Harriet Island boasts long music fest history starring Bob Dylan, Whitney Houston and Dave Matthews

Harriet Island sure has an inexplicable allure for music lovers. Is it the Mississippi River? The view of downtown St. Paul? Its parklike vibe in the middle of the city?

Whatever it is, Harriet Island has a long history as a place for music festivals. Some of the biggest names — from Bob Dylan and Van Morrison to Whitney Houston and Pearl Jam — have performed as part of fests on this bucolic park.

For various reasons, none of these festivals lasted forever at Harriet Island, though Taste of Minnesota had a long run and cultural events like Irish Fair maintain their annual commitment there.

Here’s a look back at those music fests.

OK, technically it wasn’t on Harriet Island; it was on the attached Navy Island. (In 2001, Navy Island reverted to its original name, Raspberry Island, after 53 years.) But no raspberries for this cool concert lineup of R.E.M., Let’s Active and three local favorites — the Suburbs, Phones and the Replacements — put together by Schon Productions of Minneapolis. Tickets cost $6 in advance, $8 at the gate.

This was the real deal music fest — multiday, multiple stages, big names. It was started by Tom Drilias of Milwaukee’s Festivals Inc., who had worked on Summerfest, Chicagofest and Taste of Minnesota. Riverfest was an ambitious $1.6 million effort ($600,000 for 125 acts) with music on seven stages, carnival rides and festival food for 10 days. The inaugural lineup included Dan Fogelberg, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Temptations, Joan Baez, John Prine, Glenn Frey, Glen Campbell, REO Speedwagon and Cheap Trick. All for $6 per day.

Riverfest’s proud second-year roster boasted Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, Billy Ocean, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Kool & the Gang and Mr. Mister. Advance tickets seem like a steal nowadays — $5 for adults and $3 for people younger than 12 or older than 54.

In 1987, Whitney Houston was the big attraction, playing for two sweaty nights. Other draws included Chicago, Bruce Willis and Heart. However, the next year, Riverfest lost $100,000 despite presenting such superstars as Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Buffett, Steve Winwood and Sting in front of 190,000 fans.

In ‘89, Minneapolis promoters Rose Productions took over, booking Bob Dylan, Joan Jett, Ringo Starr and others, with attendance dropping to 150,000. But the 10-day run in 1990 proved fateful as Hall & Oates pulled out, one day was canceled because of muddy grounds, an ill Sinéad O’Connor played a disappointingly shortened set, and, in the end, the numbers just didn’t add up to continue.

The Twins and the Red Sox had a game at the Metrodome, so Boston’s — and America’s — hottest music group turned to Harriet Island for a July 4th concert. More than 35,000 young fans found their way to downtown St. Paul for NKOTB’s third Twin Cities concert in a year.

When the hippest traveling festival started, Lollapalooza landed on Harriet Island. Originally dismissed as “Weirdstock,” the first year served as Jane’s Addiction’s farewell tour (frontman Perry Farrell conceived Lollapalooza) with guests Ice-T, Nine Inch Nails, Living Colour and Siouxsie & the Banshees. Tickets were $25 in advance, $27.50 at the gate.

The second run of the smartly booked Lollapalooza featured Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ice Cube, Ministry, up-and-comers Pearl Jam and Soundgarden and, of course, the controversial Jim Rose Circus Sideshow. St. Paul turned out to be the largest grossing show on the 36-city tour, with ticket sales alone generating more than $900,000.

In 1993, Harriet Island was flooded, so Rage Against the Machine, Tool, Babes in Toyland, Arrested Development and others took Lolla indoors to the St. Paul Civic Center. A year later, the fest was back at Harriet Island, starring Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, the Breeders and George Clinton.

After two decades on the State Capitol grounds, Taste relocated to Harriet Island in 2003, featuring the Wallflowers, Roger McGuinn, Maynard Ferguson, the Temptations and others. For many years, Taste was a free-admission, multiday festival until 2009, when new owners took over. In its final year, admission was $20 to $30, and, at those prices, Atmosphere and Dawes weren’t big enough attractions. Taste owners declared bankruptcy after owing $87,000 to St. Paul police and more than $23,000 to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Organized by St. Paul’s well-intentioned McNally Smith College of Music, the inaugural River Rocks showcased Minnesota artists. The two-day second year mixed locals with mid-tier national acts such as Jakob Dylan, the Roots, Semisonic, O.A.R. and Live. Modest does not a successful festival make.

Live Nation, the world’s biggest and most powerful promoter, made a five-year commitment to St. Paul to stage a big-time music festival on Harriet Island. They signed top-name headliners for the two-day event — Dave Matthews Band and Tool. The splashy $4.8 million fest — which drew 45,000 to see 16 acts on four stages with first-class audio and video setups — lost about $2 million. In the end, Live Nation decided that River’s Edge was not the regional draw it had anticipated and pulled the plug after one year.