Cool rock

Rocklahoma fans able to chill, somewhat, during festival

JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer

PRYOR — The heat took a hiatus on Saturday — cloud cover cooled the Fever Fest grounds into the evening during Rocklahoma.

It's all relative, though.

The heat index soared to 111 at times on Friday, but on Saturday, 97 degrees felt comfortable and brought out more daytime music revelers. No official attendance numbers are yet available, but the previous two years' attendance numbers topped 80,000.

And though the festival runs four days, Rocklahoma doesn't have to be a weekend-long ordeal. Sisters Christy Duncan, 15, and Samantha Patton, 22, came to Pryor with friend Dillon Pugh, 18, just to catch Saturday's lineup.

The three drove in from Missouri "to chill out for a day," said Duncan. The crew will head back home late Saturday, they said, because Patton has to work on Sunday.

"It's worth it," said Patton. "I'd be back tomorrow, if I could get tomorrow off."

Said her little sis with a sigh, "I'd stay here all weekend, if I could drive."

Pugh is a "repeat offender," meaning he's been to the festival before. Last year he stayed every day. "It's not really the economy this year. I could only make it one day this year, so here I am."

All three were looking forward to Saturday's performance by Stryper, though they're eager to see all of the day's headlining acts: Lizzy Borden, Keel, Kix, Jackyl and Stryper.

The festival runs through Sunday, and single-day passes are still available, organizers said.

And, for the people serving fans those cups of cool — from ice water to Long Island ice tea — the money isn't great, but the parties are. Bartenders Missy Shipley, Rex Shore and Brooke Rawls each drove in from Oklahoma City to work this year's Rocklahoma festival.

Liquor sales are down from last year — due in large part to the record heat this year, the group said.

"We've sold more cups of ice for people who have brought their own water and pop than we have beer or mixed drinks," said Shipley.

The gang works long hours — 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. shifts each day of the festival.

The group estimates that their tips are about half what they were this time last year at Rocklahoma.

"About 90 percent of our income is from tips, so we don't make very much when people just buy water," said Shore.

"But it's fun," said Rawls. "We don't get to see a lot of these people very often. And, we get to see every single band that plays in our tent," she laughed. "But for us, the parties start at 4 a.m."

The trio works the Retro tent. The side stage there has more acts than any other at the festival.

Rocklahoma vendors peddle everything from cowboy hats to temporary tattoos, food, beer and the U.S. Army.

It's Staff Sgt. Chris Kent's first visit to the festival, and he's spending it doing slow and steady business signing up people for rock-climbing — and possibly military service.

"We get a lot of leads out here," he said. When curious onlookers step up to scale the wall, they often also express interest in the Army, he said.

"We've had probably up to 200 people so far," said Kent. "We'll call them back later. A lot of them end up joining us."

Tens of thousands made the trip to the music festival this year. Many of them came from out of state.

Cindy McClain and her family made the trek to Rocklahoma from Mena, Ark. Her husband, Jamie, and 4-year-old son, Matthew, hunched over a picnic table in the shade of the Strip tent on Saturday, drinking water and fanning themselves.

There was an excessive heat warning for northeast Oklahoma on Saturday, and 95-degree temperatures early in the day, coupled with few clouds, made it feel closer to 105 degrees.

"Yesterday and Thursday we stayed out closer to the main stage, and brought our umbrellas out. But we still got sunburned, so today we've decided to do this," she said.

"The drive wasn't nothing for us," McClain said of three-plus-hour trip from Arkansas. The family is camping to save some money, and they've limited the amount of "snacking" foods they buy from vendors, she said.

Cindy's favorite band so far? Ratt. Jamie's was Saxon.