Metalheads and Madonna wanna-sees will be disappointed in the summer Riverbend season. But for fans of country and classic rock, it's a buyer's market. The schedule is packed with big names: Aerosmith, Brooks & Dunn, Journey, Reba McEntire and Rod Stewart.

        SFX, the Clear Channel-owned concert giant that manages Riverbend for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, is producing “Ozzfest,” the metal tour that this summer includes the reunited Black Sabbath. When last year's “Ozzfest” played Riverbend, it failed to sell out and was marred by fans ripping the lawn into a huge mud pit. Not surprisingly, Ozzy Osbourne's festival tour will not be back.

B.B. King is scheduled to perform Aug. 23 with Buddy Guy and John Hiatt | ZOOM |

        Madonna's tour, another SFX production, is staying indoors at arenas (where glitzy productions are more easily mounted). So Riverbend and the rest of the “shed circuit” are out of luck.

        With the slowing economy, some monitors of the entertainment industry predict a slower summer and a more conservative booking policy, not just at Riverbend but throughout the industry.

        Two of the more youth-oriented, cutting-edge packages — “Area One,” helmed by Moby and featuring rap duo Outkast, prog-metal band Incubus and an array of DJs, and the teen-oriented hard-core/ska-punk “Warped Tour” — are not on Riverbend's schedule either.

        However, the economy aside, Riverbend officials don't predict any major changes in the 2001 season.

        “We won't know if it's a slower season until midway through it,” says Riverbend director of marketing Morrella Raleigh. “Right now, we're on track to do the same number of shows and have the same type of acts we always have.”

Aerosmith appears Sept. 7 with opening act Fuel | ZOOM |

        The modern-rock shows are usually the last to fall into line, and Riverbend has a hold on dates for the co-headlining date by Godsmack and the Deftones. Early in the season will be one of the summer's most hotly anticipated shows, the “Tour of Brotherly Love,” featuring the Black Crowes and Oasis.

        For the most part, though, Riverbend is sticking to the blue-chips of the concert market — veteran acts that have proven themselves onstage and at the box office.

        One noticeable gap in the entertainment offerings is in the urban market. But Destiny's Child, the multiplatinum R&B trio that opened for Christina Aguilera last year, is planning its first amphitheater-headlining tour.

        Riverbend would definitely go for that show, Ms. Raleigh says, adding that, “A lot of it really depends on what's out there.”

        Here's the current lineup:
       May 20 — “Volunteer Jam” with Charlie Daniels, .38 Special, Dickey Betts Band and Trent Summar & the New Row Mob (7 p.m.; $27.75 Gold Circle Pavilion, $22.75 other pavilion, $17.75 lawn).

        May 24 — Black Crowes and Oasis with Spacehog (7 p.m.; $38.50 pavilion, $25 lawn.

        June 5 — Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band (8 p.m.; sold out).

        June 9 — Brooks & Dunn's “Neon Circus and Wild West Show” (5 p.m.; $52.25 Gold Circle, $42.25 other pavilion; $32.25 lawn).

        June 26 — Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple and Ted Nugent (time, price and date of sale TBA).

        July 1 — Tony Bennett with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra (8 p.m.; $55 Gold Circle, $40 other pavilion, $20 lawn; on sale at 10 a.m April 30).

Carpenter

        July 5 — Mary Chapin Carpenter and Steve Earle (8 p.m.; $32.50 Gold Circle, $25 other pavilion (pavilion-only show); on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday).

        July 10 — Styx, Bad Company and Billy Squier (6 p.m.; $42.25 Gold Circle, $33.25 pavilion, $22.25 lawn; on sale at noon April 28).

        July 15 — Journey, Peter Frampton and John Waite (6:30 p.m.; $47.75 Gold Circle, $37.75 other pavilion, $22.25 lawn; on sale at 10 a.m. May 19).

        July 17 — Barenaked Ladies and Vertical Horizon (7:30 p.m.; $45.25 Gold Circle, $32.50 other pavilion, $21.50 lawn; on sale at 10 a.m. May 19).

        July 22 — Rod Stewart (all ticket information TBA).

        July 24 — “Glam Slam Metal Jam” with Poison, Warrant, Quiet Riot and Enuff Z'nuff (6 p.m., $27.75 pavilion, $17.75 lawn).

        July 31 — James Taylor (7:30 p.m.; $47.75 all pavilion, $22.25 lawn; on sale at 10 a.m. April 28).

        Aug. 11 — “Girls Night Out” with Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Sara Evans and Jamie O'Neal (7 p.m.; $50.25 Gold Circle, $37.75 other pavilion, $27.75 lawn; on sale at 10 a.m. May 12).

        Aug. 23 — B.B. King, Buddy Guy and John Hiatt (6 p.m.; $41.25 Gold Circle, $36.25 other pavilion, $22.75 lawn; on sale TBA).

        Sept. 7 — Aerosmith and Fuel (7:30 p.m.; $77.75 Gold Circle, $67.75 other pavilion, $32.75 lawn).

        Shows in the works, but with no definite date at this time: Stevie Nicks, John Mellencamp, Blink 182, the Allman Brothers Band, the Godsmack/Deftones tour, 3 Doors Down and a package with Lyle Lovett & His Large Band and Shawn Colvin. More shows are expected to be announced throughout the summer.

       Riverbend tickets are available at Ticketmaster outlets, by phone (562-4949) and online (www.ticketmaster.com). The Riverbend box office opens Tuesday and will operate 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and until intermission on show days (232-6220). Ticket prices include parking, Ticketmaster service charge is extra.

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