Second Chance Rocks the Two Virginias is an annual country music festival created and produced by the Second Chance Learning Center and held at Mitchell Stadium in Bluefield, West Virginia. The festival is held on a Saturday near the end of June. The festival gathers crowds from Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Kentucky.
History
The festival was organized by partners of the Second Chance Learning Center, Erik Robinson and former MLB all-star pitcher Billy Wagner. Second Chance Learning Center received the majority of the proceeds to benefit area youth. The festival included country and country-rock acts, including Dierks Bentley, Montgomery Gentry, Craig Morgan, Justin Moore, Brantley Gilbert, Easton Corbin, and the local band Taylor Made. A group of teenagers also won a competition to be the opening act at the festival.
Second Chance Rocks was a success, with almost 20,000 people in attendance, and was scheduled for a second year. The revised lineup for 2012 included Eric Church, Jake Owen, Lee Brice, and Folk Soul Revival. The Second Chance Learning Center held a YouTube competition for another opening act and it was won by Andy Crawford. A Nashville-based Bluefield native, Sarah Allison Turner, also opened the festival. June 29, 2012 recorded the hottest temperature in Bluefield history. A derecho hit the festival (the most costly storm in West Virginia history) shortly after Lee Brice's set, and the stadium was quickly evacuated. Jake Owen posted on his Twitter, "One of the very few nights in my career where we had to cancel due to weather. Sorry y'all. WV, we'll make it up to ya."
Owen kept his promise and came back on August 26 along with Eric Church. The concert took heat from people who had bought tickets because it was the day after the Bristol IRWIN Tools 500 and the night before the first day of school. The show went on and to the tune of a sell out and a concert was secured for 2013.
The 2013 Second Chance concert was head lined by Justin Moore, the first act to return to the concert. Other acts were Craig Campbell, Shooter Jennings, JB and the Moonshine Band, Folk Soul Revival, and Clare Dunn. The Second Chances Learning Center is continuing the festival for another year with Florida Georgia Line, Nelly, Chris Lane Band, and Clare Dunn.
Acts by Year
2011
- Taylor Made
- Brantley Gilbert
- Justin Moore
- Easton Corbin
- Craig Morgan
- Montgomery Gentry
- Dierks Bentley
2012
- Andy Crawford
- Lee Brice
- Jake Owen
- Eric Church
2013
- Dee Jay Silver
- Clare Dunn
- Folk Soul Revival
- JB & the Moonshine Band
- Shooter Jennings
- Craig Campbell
- Justin Moore
2014
- Clare Dunn
- Chris Lane Band
- Nelly
- Florida Georgia Line
2015
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
See also
- List of country music festivals
- Country music
External links
- Official website
