FORT?DODGE?- Shellabration organizers have a message for their summer audience: Get ready to rock, because the famed Steve Miller Band will headline the annual concert in Fort Dodge.

The band, which will be inducted into the national Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in April, is set to take the stage at the Harlan & Hazel Rogers Sports Complex on Thursday, June 30, organizers announced Wednesday

Jim Reed, Shellabration president, said the Steve Miller Band has been one of the most requested artists for the annual concert in Fort Dodge.

“We have good survey data, and the Steve Miller Band, out of 15, 16 bands, basically was up in that third position,” Reed said.

That survey includes locals and concertgoers who come from out of state to enjoy the bands that play for Shellabration.

“The Shellabration board of directors is extremely pleased to have landed them,” Reed said.

He said the band will bring its unique style to Fort Dodge.

“They’re going to evoke the spirit of the psychedelic ’60s meets the ’70s,” he said.

Ted Bodensteiner, secretary of the Shellabration board of directors, agreed.

“The Steve Miller Band epitomizes the high energy artists our audience has come to expect,” Bodensteiner said. “This year’s show will continue the hit-laden tradition Shellabration is known for.”

The band’s hits include “The Joker,” “Abracadabra,” “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Rock n’ Me” and “Living in the USA.”

What makes this year’s concert different from the others before it is that it is being held on a Thursday instead of a weekend.

Reed said this isn’t the first time Shellabration has been held on a weeknight.

A couple factors led the Shellabration board to decide on that date, including the Fourth of July weekend.

“We knew the Fourth of July was going to be a long weekend,” Reed said. “We’ve actually done a couple of July 3 events that looked good on paper but were upside down financially and didn’t do well.”

Bodensteiner said that conflicted with people’s vacation plans.

“It was paired up with family vacations and family reunions over that Fourth of July weekend,” he said.

By having it before July 4, Reed said guests will be able to attend the concert and still keep their Independence Day plans.

“This gives us enough separation so it’s more convenient for a lot of people to take Friday off to make it a long weekend,” Reed said. “This allows us to experiment being around the Fourth of July without being on top of the Fourth of July.”

Tickets for Shellabration go on sale at midnight on April 16. They are $38, but will increase to $45 on June 20.

In addition to the Steve Miller Band, Reed said there will also be local bands performing. Those bands will be announced at a later date.

His minimum goal for attendance is at least 7,000, he said.

Last year’s concert, which featured the rock group Boston, attracted more than 8,000 guests.

“Our goal always is to exceed the record that we’ve set in the past,” Reed said. “But we’re realistic enough to know it doesn’t always play out that way.”

“The minimum goal would be 7,000. And if we catch a little fire, who knows. maybe we could get to that 8,000 mark again.”

“Or surpass it,” Bodensteiner added.

The Steve Miller Band has been performing since the 1960s, creating “a psychedelic blues sound that drew on the deepest sources of American roots music and simultaneously articulated a compelling vision of what music – and society – could be in the years to come,” according to information provided by Reed.

The following decade, Miller began performing rock and roll.

Steve Miller came from a musical family. Not only were his parents described as “jazz aficionados,” but his godfather was famed jazz guitarist Les Paul.

Shellabration Inc. is a non-profit organization consisting of unpaid board members and volunteers. Its mission is “to make a positive contribution to the quality of life and the economic development of the greater Fort Dodge area through the delivery of exciting, family friendly entertainment and performing arts options.”