Organizers of the upcoming Leesburg Bikefest have announced the third major act scheduled to perform during the event.
Uncle Kracker, also known as 44-year-old Matthew Shafer, will be on the main town square stage on Sunday, April 28 from 2:30-4 p.m. to close out the three-day event that brings in motorcycle enthusiasts from across the country. He joins Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil and rapper Vanilla Ice as the three headliners scheduled to perform at the annual gathering.
Shafer, a songwriter and rapper, is known for his country and rock music. He formerly served as a DJ for Kid Rock’s band, Twisted Tucker Brown, and has been a solo artist since 1999.
The Mount Clemens, Mich. native has appeared on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” and the Country Music Awards. He has had two top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, “Follow Me” and “Drift Away.” And his newest release, “Floatin,” has proven quite popular with fans at sold-out shows across the country.
For Shafer, performing events like Bikefest really centers around one thing.
“I really subscribe to this mindset of just having fun,” he said. “That’s what it’s always about. It’s the train that I’m forever on. The way I feel is if I’m enjoying it, it’s really worth doing.”
Vanilla Ice, also known as Robert Matthew Van Winkle, kicks off Bikefest on Friday, April 26 with a two-hour show beginning at 9:30 p.m. The controversial rapper who enjoyed his heyday in the music field in the early 1990s is making a return to Bikefest, having also performed at the event in 2014. He was lauded for spending so much time signing autographs and talking with Bikefest participants that organizers were anxious to bring the 51-year-old performer back to the event’s main stage.
Vanilla Ice shot to stardom in 1990 with the release of “Ice Ice Baby,” which originally was the B side of “Play That Funky Music.” The song propelled him to fame but also landed him in hot water because of similarities in the music of another song titled “Under Pressure,” by Queen and David Bowie. The issue was settled out of court, with Van Winkle being ordered to pay financial compensation to the original artists. And all members of Queen and Bowie were given songwriting credits.
Van Winkle also has appeared in a variety of television shows, including “Brother Vs. Brother” and “Dancing with the Stars.” He currently can be seen on the DIY Network in “The Vanilla Ice Project,” a show that started in 2010 and features Van Winkle and his crew renovating and flipping high-dollar homes in the Palm Beach area.
Neil, the legendary lead singer for Motley Crue, will be on the Bikefest main stage on Saturday, April 27, beginning at 10 p.m. He’s scheduled to perform for an hour and a half and will be singing Motley Crue’s biggest hits in a show that’s sure to bring in rock and roll fans from across the Sunshine State.
The 58-year-old Neil, who appeared on “Celebrity Apprentice” in January of 2017 and is arguably one of the biggest names to ever perform at Bikefest, has an unmistakable voice that is connected to some of the greatest songs in rock and roll history. He’ll be performing many of those, including “Girls, Girls, Girls,” “Dr. Feelgood,” “Kickstart My Heart,” “Same Ol’ Situation,” “Wild Side,” “Shout at the Devil” and “Home Sweet Home,” to name a few.
Leesburg Bikefest, billed as the “World’s Largest 3 Day Motorcycle and Music Event,” will cover 30 blocks in downtown Leesburg. It will offer more than 55 concerts, 200-plus vendors, six hot-body contests, bike and stunt shows and eight venues.
