Fans ignite as Fuel takes the stage on August 5, 2000, at the Rolling Rock Town Fair at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds in Mount Pleasant Township. (Sean Stipp | TribLive)
Story by PATRICK VARINE
Photos by TRIBLIVE
August 5, 2025
If you grew up in Western Pennsylvania during the rise of alternative and grunge rock in the ’90s and early 2000s, there’s a good chance you recall hearing radio commercials for the Rolling Rock Town Fair.
For a handful of years, some of the biggest names in modern rock radio came to the Westmoreland Fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township for a one-day music festival.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first Rolling Rock Town Fair on Aug. 5, 2000, which featured Filter, Moby, Fuel, Our Lady Peace, Marcy Playground and headliners the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who were touring behind their massive 1999 album, “Californication.”
Export Councilwoman Melanie Litz was in her mid-20s when she bought tickets to the first Town Fair concert.
“I was the most excited to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and they were lots of fun,” Litz said. “I remember thinking the promoters sort of ‘organized’ the fun out of it by trying to over-control what people were doing.”
That included no on-site parking the first year — fans had to park at the former Greengate Mall and catch a shuttle bus to the venue.
But while organizers could control the logistics, they certainly couldn’t control the weather. Westmoreland Fair President Craig Lash recalled several years where bad weather created swampy areas where fans opted to create their own muddy mosh pits.
“Most of the people on the fair board wanted to forget everything about the Rolling Rock concerts,” Lash said with a laugh. “It rained pretty near every year. And when you have that many people on the fairgrounds, it would get really muddy and they’d be sliding around.”
The concert also ended up being scheduled a few week before the annual county fair.
“The fairgrounds were a real mess,” Lash said. “It was a nightmare every year.”
The crowd waits for Outkast to perform at the Rolling Rock Town Fair on July 27, 2002.
Litz’s memories are a little more fond, although she did say it was quite the odyssey to get a beer from the event’s main sponsor.
“You had to wait in line to show ID to get a wristband, then wait in another line to buy beer tickets, then wait in another line to buy beer,” she said. “And they had the area by the beer tent corralled off and that was the only place you were allowed to consume beverages, with no view of the stage. So you had to choose between having a beer and seeing the band onstage.”
Josh Tamburo, 16, and Emily Cross, 14, both of North Hills, during the Rolling Rock Town Fair at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds on July 31, 2004.
People hold up a crowd surfer during the Rolling Rock Town Fair at the Westmoreland County Fairgrounds on July 31, 2004.
Brittany Repko of Derry Township was 16 years old when she and a group of friends bought tickets to the 2002 Town Fair concert, which mostly stuck to its hard-rock roots but also included iconic hip-hop duo Outkast.
Repko mostly remembered the weather.
“There was a torrential downpour, and this dirt hill you had to climb down became a mudslide,” she said. “I was thankful for the rain because it was so hot, but a bunch of us were doing a ‘Slip’n’Slide’ into this mud pit.”
After the first three years, the Town Fair concert was briefly relocated to Heinz Field in Pittsburgh before returning to the fairgrounds.
Moby performs on August 5, 2000, at the Rolling Rock Town Fair at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township.
John Moyer, the bassist for Disturbed, performs during the Rolling Rock Town Fair at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds on July 31, 2004.
Stone Temple Pilots’ frontman Scott Weiland performs at the Rolling Rock Town Fair 2.0 on August 4, 2001, at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township.
Rocker Tommy Lee jams out while performing in front of thousands of fans at the Rolling Rock Town Fair at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds on July 27, 2002.
Pittsburgh-area comedian and former WDVE host Jim Krenn attended the 2003 concert, where he brought ’80s rockers Def Leppard onstage.
“It was awesome,” Krenn said. “I went to a lot of festivals back then, and when you look back at the bands they brought in, they put together some impressive lineups — Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots, Blink 182. I remember being really proud of The Clarks, being part of our Pittsburgh music family and getting onto that ‘03 lineup.”
Krenn recalled a relaxed energy among the Heinz Field crowd.
“There was no tension at all — pure Pittsburgh, just neighbors partying with neighbors. It was a lot of fun and it’s exciting that these types of festivals are coming back. It’s great to see a younger generation get a chance to watch a bunch of great bands in a fun atmosphere,” Krenn said.
After being ejected from the mosh pit for crowd surfing, Katie Hoffer of Latrobe cheers as three muddy girls emerge unscathed at the Rolling Rock Town Fair on July 27, 2002.
At the end of the night following the first Town Fair concert, Litz said the vibe was a bit less laid back, and there was a mad rush for the shuttles taking concertgoers back to their vehicles.
“I remember being scared I was going to get trampled,” Litz said. “My friend’s boyfriend grabbed both of our arms and sort of pushed us through the crowd and got us on a bus — it was chaos!”
In 2004, the festival became a mini-tour, making stops in Boston, Philadelphia and Seattle before returning to Mt. Pleasant Township. The final Town Fair concert in 2005 took place at Jennerstown Speedway in Somerset County.
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick at pvarine@tribweb.com or via Twitter @VarineTrib
Sean Stipp is a Tribune-Review photographer. You can contact Sean via email at sstipp@triblive.com or via Twitter @seanstipp