Stagecoach 2012: The wrap-up, stats, random moments

Final stats, thoughts and impressions from the 2012 Stagecoach Country Music Festival that took place Friday through Sunday at the Empire Polo Club in Indio:

• Indio Police spokesman Ben Guitron said his department and other city emergency teams overall were "very pleased" with new measures taken to alleviate traffic problems going in and out of Stagecoach. Shuttles to and from area hotels helped considerably, he said, even though far fewer attendees used shuttle buses than those who attended Coachella two weekends earlier. Close to 25,000 people used the shuttles during Coachalla, only around 3,000-4,000 did so at Stagecoach. But more Stagecoach-goers camp in adjoining campgrounds than at Coachella.

Guitron reported a total of 139 arrests as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday, the vast majority for alcohol-related offenses. That compared to 134 arrests on the first weekend of Coachella, and 102 on its second weekend, mostly for a combination of alcohol and drug issues. The most serious incident was a sexual assault on a 17-year-old girl, who was attacked by three men on her way into Stagecoach on Friday night. The girl was taken to a local hospital and treated. The three men fled, and Indio Police are investigating, asking anyone with information on the incident to call (760) 391-4057.

PHOTOS: The scene at Stagecoach 2012

• One key logistical change this year was the cordoning off of several “standing room only” sections of lawn near the stage but behind the reserved/VIP seating area immediately in front of the Mane Stage where all the big guns played, including Brad Paisley, Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Sheryl Crow and Alabama. It allowed more fans closer access to the festival’s headliners. In years past, die-hard Stagecoach goers would arrive early, much like the homesteaders of yore, and plant blankets and lawn chairs, occupying in all areas close to the main stage. The new standing room sections allowed more mobile festival goers to check out performances on the Mustang and Palomino stages and still be able to get relatively close to the main stage acts after sundown. Goldenvoice capped the ticket sales this year at 55,000.

• Favorite instrument of the weekend: the gas-tank bass cobbled together and employed Sunday by Split Lip Rayfield member Jeff Eaton, a single string variation on the old-school washtub bass, the version used a day earlier by San Fernando Valley’s Old Man Markley.

• Favorite T-shirt slogan of the weekend: “Rehab Is for Quitters.”

• Festivals such as Stagecoach and Coachella often serve as weekend soundtracks for those who aren’t totally immersed in the music. One woman sat near the back of the lawn Friday night during Aldean’s closing performance, far enough that the audio from the stage and the video on the bank of screens near her were a couple of seconds out of sync, and happily read a book on her Kindle.

Stagecoach 2012: Some highlights -- Miranda Lambert, Dave Alvin

After a relatively low-key first day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival on Friday, with just a half-dozen acts on a single stage, the music kicked into high gear Saturday. On the second day, all three stages were up and running with 17 more acts representing country, pop-country, alt-country and every other type of hybrid country music under the desert sun.

That's downright modest compared to the total sensory and schedule overload of the 143 acts that played the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the two previous weekends, but still enough to create some hard choices among simultaneously scheduled performers.

For instance, do you catch 85-year-old bluegrass master Ralph Stanley at the expense of a rare chance to hear singer-songwriter J.D. Souther, one of the architects of the Southern California country-rock sound that's been the template for much of what's been coming out of Nashville for the last two decades? And then miss out on rising Texas singer songwriter Sunny Sweeney, who was on the Mane Stage at the same time as Stanley and Souther?

PHOTOS: The scene at Stagecoach 2012

Such are the dilemmas of Stagecoach 2012.

One solution: in a music festival equivalent of culinary grazing, attempt to get a representative, if truncated, sampling of as many bands as possible.

Here are some highlights from the first two days:

-- Miranda Lambert: The sassy Texas singer-songwriter headlined on Saturday with a performance that firmly demonstrated why she’s become a full-blown star. All the elements are clicking for her: fresh and insightful songwriting, commanding stage presence and a wonderfully distinctive voice, all working together in service of celebrating and empowering the predominantly female crowd that makes up country’s core audience.

-- Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones; You'd be hard-pressed this weekend, or any weekend for that matter, to hear songs that reach deeper or ring truer than Alvin's portraits of people who often struggle without earthly reward for their efforts. Whether on his old Blasters/X classic "Fourth of July" or a more recent song such as "Black Rose of Texas," Alvin unfailingly hits the mark.

Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean lead country music awards nominations

Kenny Chesney has come roaring back in terms of industry recognition with a field-dominating nine nominations for this year's Academy of Country Music Awards.

The runner-up for most nods was Jason Aldean, who collected six, ahead of Lady Antebellum with five, Brad Paisley with four and Taylor Swift, Toby Keith, Grace Potter and the Eli Young Band with three apiece, academy officials announced Thursday.

Newer-vintage performers such as Miranda Lambert and Zac Brown scored the most nominations last year, but Chesney this year is up for entertainer of the year, male vocalist and song of the year, plus double dips under the ACM's rules recognizing performers who also are producers, for his album "Hemingway’s Whiskey," his hit single (with Grace Potter) "You and Tequila" and vocal event for the same song.

Chesney, Swift, Aldean and Paisley are joined by Blake Shelton vying for the ACM's top trophy, entertainer of the year, which went to Swift last year.

Swift also is in the running again in the female vocalist category, along with repeat nominees Sara Evans, Lambert, Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood, while Aldean, Chesney, Paisley, Shelton and Chris Young are up for male vocalist honors.

Stagecoach Festival 2012 is sold out

The Stagecoach Country Music Festival for 2012 has sold out more than three months in advance, a first for the gathering, which  marks its sixth anniversary this year.

Promoter Goldenvoice announced the sellout, more noteworthy as the festival has been expanded from the usual two days to three this year, for only the second time in its history.

This year’s event is slated for April 27-29 at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, Calif.,  and features the usual mix of contemporary and classic country, veterans and newcomers, mainstream and alternative performers, including Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Martina McBride, Alabama, the Band Perry, the Mavericks, Kenny Rogers, Luke Bryan, Sara Evans, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers and Chris Isaak.

-- Randy Lewis

Photo: Brad Paisley plays during his headlining performance the 2009 Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times.

Kenny Loggins: Blake Shelton's 'Footloose' sounds overly produced

During the 1980s, Kenny Loggins wrote hits for so many popular films that many began referring to him as the "King of the Movie Soundtrack."

The musician penned tunes for movies ranging from "Caddyshack" to "Top Gun," though his most recognizable song arguably remains "Footloose," the catchy theme to the Kevin Bacon dance flick.

On Oct. 14, Paramount is releasing a remake of "Footloose" -- one whose soundtrack includes a re-tooled version of Loggins' song from country artist Blake Shelton.

At the premiere of the new film Monday evening, Loggins said he thought Shelton did "a good job" with the updated song, though he took issue with the way the tune was produced.

"They paid a lot of attention to the original version, you can tell. I just think they went a little bit crazy with the Pro Tools," he told Pop & Hiss on the red carpet in Westwood. (You can watch the interview below.)

Loggins said he's proud of how the "Footloose" theme has endured over the years, saying it's "become more like [Chuck Berry's] 'Johnny B. Goode.' It's like a classic rock staple."

Nowadays, Loggins has been keeping busy on the oldies circuit: in February, he'll play a gig with the Glendale Pops Orchestra, and will make a stop at a casino in Indiana a few nights later.

"It was the only song that actually went to No. 1 and stayed there a while. And the tickets followed," he recalled. "Because really, I've been more of a performing act than a recording act, so to have a No. 1 song really lifted that cachet."

RELATED:

The choreographer: Jamal Sims of 'Footloose'

'Footloose': Like dancing, a remake isn't sacrilege, just fun

'Footloose' trailer hits: The Ren McCormack character is reborn

--Amy Kaufman

twitter.com/AmyKinLA

Photo: Kenny Loggins arrives at the "Footloose" premiere in Westwood on Monday night. Credit: Danny Moloshok / Reuters