Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 240

Friday 4 Section 7 Chicago Tribune, Friday, June 23, 1995 CN The Country Music Festival tunes up A weekend the entire family of July rv. 1 yt ff i i ytJ win iuvc; will love! Package available from Saturday, July 1 st through Pony rides for Wednesday, July 5th! Stay an Filnliy additional night, just $65 more! mi package Room Up Ki 2 kids Splash bash Saturday. Sunday Free shuttle to Family activities, includes: acainimodatkins fcr two nights 12 and under stay free entertainment pxlside and Monday ami from the Fireworks. tlie kids H()p games and fun for alf 'A Golf." Racquethall." Tennis Dinner Theatre" pet-form Saturday night. By Chris Dickinson Special to the Tribune L.

here's no such thing as a free lunch. That holds 1 1 true for the Taste of Chicago you have to buy your food tickets. The music's free, though, and there's plenty of it The Chicago Country Music Festival has played host to such diverse acts as Dwight Yoakam, Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs, Killbilly, Ricky Van Shelton, Don Walser and Monte Warden. Now in its fifth year, the festival remains a great way to see some favorites and to expand your horizons a little. The festival takes place in Grant Park on Saturday and Sunday.

Mainstage acts are at the Petrillo Bandshell (Jackson and Columbus). Seating is first come, first served, starting a half For a complete festival schedule, see the Friday Guide. hour before showtime. The Taste Stage (Congress and Columbus) features a variety of smaller acts. The Country Music Festival can be a mixed bag.

Last year's big kahuna was damp firecracker Ricky Van Shelton, who occasionally sang off lyric sheets during an uninspired set Spandex-clad Michelle Wright tried too hard. She chattered between songs and posed like a matador while singing. But bluegrass warhorse Bill Monroe cleared the palate like a stringent mineral water. This year's model looks better all around. Saturday night's Petrillo Bandshell concert starts at 6 pjn.

and features an interesting pairing Texas guitar whiz Junior Brown opening for Nashville starlet Trisha Year-wood. These two performers embody the broad spectrum of today's country music. While Brown looks primarily to the past summed in two words ''Ernest Tubb" Yearwood draws on her Super uniW Now Playing! Th Ask about our $179 Dinner Theatre overnight! THE I Hi's I I Texas guitar whiz Junior Brown will Trisha Yearwood provides a little glitter to the festival. primary source, Linda Ron-stadt Brown plays a hybrid guitar that he calls a guit steel, a fusion of electric and steel guitar he props on a music stand. It's quite a beast of an instru- Ticket booth Rudy Rodriguez July 23 at Metro.

Also, for (acoustic) and Jill Sobule 10 pjn. Aug. Possum Dixon and amlniature 10 p.m. July 14; Drugstore 10 p.nx Aug. 12 and Gene 8 p.m.

July 25 at Double Door. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Monday for Barry White and Chante Moore ($29. $39, 8 pjn. July 23 at Chicago Theatre.

Also for World Festival featuring Amy Grant Michael W. Steven Curtis Chapman, Gary Chapman, Wes King, Ashley Cleveland and others (pavilion $27.50, 330 p.m Aug. 27 at New World. Tickets go on sale 10 ajn. Sat-jlrJayfor HueyJLewis the 4 i ft 1 Sunday Choose our Super Summer Sunday, just $85 from June 1 1 August 27.

Treat yourself and the kids to a Super Summer break with this fun-filled overnight. The package includes: GMjiqdarocan accommodations Up to 2 kids 1 2 and under stay free ment and it's also not just for show Brown's a dazzling picker, firing through honky-tonk numbers occasionally highlighted with the odd, Jimi Hendrix riff or snippets plucked from the "Theme From the Magnificent Seven." But despite those flashy little details, Brown has his deficits. As he pushes his staid baritone through mostly predictable novelty numbers, he sometimes sounds like a schtick act Little heart or soul is touched upon in numbers like "Hillbilly Hula Gal" or "My Baby Don't Dance to Nothing But Ernest Tubbs." Still, he's definitely worth catching. Yearwood's 1991 careermak-ing single, "She's In Love With the Boy," catapulted her to the top of the charts as a country sweetheart Since then, she's proved herself a technically proficient singer who occasionally bogs down in either slick blandness or flawed attempts at belly-up-to-the-bar numbers. Yearwood can be stunning, though, when her smooth pipes connect with the right song.

See Country, Page 30 Skyline Stage News 8 p.m. Aug. Rite of Strings 7:30 p.m. Aug. 22 and Kathy Mattea 730 pjn.

Aug. 28 at Skyline Stage. Also, for the HORDE Festival featuring Black Crowes, Blues Traveler, Dave Matthews Band, Ziggy Mar-ley, Wilco, Taj MajaL Dionne Fan-is and Victoria Williams (pavilion $26), 5 pjn. Aug. 18 at New World.

Tickets are on sale now" (312-263-0020; by mail: Chicago Theatre Signature Series, 175 N. State 60601 or fax: 312-263-3434) for "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" starring Donny Osmond Oct 4-8; "An Inspector Calls" Nov. 28-Dec. 3 and "West Side Story" Jan. 30-Feb.

4 Ticket info is current as of Wednesday. Buddy Guy plays July 29 at Continental Brcaldast fcr 2 aduks and 2 children, 12 and under Supervised Kid's Uuh (Sundays 6-1 1 pm) Golf, Racquethall, Tennis Fui scrvkr hcikh dub tacitly Zanies Gomrdy CM" Add Monday night. Just $69 morel Now Pheasant Run Resorts Children Theatre Returns! Call For Reservations! Tickets go on sale noon Saturday (Ticketmasten 312-559-1212) for Buddy Guy 8 p.m. July 29 at Skyline Stage. Also, for REO Speedwagon, Fleetwood Mac and Pat Benatar (pavilion $27), 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 6 at the New World. Also, for Primus and Mikle Watt 730 p.m. July 25 at UIC Pavilion. Also, for UFO ($20 advance, $2150 door), 730 p.m.

Aug. 24 at Vic Also, for Alan Parsons 7:30 p.m. Aug. 4 and Lords of Acid, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and God Lives Underwater 9 p.m. July 21 at Riviera.

Also, for Weezer, Teenage Fanclub and That Dog ($18.50 7 p.m. Aug. 8 at Aragon. Also, for Janls Ian 730 pjn. July 9 and Tanita Tikaram 730 p.m.

July 16 at Park West LAim. biuYrtYP.