GIBSON CITY — Bill Kirby and Rob Schmitt like to joke that they were the ones who broke up REO Speedwagon.
After all, the rock band’s announced breakup last September came soon after the two Gibson Area Hospital & Health Services staffers had seemingly all but secured the band’s appearance at the hospital’s next Summer Bash concert in downtown Gibson City — after years of repeatedly unsuccessful attempts.
Of course, Schmitt, GAHHS’s chief executive officer, and Kirby, its director of employee and community events, realize they had nothing to do with the breakup of the popular band from Champaign, which was formed in 1967 and sold more than 40 million records while charting 13 Top 40 hits.
In retrospect, Schmitt and Kirby should have known something was coming as they were negotiating with the band’s agents in 2024, hoping to get a done deal for REO to perform in Gibson City in August 2025.
The ‘rock-on’ hand gesture is made by a fan attending last year’s annual Gibson Area Hospital & Health Services Summer Bash on Sangamon Avenue in downtown Gibson City. (Photo by Natalie Barnett)
“We were, like, this close to signing REO Speedwagon,” Schmitt said. “They were, like, 90%, ‘We’re ready to sign.’ … And then they came back and said, ‘Well, does it have to be (on a) Saturday? Can it be (a) Friday?’ And we said, ‘Of course.’ … Then they came back and said, ‘Well, does it have to be the third weekend in August?’ And we said, ‘Nope, it can be July (or) anytime.’ … Then they came back and they’re like, ‘Well, can it be just Kevin Cronin?’ And we’re like, ‘Wait, what?’ … And then they broke up. And I’m like, ‘Damn, we broke up REO Speedwagon!’”
It was a disappointing moment for Kirby and Schmitt, who had been trying to get REO to come to Gibson City ever since the hospital’s second Summer Bash was held in 2022, only to fail year after year. In REO’s place, though, they were able to secure a solid second choice for 2025 — the iconic rock band Foreigner — to headline the fifth annual Summer Bash on Saturday, Aug. 16, and they continue to only aim even bigger for next year.
“At this point, we aim for the stars,” Kirby said.
Among ideas being explored for the 2026 concert is the possibility of adding a stop in Gibson City for the “Brotherhood of Rock” tour featuring Styx, Cronin and Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles. The tour kicks off this May, and Schmitt said he expects it to continue long enough to potentially add a 2026 stop in Ford County.
“We are actually reaching out to them to come next year here,” said Schmitt, who added that he plans to see the tour himself in Chicago this Aug. 23. “They usually run a year and a half to two years on those tours. … But it’s all about (the tour’s) routing.”
Other possibilities for 2026 include Sammy Hagar of Van Halen or Journey — two acts that have long been on the Summer Bash radar — or the Scorpions, which “are always on my list,” Kirby said.
“We’re going to start talking to Van Halen before Sammy (Hagar) retires,” Schmitt said.
Attracting a crowd
Since its start in August 2021, GAHHS’s annual Summer Bash has drawn thousands of concert-goers to downtown Gibson City for the outdoor summer rock concert. Past acts — all popular bands from the 1980s — have included Bret Michaels in 2024, 38 Special in 2023, Night Ranger in 2022 and Warrant in 2021.
Attendance has grown annually, from 1,700 in Year 1 to 3,500 in Year 2 to 6,000 in Year 3 to 7,500 in Year 4 — with Schmitt estimating the crowd on hand for this year’s show to range from 8,000 to 10,000.
“There’s a lot of buzz already about Foreigner,” Schmitt said. “We’ve sold tickets in, like, eight or nine different states already.”
“All I’ve heard is excitement — nothing but good things,” Kirby added. “People are surprised that we continue to bring in bigger and bigger names.”
Schmitt noted that the hospital does not hold the concerts with the goal of making money. Nor does the hospital make money from the show, which relies on donations from local business to pull off each year, Schmitt said. Rather, Schmitt said, the goal is to bring people to Gibson City.
“A company in McLean County did a study (on the regional economic impact of) Summer Bash 2024,” Schmitt said, “and they said it basically generated a million dollars of economic benefit. … When you’re bringing 5,000, 6,000 (or) 8,000 people into town, they’re buying gas and stopping at stores, too.”
Show of appreciation
While the concert was started as a way to show appreciation to the hospital’s employees for making it through the COVID-19 pandemic, it ended up becoming an event the entire community would enjoy — the biggest community event of the year in Gibson City, to be exact.
“Summer Bash was an idea that we started back in 2021,” Schmitt said. “We usually do Christmas parties for the staff, but, of course, everything that year was canceled (due to the pandemic). So I went to Bill and said, ‘You know, we need to do something for the staff.’ We’re coming out of COVID (and) everything’s opening back up, so we wanted to have something to kind of honor the health care heroes to show we appreciate them. We decided on a rock concert in downtown Gibson City. We went to the (hospital) board and said, ‘We want to do this; can we spend some money on this?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’”
“We wanted (a) rock (concert) specifically,” added Kirby, “because you could see country (music concerts) everywhere. We wanted to be different. And that’s where it went.”
To make that first concert a reality, Schmitt said the hospital earmarked its funds normally spent on its four annual Christmas parties for staff to go instead toward the show. That first show was funded entirely by the hospital, with no sponsorship from other businesses, Schmitt noted.
“We spend about $50,000 a year on Christmas parties,” Schmitt said. “For that kind of money we could get Warrant, so that’s who we got in 2021. We wrote the check for the band. We didn’t get any sponsors. It was free to the public, free to the staff. We had a beer tent, but we let the bars and all the businesses took all the money, and it was a huge success.”
Immediately after that first concert — “like literally right after the show ended,” Schmitt said — a couple of local businesses, both impressed with the show, offered to help the hospital sponsor another rock show in 2022. With the hospital board’s approval, the task soon got under way to find the next band.
“I asked the board, ‘Who do you guys want us to bring in?’” Schmitt recalled, “and they said, ‘REO Speedwagon.’ So we tried to get REO, but we couldn’t get them in Year 2. So then they wanted us to get 38 Special, but in Year 2 we couldn’t get 38 Special, either, so we settled on Night Ranger, one of my favorite bands.”
With help this time from local sponsors, “all the costs were covered without an issue” that year, Schmitt said.
With momentum and even more sponsors on board in Year 3, the hospital again tried to secure REO Speedwagon, only to fail yet again.
“But we got 38 Special for Year 3,” Schmitt said.
By that time, “most of the businesses in Gibson City” were helping sponsor the show, Schmitt said, allowing all of the event’s costs to be covered, including the band, the rental of beer tents and port-a-potties, and a contract with a security company.
In 2024, the same held true despite those costs only going up. After again trying to land REO, the hospital settled on Bret Michaels that year — but the choice was not cheap, requiring some additional sponsors.
“Last year was the first year we really reached out into Paxton for sponsorship,” Schmitt noted. “We got a lot of support from Paxton last year … and we got all the big employers in Gibson City (to be sponsors).”
Even more money will be needed to cover the costs this year, with additional sponsors still being sought.
“We’re now getting sponsors from Bloomington, Champaign, Decatur — they’re all stepping up to help sponsor the show,” Schmitt said. “It is important for the community to know, 100% of the costs of these concerts is covered by sponsors and ticket/beer sales.”
What to expect this year
Unlike past Summer Bash concerts, the Aug. 16 show will not allow free general admission. Rather, there will be a $10 general admission fee, payable at the gate or in advance at www.gahhssummerbash.com.
That is still a great deal, though, according to Kirby.
“Where will you find a $10 ticket to go see a rock-and-roll Hall of Fame band like Foreigner?” Kirby asked.
With the addition of the general admission fee, there will no longer be a $10 charge for a wristband allowing the purchase of alcohol, Schmitt noted. Instead, there will be no wristband fee for alcohol, with patrons only required to pay $5 for each drink they purchase from the two beer tents on hand — one run by the Gibson City Harvest Fest Committee and the other by the GCMS Athletic Booster Club.
“We’re taking the $10 from (the wristband fee) and just moving it to the front gate, so we’re not really increasing the cost, per se,” Schmitt said. “We’re just kind of transitioning that, so that everybody who walks in has a little skin in the game.”
Besides general admission, the Summer Bash is selling party-pit tickets for $60 and — for the first time — VIP tent tickets for $250, as well. The VIP tickets allow access to both the party pit closest to the stage as well as the VIP tent and its air-conditioned bathrooms. There will also be food and drinks provided to those in the VIP tent.
“The (Gibson City American) Legion will cook up pulled pork for us, and they will provide bartenders, so it’s got its own bar in there,” Schmitt said.
A number of other food vendors will be on hand, as well.
“We’ve had several food trucks the past several years,” Kirby said. “One of the ideas this year, to try to keep it a little local, is I’m going to reach out to the local restaurants and give them the opportunity. … I want to try to keep it as local as we can.”
Schmitt said local businesses, including bars and retail stores, will be encouraged to be open prior to the show that Saturday, too, “to kind of pull people in earlier (in the day) if they want to.”
Concert-goers are welcome to bring their own lawn chairs, but Schmitt said the area where they will be allowed is being pushed back from the stage this year, behind both the party pit and an open area where only standing is permitted.
“We’ll have three video boards (showing the concert), so even if you’re a block away … you can see the whole show on the video board,” Schmitt noted.
No outside food or drinks will be allowed at the concert.
Shuttle busses will be available to transport concert-goers to and from various parking areas in Gibson City, Schmitt added.
Foreigner to bring ‘energy’
Foreigner is expected to take the stage next to City Hall around 9 p.m., performing until 10:30 or 11 p.m. Opening for Foreigner starting around 7:30 p.m. will be John Waite, whose career as a musical artist spans 40 years, both as a solo artist and with The Baby’s and Bad English.
Both Kirby and Schmitt saw Foreigner perform in concert last September in Peoria. They were impressed.
“I was texting (Rob during the concert), saying, ‘It’s got to be these guys.’ … I’m like, ‘This is it,’” Kirby recalled.
“I had a (hospital) board meeting the next day or the next week, and I said (to the board): ‘I just saw the band we’re going to have this year. Just say, ‘Yes,’’” Schmitt recalled.
When asked to describe Foreigner’s show, Kirby gave a one-word answer: “Energy.”
“I mean, really, it’s energy,” Kirby said. “The energy that they came out with from the first song, ‘Double Vision,’ the guy, he’s engaging the crowd; he’s all over. And every song you know.”
Added Schmitt: “They have so many hits. They even say, ‘We can’t fit every hit into a set,’ because there’s just too many. So they cruise through all their big hits.”
“From the time they stepped on (the stage) to the time they left (the stage), it was hit after hit (and) energy — I mean, it was just a great show,” said Kirby. “The interaction, the energy, the songs. You sing along to every one. At least I do.”