Collective Soul, Tonic, Five For Fighting, Gin Blossoms Live in the Ballpark

Friday night, Oct. 22, multi-platinum artist John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting will take the stage acoustic on the pitcher's mound to perform his hit songs "Superman," "100 Years," his new hit "Slice" and more for a very private and exclusive dinner benefiting the City of Hope. This event will feature premium Napa Wineries pouring tastings of their famous wines from familiar names like Silver Oak, Trefethen, Trinchero, Miner, Faust, and many more. The evening will showcase three celebrity chefs on Home Plate, First and Third base as they send out delectable foods from their Kitchen Aid special grilling stations for the lucky ticket holders.

Greg Cole, nationally known chef most recently seen on the cover of Wine Enthusiast, is flying in from Napa, Calif., to offer a sample of his two hit menus from his celebrated Napa restaurants, Cole's Chop House and Celadon. He will be joined by two other local Austin chefs who will go toe to toe with him to give the attendees a taste of Texas Gourmet fare!
The 60 eight-top tables for the Friday night dinner will be positioned on the infield of The Dell Diamond for a once in a lifetime opportunity to sit with celebrated sports figures, recording artists, the guest chefs and the Napa valley winemakers themselves for an incredible intimate night of magic to benefit one of the most important and venerable Cancer Charities in America.

On Saturday, October 23, Dell Diamond will open its doors to the public with family-friendly general admission tickets for $40 and VIP tickets for $65 - as the main "Live in the Ballpark" festival gets underway at the stadium and on the field. Tailgating sections in the back parking lot will open at noon for a burger competition of Texas-sized proportions. Sutter Home Winery is awarding a Kitchen Aid kitchen "makeover" for one of the lucky five burger cook-off finalists. Sutter Home chefs are flying in from Napa to judge the final contest. Burger enthusiasts can watch the showdown as the finalists compete to grill the best burger. Look for the Sutter Home and "Live in the Ballpark" displays at grocery stores through early October for contest rules and regulations. You can also visit www.sutterhome.com for more information.

Doors to the stadium open at 2:30 p.m. and guests can enjoy more food, fun and events to entertain the whole family with a pie-contest from Kitchen Aid and a special Kid's Zone fun area with face painting, mascot training camp and art walls.

Events also include a special 21-and-over VIP tasting from Sutter Home Winery and a "Cabo�Cado" fun deck with Cabo-Wabo Tequila tasting flights and a special gourmet guacamole companion tasting.

The Live in the Ballpark musical set begins with local bands at 4 p.m. and then headliner artists will hit the stage, which will be located in center field, with Texas native pop/rock stars Green River Ordinance at 5 p.m.

Gin Blossoms will go on next to play their hits and some great new songs from their about to release record reunion "No Chocolate Cake" followed by the plugged in full band version of Five For Fighting to entertain with John Ondrasik's impressive array of hit singles, and new songs "Chances" and "Slice" from his new album.

The rock really ratchets up at 8 p.m. when Multi-platinum powerhouse band, Collective Soul takes the stage to perform their multiple No. 1 songs. Collective Soul has long been one of the most consistent and fantastic live bands and they will arrive ready to play their hits including the newest smash "Staring Down."

Live In The Ballpark will conclude a great evening of music with the much-loved and reunited Platinum selling and Grammy nominated band, Tonic. Performing their rockers "If You Could Only See the Way," "You Wanted More," "Open Up Your Eyes" and their most recent top-rated Hot/AC single "Release Me."

"As a sports nut, and huge Nolan Ryan fan, I am pleased to be playing two nights at Live in the Ballpark," said Ondrasik. "The first night's acoustic show will benefit the City of Hope Cancer Charities, and with the piano perched on the pitcher's mound I'm confident my knuckleball will be unhittable," he added. "On Saturday, the Five for Fighting Band will plug in with my friends from Collective Soul and Tonic for a night of good time rock-n-roll. As with Live in the Vineyard, great food, drink, and music will abound. Bring the family; I'll be bringing mine."