Legendary trio put a new spin on a day at the ballpark

Few things say Americana like the smell of roasting hot dogs, onions and sauerkraut. Yet it's not often you walk into a concert smelling toppings for wieners - but then this was no ordinary concert.

John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan played Harbor Park on Saturday, a show so epic and unusual in its star power and location that many people there couldn't quite believe it.

"The lineup is fantastic," said Bobbie Sarver, a 54-year-old from Portsmouth who said she was impressed by the location.

A stage was erected in center field. A plastic surface was placed over everything from first base to third, leaving only the pitcher's mound and the batter's area exposed.

And of course, there was cotton candy, funnel cake, french fries, beer and all the other baseball staples to make the experience enjoyably odd and larger than life.

Large enough to suit three of America's most respected and influential musicians.

Though the majority of the crowd was adults of a certain age, not everyone was a baby boomer. Tattooed hipsters in tight T-shirts and piercings and Vans weren't an anomaly. Every once in a while, you'd see some fresh-faced youngsters.

"I'm a big Bob Dylan fan," said Blaire Lawrence, an 18-year-old from Richmond with a nose ring who learned about the show via an e-mail from Ticketmaster. " When I saw he was coming, I knew I had to come."

Lawrence brought along her cousin, Christine Pomatto of Stafford.

"I have no idea who Bob Dylan is," Pomatto said. When Lawrence reminded Pomatto that she was being introduced to a music legend, Stafford smiled and shrugged.

For others, this was a once-in-a-lifetime event, perhaps just because the artists were all together at the same time. Their tour includes visits to other minor league stadiums.

"I wanted to be able to say I saw them," said Kim Kriklavich, 48, of Norfolk, who came to see Mellencamp.

She was one of 5,682 at Harbor Park, which has a capacity of about 12,000, on a Saturday filled with entertainment options. Not far from the ballpark, a jazz festival was at Town Point Park. Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kid Rock were at the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater.

"Because this market is so competitive in the summer, we're glad there's a tour specifically for a stadium," said John Rhamstine, Norfolk's director of cultural facilities, arts and entertainment. "I think it's great we have another venue we can present summer entertainment in, but all these guys are iconic in their own way."

This wasn't the first time Harbor Park has hosted a concert. LeAnn Rimes and Tim McGraw played the stadium.

Saturday, it wasn't unusual to see people raising their beers at the right moment during Nelson's "Beer for My Horses" or to hear them letting out a rebel yell.

What was unusual - and refreshing - was people chilling out in the stands with their feet up as a guy walked by saying, "Snow cones! Get your snow cones here!"

Malcolm Venable, (757) 446-2662, malcolm.venable@pilotonline.com