With more than 65 breweries, every flavor imaginable will be offered at The Great Eldorado, BBQ, Brews & Blues Festival — even Vanilla Ice.
A rapper who had a white-hot moment in the early 1990s, Vanilla Ice will be the final performer to hit the stage on Friday, June 15, at this year’s block party in downtown Reno. The Spin Doctors, whose heyday also was in the early ‘90s, headline on Saturday, June 16. (This is a change from the original schedule, which had Vanilla Ice playing on Saturday.)
The blues bands are led by Tommy Castro and the Painkillers. Shane Dwight, a longtime favorite at the event will perform both days, as will AC Myles, Reno’s Jason King Band and USAF Mobility. San Jose’s Maxx Cabello Jr and the Buddy Emmer Blues Band will perform on Saturday.
Along with myriad food options, some 40,000 festival-goers can receive unlimited tastings from Eldorado’s Brew Brothers, Hop Valley Brewing Co., Lagunitas, Led Dog Brewing and Stoney Head Brewing Company and many more. This the 23rd Great Eldorado, BBQ, Brews & Blues Festival.
“It sounds like a helluva good lineup with a lot of favorites,” Castro told Tahoe Onstage. “Shane Dwight been a favorite there, I’ve known him for years and Jason’s a local guy who is very popular there. Maxx is another Bay Area guy and he’s a monster guitar player, he’s amazing, really. That should make for a helluva good show.”
The Spin Doctors will hit the stage in Reno with each of their four original members: singer Chris Barron, guitarist Eric Schenkman, bassist Mark White and drummer/keyboardist Aaron Comess.
The band received a Grammy nomination for the 1991 album “Pocket Full of Kryptonite,” which had hit songs “Two Princes” and “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong.” The album also contained the funky “What Time Is It” jammy “Jimmy Olson’s Blues.”
The band has two notable former members. Before starting the Spin Doctors Schenkman and Barron played in the Trucking Company with Barron’s high school friend John Popper of Blues Traveler. And from 1996-1999, keyboardist/singer Ivan Neville was in Spin Doctors.
While the Spin Doctors are a blues-based band that found fame with a pop-rock album, Vanilla Ice is the novelty at the Reno festival. The 50-year-old Robert Matthew Van Winkle was among the great white hopes in the early days of rap along with House of Pain, 3rd Bass and the Beastie Boys. He’s been in films, reality television and recently has toured with the I Love the 90s Tour.
- 2018 Great Eldorado BBQ, Brews & Blues Festival
Downtown Reno
Friday, June 15
Third Street Stage
4 p.m. – AC Myles
6 p.m. – Shane Dwight
Fourth Street Stage
3:30 p.m. — Jason King Band
5:30 p.m. – USA Mobility
7:45 p.m. – Vanilla Ice - Saturday, June 16
Third Street Stage
11:30 a.m. – Jason King Band
1:30 p.m. – AC Myles
3:30 p.m. – Buddy Emmer
5:30 p.m. – Tommy Castro and the Painkillers
Fourth Street Stage
Noon – Maxx Cabello Jr.
2 p.m. — Shane Dwight
4 p.m. — USAF Mobility
6:30 p.m. – Spin Doctors
