BW&BK; has received the following Moondance Jam press release:

After seeing a 15 percent increase in attendance at their country music festival in June along with an increase in Moondance Jam pre-event ticket sales, Moondance Events expects a huge turnout for their July 15-17 rock festival. The gates will be opening a day early on Wednesday, July 14 at 10 a.m. for early camping and the Pre-Jam Party. Anyone who wants to setup camp a day early and avoid the longer lines on Thursday can upgrade their camping at the gate for $20 per person. Plus, Wednesday night will feature a free Pre Jam Party in Saloon for ticket holders that will be capped off with 80s rock tribute, HAIRBALL, headlining on the main stage.

“Our phones have been ringing off the hook for the last month. General admission tickets and three and four day general camping are going to be available at the gate, but everything else is sold out. There is definitely a buzz this year. That first day is really going to set the tone,” Bill Bieloh, the festival’s owner, said.

The first “official” full day of Moondance Jam features some newer bands than the 19 year old classic rock festival traditionally books, such as TONIC, HOOBASTANK, COLLECTIVE SOUL and BUCKCHERRY. However, the first night will close with classic rocker SAMMY HAGAR putting on a bigger and more rockin’ show than normal.

Friday’s lineup will definitely stay closer to the classic rock tone of past Jams with guitar men PAT TRAVERS and former member of The Eagles, DON FELDER, putting on shows before and after the 80s & 90s power pop group THE SMITHEREENS. The night will be topped off by two of the biggest hit makers in the 1980s, four-time Grammy winner PAT BENATAR and multi-platinum rockers REO SPEEDWAGON.

The final day of the Jam will have some great contrasting rock, southern rock and blues shows. The day kicks off with two top, up and coming southern rock bands BLACK BERRY SMOKE and BLACK STONE CHERRY back-to-back on the main stage with the former having a more traditional southern rock sound and the later a high octane style bordering on modern rock. Then CINDERELLA returns to Moondance with their bluesy, glam rock show followed by Fargo native and Grammy award winning blues, gospel and rock singer/songwriter, JONNY LANG. Closing out Moondance Jam is arguably the greatest southern rock band of all-time, LYNYRD SKYNYRD.

Many other great regional and tribute bands will play throughout the festival on the Moondance Saloon regional stage and the Lazy Moon Backstage Bar acoustic stage. Regional schedules and all band bios can be found online at www.moondancejam.com or by calling the Moondance Hotline at 877-MOONJAM.

General admission tickets and 3 & 4 day general camping will be sold at the gate.

Camping and Concert Gate Times:

Wednesday early camping check in is from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Please do not show up earlier than 10 a.m. – you will not be allowed to wait on the highway. Concert gates open at 5:30 for the Pre Jam Party.

Thursday – Saturday camping check in is from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day. Again, please do not show up earlier than 8 a.m. Concert gates open at NOON each day.

New This Year at Moondance Jam:

Every year there is something new at Moondance. This year’s biggest additions are the new Tiki Bar, the Moondance Shuffle “pub crawl”, the Moondance Shuffle Drawing and the Karaoke contest. The Tiki Bar, located just outside of Lazy Moon Backstage bar, serves great “island” drinks. The Moondance Shuffle laminates and cards are available at token booths. Drawings will be held nightly at 8:30 p.m. from the main stage for sponsor packs, meet & greets, 2011 tickets and more. In addition to the 9 a.m. bloody mary bar and breakfast buffet, the Lazy Moon Backstage Bar now has a karaoke contest starting at 11 a.m. and running until 2 p.m. Winners will win tickets and camping for Moondance Jam 20. More information can be found at www.moondancejam.com.

Jammers will also see a lot more cameras and crew shooting the event this year. Blaze TV’s production crew will be filming for 10 shows to be featured later this summer and over the next two years on DIRECTV’s concert series on The 101 Network.

The daily schedules are listed below:

Wednesday, July 14 (Pre-party)

10:30 p.m. - HAIRBALL

9:00 p.m. - MOUNTAIN ASH

7:30 p.m. - FREE FALLIN' - a tribute to Tom Petty

6:00 p.m. - THE MINNESOTA WHISKEY PIGGZ

Thursday July 15

11:00 p.m. - SAMMY HAGAR AND THE WABOS

9:00 p.m. - BUCKCHERRY

7:00 p.m. - COLLECTIVE SOUL

5:00 p.m. - HOOBASTANK

3:00 p.m. - TONIC

Friday July 16

11:00 p.m. - REO SPEEDWAGON

9:00 p.m. - PAT BENATAR and NEIL GIRALDO

7:00 p.m. - DON FELDER’s “An Evening at the Hotel California”

5:00 p.m. - THE SMITHEREENS

3:00 p.m. - PAT TRAVERS

Saturday July 17

11:00 p.m. - LYNYRD SKYNYRD

9:00 p.m. - JONNY LANG

7:00 p.m. - CINDERELLA

5:00 p.m. - BLACK STONE CHERRY

3:00 p.m. - BLACKBERRY SMOKE

*Schedule and lineup are subject to change without notice.