What does it take to put on a two-day music festival?It took altogether took two and a half years, $6 million, a “dream team” and a week of setup deemed “organized chaos” by Associate Athletics Director Eddie Nunez. Some of the biggest names in country music — Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Keith Urban, to name a few — came together May 29 and 30 in Tiger Stadium.Baton Rouge has not seen many headliners since the heyday of the 1970s, when artists like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Elvis Presley hit the Capital City. Big music acts have bypassed Baton Rouge in recent years in favor of the New Orleans Arena or the Cajundome in Lafayette, however. Quint Davis, director and producer of Bayou Country Superfest, said “only the imagination can place limits on the precise location of a festival.””If it’s properly booked, promoted and managed, a festival can happen wherever a promoter wants it to, from an obscure hamlet like Woodstock, New York, to the state capital of Louisiana,” Davis said in an email. It will take a few months to measure the festival’s economic impact, which is estimated to be in the $30-million range. Mayor-president Kip Holden said in a press conference that hotels went from 15 percent occupied to 80 or 90 percent during the weekend. Business also picked up in airports, restaurants and stores.”For Baton Rouge, this is a monumental time,” Holden said. The “Dream Team” of Davis, Holden, Baton Rouge Area Convention and Visitors Bureau CEO Paul Arrigo, Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism Secretary Pam Breaux, LSU athletic director Joe Alleva and Mockler Beverage Company owner Tim Mockler put the idea into action. The team tossed out various locations for the event such as Airline Highway Park and Independence Park. But the allure of Tiger Stadium appealed to Davis, who witnesssed  the Tigers lose, 50-48, to Arkansas on Nov. 23, 2007.”There’s nothing in the world like Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night,” Davis said. Holden said a little luck with the timing of the event helped its success.”Taylor Swift had not won a major award two and a half years ago,” Holden said. “Brooks & Dunn had not announced it was their last tour.”Brooks & Dunn’s performance is one of the final stops on their Last Rodeo tour which concludes Aug. 10 in Nashville, Tenn.”At some point in your life, you’re going to realize you’re at the end of the road,” Kix Brooks said on stage. “Be sure you thank the people that got you there.”Prior to Chesney’s performance, Davis came out and introduced Louisiana National Guard troops stationed in Iraq. The troops, clad in LSU and New Orleans Saints jerseys, watched Brooks & Dunn and Chesney perform via live feed. “By all accounts the live feed to Iraq went extremely well and was very well received by the Louisiana National Guard troops who saw it in Iraq,” Davis said. “It was a great way to acknowledge our appreciation of the troops, especially on Memorial Day weekend.”Chesney later got a huge cheer when he showed off the Saints’ new Lombardi trophy to the 50,000-plus crowd. Saints coach Sean Payton received a similar reception when he joined Chesney on stage a moment later.
 
 
 
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