Let's give Fiesta Oyster Bake's 90th birthday a little historical perspective — before the days of the late-night flying plastic beer-cup spritz at the KISS rock stage Saturday.
The big news back in the day was Gen. Pershing's campaign into Mexico to capture Pancho Villa and word that silent screen star Charlie Chaplin was earning $10,000 a week. Woodrow Wilson was president.
Now, fast forward to Brangelina, Osama bin Laden and the George Bush era.
Fiesta Oyster Bake 2006 opens Friday at St. Mary's University.
The two-day food, music and fireworks party benefiting the St. Mary's University Alumni Association's scholarships and campus programs runs tonight from 5-11 and Saturday from 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Tickets cost $15. Free admission for ages 12 and younger. Advance tickets are available at participating Valero Cornerstores for $11. As always, no pets allowed. Friday is traditionally family night with its laid-back vibe, four stages of music and fireworks finale. Saturday, the party animals dominate and six stages of entertainment pump up the energy.
Friday's musical stars include hitmaker John Waite ("Missing You"), String Theory, jazz crooner Ken Slavin, St. Mary's Jazz Orchestra, Zamar and alt-country musicians Gary P. Nunn and Roger Creager.
Saturday's headliners include Canadian rockers Three Days Grace, Jack Ingram, Grupo Solido, Mingo Fishtrap and the Small Stars.
Three Days Grace is a cool Oyster Bake coup with a highly anticipated sophomore album, "One-X," due in June.
"This record is quite a bit more personal than the last record was," said singer-guitarist Adam Gontier from Toronto. That's quite a statement from a man whose platinum-selling, personal angst-ridden songs have helped teens through some rough spots.
"On tour, there was a young girl that came up to me and said if it wasn't for the song 'Home' she had felt that she wouldn't be here anymore," Gontier said. "She related to that song so much that it apparently saved her life."
But the frontman revealed feeling "like a target" himself, which accounts for the title of the new disc produced by Howard Benson. That "X" marks the bull's eye.
"There was a point on the road where I told the guys that I felt like I had a target on my back," he said. Gontier preferred not to elaborate, but said it related to personal and professional tribulations at home and on the road. "In my own head, I had demons that I was trying to deal with."
The roaring new single, "Animal I Have Become," is in medium rotation here on rock radio.
"It's early in the game but we're getting good calls on it," said L.A. Lloyd, KISS-FM program director and afternoon radio host.
"We just did what we do," Gontier said about recording in Los Angeles. Success has not twisted the small-town dudes. "People think that we've changed and become somebody else, but really it seems that they've actually changed," he said.
About those flying beer cups? Three Days Grace says bring it on: "If there's beer flying at us, it's all good, brother," Gontier said. "We started playing tiny redneck bars up in northern Canada where there's tons of beer flying and wire cage protecting the band and all sorts of stuff. So we're down with the party."
hsaldana@express-news.net
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