On Monday, April 7, as the final two NCAA basketball teams get ready to square off for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship in the Alamodome, locals, music lovers, and basketball fans are invited to take part in some big, Texas-style pregame revelry at NCAA Championship Monday at The Big Dance® on South Alamo Street between Market Street and Durango Street, featuring free concerts by alternative country music star Robert Earl Keen, the eclectic Bob Schneider, and the lively soul sounds of Mingo Fishtrap.

Festivities for the final day of The Big Dance—a four day entertainment extravaganza—tip off at noon, when food and beverage concessions open to the public.  At 3:15 p.m., fans can enjoy music by local band, the Krayolas, on The Big Dancestage. 

At 4:00 p.m., Bob Schneider will take the stage, followed by headliner Robert Earl Keen at 6:00 p.m.  Mingo Fishtrap starts at 7:30 p.m. and will play up until tip-off of the Championship game. Fans not attending the game can stay and watch the final showdown for the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship title, which KENS-5 and CBS Sports will broadcast beginning at 8:15 p.m. on The Big Dance’s video screens. The evening culminates with the crowning of the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship team.

Robert Earl Keen is a pioneer of the alternative country music genre that took the music industry by storm in the 80s and 90s.  A San Antonio fan favorite, he’s sure to delight the crowd with his distinctive balance of sensitive story-portraits ("Corpus Christi Bay") and raucous barroom fun ("That Buckin' Song"). In addition to touring, Keen devotes his time producing his influential annual concert series and talent festival, Texas Uprising, which takes place at several venues around Texas and the Far West.

When it comes to his musical style, Bob Schneider is known for being a daredevil of versatility.  Able to go from country crooner to screaming punk, salsa king to reggae, funk soul brother to rapper, Schneider’s musical transitions are created with perfect fluidity and commanding virtuosity.  Schneider’s eclectic performance mix will no doubt be entertaining.

Mingo Fishtrap's hight-energy live show is guaranteed to invigorates the audience. With a sound dancing between gutbucket soul, N'awlins grit-down funk and horn-fueled Motown pop, Mingo Fishtrap is an anomaly in the contemporary music scene. With each album, the 8-member group gravitates closer to the classic sounds that inspire them to learn their craft, speaking through their music with a reverence about the past and with hope for the future.