARTS cooled off in the air conditioning, changing clothes, then packing bags.
"So Republicans do rock," said Jett's longtime collaborator and keyboardist KENNY LAGUNA. "It was a bitch to get here, but it was a good show, a very good show."
An airline snafu stranded the BLACKHEARTS in Chicago Friday night. They flew into Lincoln and drove to Comstock Saturday afternoon, arriving about 90 minutes before they were to go on stage.
"People said it will be horrible," Laguna said of the three-hour drive to central Nebraska. "It wasn't. First of all, it's beautiful. And we could have been driving across Iraq."
Jett and Laguna frequently perform for U.S. military personnel stationed around the world and have recently played both Afghanistan and Iraq.
The venue passed muster, too. Laguna, who's been in the music business since the '60s and played with Tommy James and the Shondells, was in a different, more famous rural venue for a much bigger show.
"This is not my first pasture," he said. "I went to Woodstock with the organizers — they were all my buds. (But) I didn't play Woodstock. Tommy James' agent turned down Woodstock. He thought it was going to be a goofy gig on a pig farm."
Comstock isn't a pig farm. This is beef country. But it's also a festival location that's becoming known around the region.
A 15-minute stroll through the camping area found cars and pickups with license plates from more than half of Nebraska's 93 counties — with vehicles from as far west as Scotts Bluff County and as far east as Douglas County.
Eight other states were also represented in the campground closest to the stage, including vehicles from Arizona, Idaho and Ohio along with the states contiguous to Nebraska.
Those out-of-state visitors included a contingent from Smith Center, Kan., that has been coming to Comstock Rock since its inception.
This year, the three couples reserved an extra campsite, parked campers on the two end sites and built a canvas roof across the middle. In the shade was a kiddie swimming pool, perfect for soaking the feet and cooling off from the heat, along with coolers, grills, a stereo system and small trees taken from their houses.
The Smith Center folks arrived on Wednesday morning and wouldn't pack up until Monday.
"As soon as they let us in, we're here," said Ken Kaundart. "When they make us go home, we leave."
As he talked, Kaundart was slaving over a gas grill, frying up some potatoes for breakfast. Mind you, this was at 6 p.m.
The previous night's festivities had lasted well into the wee hours of the morning, and the Kansans were having a little difficulty getting started Saturday afternoon.
But they were eating well. On the menu for the weekend were salmon, ribs and steak — and some nearby campers had already shared some crab legs with them.
Typical of many festival regulars, the Smith Center contingent has already reserved at least one campground space for next year.
"We're lifers," said Darren Nixon. "Most of it has to do with the people here. Everybody knows you're going to come here and have a good time."
The Nixons and Kaundarts said they've never had any problems at Comstock. They leave stuff outside and it is never disturbed.
Even a small crisis, like the town of Sargent running out of beer last year, can be turned into an opportunity for a party. The couples brought back tequila and made some seriously strong drinks they shared with friends, new acquaintances and passersby.
"It's a good vacation," Nixon said. "You get to meet good people and we love rock 'n' roll."
Rock 'n' roll, of course, is in the eye of the beholder.
Spin magazine poked fun at Comstock Rock in its July issue.
Under a headline reading "Strange days: Six more wacky fests" was this: "Comstock Rock: July 14-17; Comstock, Nebraska. Who: ZZ Top, Smashmouth, Quiet Riot and other bands you'd find blasting out of a Camaro. If the guys in the 7-Eleven parking lot came up with their 'dream festival' lineup, this would be it — minus Smashmouth."
Indeed, there is a "Land That Time Forgot" element to much of the Comstock Rock lineup. Jett had originally been booked to play the show last year on what Laguna remembered to be a "very weird" lineup that paired her with the festival's more typical '70s/'80s hard rock bands.
But the classic rock acts are the draw for much of the Comstock audience, which grew up on that music.
"Right now, it's the people who are 25 to 55 who are coming out here," Whitsel said. "This is so much fun. These are the kind of bands we want to see."
Getting the right bands is a philosophy that extends to the other festivals.
This week's Godstock festival, for example, features Michael W. Smith, the top male vocalist in contemporary Christian music; Rebecca St. James, the top CCM female vocalist; and Mercy Me, one of the best Christian bands.
"It's just totally phenomenal that you can get the top male, female and group in any genre of music," Nuxoll said. "They like our venue, and it just worked out that way this year. But that's what we try to do — to get the best we can in country, rock and Christian music."
Back in the house, Jett and Laguna exchange hugs with Cheap Trick singer Robin Zander and guitarist Rick Nielsen.
Jett and Cheap Trick shared stages back in the '70s when she was in the RUNAWAYS. Jett and Laguna marvel at the sharp looking, but sure-to-be hot suits that the Tricksters are about to wear on stage, particularly Nielsen's all-black ensemble.
As Zander and Nielsen head for the door, ready to jump into the Chevrolet Suburban that will take them down the hill to the stage overlooking the pasture, Jett gives them a helpful warning:
"It's pretty toasty out there."
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