Creedence Clearwater Revisited makes second visit at Junefest

Creedence Clearwater Revisited will make a return appearance to Junefest. (Courtesy)

This is getting to be a long Revisit, as any Junefest-goer who was there in ’97 will tell you.

Classic rock station KKLZ-FM, 96.3 keeps the outdoor festival alive, even if Saturday’s version is a modest affair compared to the epic waste-a-thons at Silver Bowl Park in the 1990s.

But there’s a full-circle coolness to Saturday’s show on Sunset Station’s lawn being headlined by Creedence Clearwater Revisited, who shared the stage with Carlos Santana and RatDog back in 1997.

Creedence bassist Stu Cook was speaking about his own band being largely over 60 now, but perhaps sums up the larger spirit of Junefest: “Nobody’s kids anymore, but we still goof around like a bunch of them.”

Saturday’s festival also includes Loverboy (“Turn Me Loose”), Gary Wright (“Dream Weaver”) and Firefall (“You Are the Woman”).

The original Creedence helmed by John Fogerty was together about three and a half years. But this is the 20th year for Cook and drummer Doug Clifford in Revisited, even if they were called Cosmo’s Factory at that 1997 Junefest due to a court injunction following a lawsuit from Fogerty.

Fogerty has since learned to coexist with his former bandmates, and fans can vote with their ticket dollars now that both acts tour. “We don’t cross each other’s paths, but I’m sure he knows we’re still out there,” Cook says.

A Fogerty sound-alike in John Tristao is more standard-practice now, after groups from Journey to Yes made it common — if not always popular — to combine original members with younger replacements.

“There are still people upset with what Doug and I have decided to do, but there’s nothing like persistence,” Cook says.

“It was like pushing a rock up a hill for a while, but I think night by night, show by show, one or two people at a time, we convinced the world we were the real deal,” he adds.

“We know what the audience wants and the way they want to hear it.”

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.