Get ready for ROTHBURY 2009

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee and AEG Live have come to an agreement on the lease of Double JJ Resort next summer for the second year of the ROTHBURY Festival.

One possible glitch: Federal bankruptcy Judge Jeffrey R. Hughes must approve the camp-in, environmentally themed music festival at the Double JJ in a court ruling.

Financial problems led Double JJ to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization after last July's first ROTHBURY, which was by all accounts a commercial success and a popular hit. The resort is poised to be sold through the bankruptcy proceedings, but not in time for the 2009 version of ROTHBURY to be planned with a new owner.

Hughes has a motion approving the lease with the festival promoters before him Monday afternoon in federal bankruptcy court in Grand Rapids.

The judge's go-ahead is needed for bankruptcy Trustee Thomas A. Bruinsma to sign the contract with AEG Live, which is a leading global entertainment company that co-produced the first-year festival with Madison House Productions of Boulder, Colo.

So far, a creditor and a land-contract holder have objected to the festival lease with the resort's trustee.

"The festival was widely heralded as a success, and concert-goers are eagerly anticipating the 2009 event," Bruinsma's attorney Stephen Grow wrote the court over the Christmas holiday. ROTHBURY drew approximately 40,000 fans and nearly 80 acts including The Dave Matthews Band.

"Organizing a mega-event like the festival typically begins a year in advance," Grow wrote in court documents. "The trustee believes that the wide acclaim of the festival enhances the value of the (Double JJ) assets. The uncertainty concerning the timing of a sale of the resort has left the producer unable to commit resources and capital to produce the festival in 2009 without certain assurances from the debtors."

Grow went on to tell the court that Bruinsma and AEG Live officials have been negotiating the 2009 festival lease for several weeks. AEG Live Chief Operating Officer Thomas Miserendino of Los Angeles signed the agreement and Bruinsma needs Judge Hughes' approval to execute the contract.

AEG would pay $285,000 to lease nine parcels of land in the 2,000-acre resort in Oceana County's Grant Township through Aug. 30. The only buildings the festival would use would be the Art Barn and the Rodeo Arena, according to the proposed lease.

The proposed 2009 lease does not include a $50,000 bonus and a payment based on 10 percent of all food and nonalcoholic beverage sales during the event, provisions that were in the 2008 contract signed by resort owners Bob and Joan Lipsitz.

The 2009 ROTHBURY is expected to be produced the weekend of July 3-5.

Madison House officials said recently they are planning for the second ROTHBURY this summer as if an agreement would be reached with the trustee or a new resort owner.

Megan McFann, director for Madison House Publicity, said although ROTHBURY 2009 is not yet definite, organizers are proceeding as if the event will happen.

"We're very excited about returning -- based on the success (in 2008)," said McFann.

The inaugural four-day music festival featured such headliners as the Dave Matthews Band, Snoop Dogg, John Mayer and Widespread Panic.

Speculation about the 2009 lineup so far includes a reunited Phish -- three quarters of the group performed briefly together on stage at the 2008 ROTHBURY. Other possible headliners might include Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, AC/DC, the Foo Fighters and Coldplay which are among the many bands currently touring and promoting recent compact discs.

McFann would not confirm organizers were negotiating with Phish or Petty, but she also declined to deny it. McFann promised several well-known groups and surprises would be part of a 2009 lineup.

Two possible snags in Bruinsma's plan to lease the Double JJ to the festival promoters come in the form of two legal objections to the lease agreement Hughes will be asked to approve Monday.

Great Lakes Energy Cooperative has a $98,000 mortgage that has gone to a sheriff's deed sale for foreclosure. By Jan. 10, the electrical cooperative could own a portion of the land that is being leased for the festival.

The festival contract says that if the bankruptcy trustee does not control the utility's land by Jan. 9, AEG has the ability to cancel its lease and the festival. It is unknown what will happen to the sheriff's deed sale redemption.

But Great Lakes objects to the AEG lease because it is on land that the trustee currently doesn't control.

Terry, Mary and David Dykstra have a $114,000 land contract -- which is in arrears -- for another parcel that is subject of the AEG lease. They also object to the festival contract unless their interests are protected, according to court records.

Other objections could arise prior to Monday's hearing.