No Beach Boys This Year For Oshkosh

ANN APRIL 1st "SPECIAL" EDITION: Acknowledging that "even The Beach Boys grow stale after you've seen them twice in two years," officials at the Experimental Aircraft Association announced this week attendees for this summer's AirVenture 2008 will be treated instead to something entirely different.

"EAA is proud to present something different for AirVenture audiences, and to the population of Oshkosh, Wisconsin," said EAA President Tom Poberezny. "In combination with EAA's desire to attract a younger, more diverse audience to aviation, we have invited some of the nation's top hip-hop, rap, and alt-metal groups to perform at The World's Greatest Aviation Celebration."

While the final performer list for the Monday, July 28 concert was still being ironed out at press time, confirmed performers for the four-hour concert on AeroShell Square will include the Beastie Boys, Kanye West, Linkin Park, and Jay-Z.

"We've loved having The Beach Boys perform over the past two years," Poberezny added, "and our audiences loved them, as well. But let's face it -- even the Beach Boys grow a bit stale after a while, as several attendees told us after last year's show. We felt it was time for a breath of fresh air, and some deep-thumping bass beats."

As in years' past, attendance to the show will be free to all AirVenture ticket-holders. The performance will kick off immediately following Monday's scheduled air show, and ear-plug vendors will be stationed at several locations throughout AeroShell Square.

FMI: www.airventure.org/masters