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Dell Diamond Concerts

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By Rob Heidrick Friday, 03 July 2009

The Dell Diamond will host two outdoor concerts this summer as part of an effort to establish the Round Rock ballpark as a venue for high-profile entertainment events.

Reckless Kelly, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Ray Benson performed at the Celebrity Softball Jam in April. Photo courtesy Ryan-Sanders Baseball

On July 4, Jerry Jeff Walker and Kellie Pickler will perform at the Waterstone Development/Round Rock Express Freedom Fest, which will benefit the Children of Fallen Soldiers, a nonprofit organization formed by the Rotary Club of Round Rock to finance the college education for students with parents who have been killed in military combat.

Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp will play a concert at the Dell Diamond Aug. 4 as part of the 2009 Ballpark Tour, which has stops at 22 minor league stadiums. Attendance at the Round Rock performance is expected to exceed 10,000, said J.J. Gottsch, executive vice president of Ryan-Sanders Baseball, which owns the Round Rock Express and another Triple-A Baseball team, the Corpus Christi Hooks.

“We haven’t really aggressively pursued the concert business until this year,” he said. “We only utilize the stadium for our 72 professional games, but for the majority of the year, we don’t use it to its full potential.”

Austin-based band Reckless Kelly performed with Cross Canadian Ragweed, Ray Benson and other musicians at the Celebrity Softball Jam in April. Proceeds from the event benefited the South Austin Little League, the Miracle League and the Elks Club Scholarship Program. The organizations accepted the donations at a check presentation ceremony June 30.

“Initially we were hoping to make around $10,000 to distribute to the charities, and at the end of the day I think we more than doubled that,” Gottsch said.

While no other concerts have been scheduled beyond the Ballpark Tour in August, Gottsch said stadium owners are in talks with promoters in hopes of booking more concerts and possibly a series of boxing matches this winter.

Concert schedule

Two high-profile concerts will be held at the Dell Diamond this summer, and other events are being planned for later in the year. For updates and event announcements, call the Round Rock Express box office at 255-2255 or visit www.roundrockexpress.com.

Waterstone Development/Round Rock Express Freedom Fest, featuring Jerry Jeff Walker and Kellie Pickler