Staggapalooza - all day 50th anniversary celebration - May 17

On Saturday, May 17, there’s something for everyone at Stagg High School’s 50th Anniversary all day Staggapalooza event, including a great rock music concert at 5:00 pm headlined by the GIN BLOSSOMS!

8:00 a.m. 5K Race Registration
9:00 a.m. 5K race begins

8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Craft fair on south side of campus
9:00 to 11:30 a.m. Pancake Breakfast in Commons
9:00 a.m. to noon Vendor Fair in Charger Gym
11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Main stage performances in Stadium
11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Food vendors 
5:00 to 8:30 p.m. Gin Blossom Concert in Stadium
8:30 to 8:45 p.m. Fireworks


Click here to Register for 5K Run/Walk

Get all the details here.

Staggapalooza General Public Admission:  
Tickets available the day-of the event.

$3 - Half Day Pass 
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 
Allows admission to: Craft Fair, Main Stage (12 to 4 p.m. only), and Food Vendors  

$10 – Mega All Day Pass 
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. 
Allows admission to: Craft Fair, Main Stage, Food Vendors, and Headline Band: Gin Blossoms  

CURRENT STAGG STUDENT ADMISSION OPTIONS 
(must have Stagg student ID) 
$20 Race Registration Package includes: 5K Race (with pancake breakfast) AND admission to: Craft Fair & Food Vendor areas; Main Stage performances; Headline Concert: Gin Blossoms  

$10 Mega All Day Pass Admission to: Craft Fair & Food Vendor areas; Main Stage performances; Headline Concert: Gin Blossoms  

$3 Half Day Pass Admission to: Craft Fair & Food Vendor areas; Main Stage performances 


About the Gin Blossoms from ginblossoms.com
In late 80’s Gin Blossoms started to grow a huge following as the #1 local music draw in Phoenix and certainly were the hometown hero’s of their favorite hang, Tempe, Arizona. Gin Blossoms indelible jangle-pop sound was evolving during radio’s diverse mix of hair bands and grunge music superstars like Nirvana. After the Phoenix New Times chose them the cities best rock band, they qualified to play at the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin Texas in 1989. That same year, College Music Journal dubbed them the “Best Unsigned Band in America” and added an invitation to perform on MTV’s New Music Awards in New York City.

Taking their name from a caption on a W.C. Fields photo, Gin Blossoms signed a record deal with A&M and recorded their first EP “Up And Crumbling” in 1991. But, it was not until their breakout record “New Miserable Experience” in 1992 that their rise to fame began. “New Miserable Experience” kept the band on the charts for almost 3 years with singles “Hey Jealousy,” “Allison Road,” “Until I Fall Away,” “Mrs Rita,” and “Found Out About You.” The album took the airwaves by siege and held MTV hostage with multi cross-over hits in 4 different radio formats. It was this record that rocketed the band into the mainstream going on to sell over 4 million copies making the band a 90’s radio mainstay. In 1995, Robin Wilson, Jesse Valenzuela and veteran composer Marshall Crenshaw wrote the bands 4th of 9 sound track inclusions; “Til I Hear It From You.” The smash hit was released as a Gin Blossoms single and it appeared on the platinum sound track for the film Empire Records.

1996 saw the final record of the decade for Gin Blossoms “Congratulations I’m Sorry.” The album brought two more hits; "Follow You Down" which spent ten weeks in the Top Ten and "As Long As It Matters" which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Performance by a Duo or Group. “It was pretty cool to lose a Grammy to the Beatles. Who else would you want to lose out to” say’s Jesse. The album rocketed into Billboard's Top Ten and a year of touring helped push the record past 1,500,000 in sales. In 5 years, the band released 2 EP’s, two LP’s and over 12 singles that fueled record sales to over 7 million. Their blend of Pop & Rock, now known as Jangle-Pop, became a musical force that helped define the sound of 90’s radio. 

In 1997, while at peak success and after numerous appearances on late night TV such as Letterman, Leno, Arsenio Hall, Saturday Night Live, The Grammy’s, and endless touring, the group disbanded and began a four year hiatus. It was not until a 2001 New Years Eve performance in Tempe that the members reformed and began touring and recording again. “Since 2001, we have been performing over 120 shows a year. This is what we most enjoy doing” say’s Wilson. “It’s our job and I know all of us are really grateful that we can earn a living making records and entertaining people on the road. We’re doing something we really love! I don’t know many people that can say that when they go to work everyday.” 

In 2005, former A&M president Al Cafaro resigned the band and partnered to record their 3rd full length album in over 10 years. “Major Lodge Victory” landed on Billboards 200 and was the # 10 Indie album of the year. Released on August 8th, 2006, it included hits “Learning The Hard Way” and the appropriately titled “Long Time Gone.” Billboard magazine called this gem “an effortless triumph of melodic perfection.” “This was a really fun record to make” say’s Scotty. “We assembled some of the old team together and recorded at Ardent Studios with John Hampton again. Ardent is a legendary studio, and were comfortable there – it was a lot of fun.” Back in chart bloom, Entertainment Weekly reviewed “Major Lodge Victory” by saying; “Hardly a half-hearted cash-in, this comeback LP marks a solid addendum to Gin Blossoms multi-platinum peak output.” 

Their most recent album, 2010’s “No Chocolate Cake”, lands Gin’s back on the singles chart again with “Miss Disarray” and the album shot straight to # 1 on Amazon, hitting Billboard’s top 200 at # 73 and the Indie chart at #14. Because the band members no longer live in the same city—Wilson divides his time between Tempe and New York, Valenzuela is in Los Angeles. Putting the sonic pieces of No Chocolate Cake together presented an exciting new challenge for the band. While Wilson contributed a handful of songs, the bulk of the material chosen for the 11 track set was written by Valenzuela either solo or with different collaborators, including Danny Wilde of The Rembrandts (the Blossoms guitarist first worked with Wilde on The Rembrandts’ song “Long Walk Home”).