WINNEMUCCA —The Run-A-Mucca Motorcycle and Music Festival 2018 will feature more bands in more genres than ever before—and that’s saying something after 16 straight years of rocking Memorial Weekend.
The 17th annual motorcycle rally is scheduled for Friday, May 25, through Sunday, May 27, and participants can expect everything from a $1,000 Poker Run to death defying special acts, the “Burning Bike” spectacular and live music from seven amazing bands.
Friday, “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers” will get things started. The San Francisco-based ZZ Top tribute band is led by Tim Narducci on guitar/vocals with Cornbread and Gregg Landrey on bass/vocals.
The three men not only play ZZ Top’s music down to every detail, but they have the real beards and stage getups to create a truly mind-blowing experience.
Watch for “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers” on the Main Stage Outside at the Winners Inn and Casino. Times are Friday at 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“Lady Godiva’s Operation” will also kick things off on Friday at the Model T Resort. A perennial local favorite, the four-man band will return to help Winnemucca welcome Run-A-Mucca bikers. Catch the band from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, and from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
The weekend will also include Shane Dwight, who will play the Winners Inn and Casino Cabaret from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Friday, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
The native Californian moved to Nashville in 2009 to further his musical career. The combination of Dwight’s blues-based roots infused with a liberal dose of his Nashville surroundings will make for three nights of spectacular entertainment. With eight CDs and two live DVDs under his belt, audience goers will see why Dwight has built a solid reputation as a true “guitar slinger.”
Saturday and Sunday, Las Vegas-based Rebel Soul will rock Run-A-Mucca crowds with their persuasive blend of classic rock and soulful southern with a country twist.
Rebel Soul was formed by lead singer and front man Joey Grillo and includes Steve Burchell on guitar, Chris Bishop on drums, Fred Bensi on keyboards and Sean Koos. Performing hand crafted originals and hit songs, with a wide range of styles, Rebel Soul is a high-energy band with great stage presence that engages with audiences and creates great crowd participation.
Rebel Soul will play on the Main Stage Outside at the Winners Inn and Casino. Show times are Saturday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 4:45 p.m., and Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Sunday, Run-A-Mucca crowds are in for a treat as “Seasons of Insanity” takes the Main Stage Outside at the Winners Inn and Casino beginning at 4:30 p.m.
Described as “one of the most American rock bands west of the Mississippi,” members literally came together out of the ashes of prominent northern Nevada bands. Shane Whitecloud on vocals, Rick Brenner on drums, Steve “Gus” Caba on bass, Jeff Montgomery on guitar, and Patrick “Tricky” Tarpey on guitar will sweep audience-goers away with their combined rock and southern rock sound.
The band is no stranger to the spotlight: They have shared the stage with dozens of rock legends including Sick Puppies, Puddle of Mudd, Y&T, Royal Bliss, 5 Finger Death Punch, Gemini Syndrome, Buckcherry, UFO, 10 Years, Young Guns, Saving Able, and many more.
Also, Sunday night, Run-A-Mucca rockers are in for a treat as Reno’s “Greg Golden Band” takes the stage for a free concert. Golden is best known as the owner of Bizarre Guitar & Guns, a premier musical instrument and weaponry shop that has sold guitars to many famous musicians such as Carlos Santana, Eddie Van Halen and Merle Haggard.
Golden started the business in 1974 after coming off the road touring with his band at the time, Mourning Sun. He started buying guitars while on tour and when he returned to Reno he sold the instruments out of the back of his van. Golden has amassed one of the most impressive collages of rare and vintage Les Paul Goldtops in the world.
What makes Golden so remarkable aren’t the more than 5,500 guitars at his Reno store, though, but the fact that he himself is such a phenomenal musician. In fact, the Greg Golden Band was named last year’s “Best Band in Reno, Nevada.” When combined with band members Boris Tavcar on drums, Richard Wagner on bass and Randy Scoles on vocals, Sunday night’s Run-A-Mucca entertainment will truly be one of a kind.
But the big news this year is “Fozzy,” who will play for crowds Saturday night from 9 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. during the Burning Bike spectacular. Chris Jericho on pianos, Rich Ward on lead guitar, Frank Fontsere and Eric Sanders on drums, Paul Di Leo on bass guitar, and Billy Grey and Mike Martin on guitars, will bring the Judas Rising Tour 2018 to Winnemucca as a reminder of rock’s unprecedented ability to invoke sweaty, loud, spandex-clad jubilation.
Fozzy has released four increasingly popular studio albums, but it is the band’s onstage performance that keeps crowds coming back. Fozzy has toured with rock giants such as Metallica, Shinedown, Avenged Sevenfold and British metal legends Saxon. Not only were those bands’ diehard fans bowing to Fozzy, but music industry icons as well.
Now as Fozzy blows into Run-A-Mucca, soon-to-be fans will be forced to dial back into the art of rock and roll.
As Winnemucca Convention & Visitors Authority Marketing and Special Events Coordinator Darrel Field said, “It’s time for fans to fasten their seatbelts, ease the seat back, and let Fozzy do their work; people are going to love this band.”
Field added, “We want everyone to come out and enjoy themselves during these concerts.”
For more information on Run-A-Mucca 2018, please visit www.runamucca.com.
