Virgin America and Black Star Beer Sponsor the Official VIP Party of the Sunset Strip Music Festival at SKYBAR at Mondrian Los Angeles

Virgin America and Black Star Beer Sponsor the Official VIP Party of the Sunset Strip Music Festival at SKYBAR at Mondrian Los Angeles

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --Virgin America, the stylish California-based airline that is reinventing air travel, today announces it is once again teaming up with Black Star Beer to sponsor the fourth annual Sunset Strip Music Festival (SSMF). SSMF is a three-day music festival (August 18-20) that takes it to the street with outdoor live concerts and events that celebrate the The Strip's vibrant musical legacy and renowned clubs. This year's lineup for the fourth annual SSMF includes a mix of legendary performers and today's hottest up-and-coming bands, including headliners Motley Crue, Bush, Public Enemy, Matt & Kim, The Dirty Heads, and Cobra Starship -- all performing during the Saturday, August 20, SSMF Street Fest. As the official airline of SSMF, Virgin America is teaming up co-sponsor with Black Star Beer on August 19 to bring music fans from across the country to a star-studded pool-side VIP SSMF kick-off party at SKYBAR at Mondrian Los Angeles. To wrap up the festival on August 20, Virgin America is also hosting the "Virgin America On The Rox VIP lounge" at one of Los Angeles' most historic venues, The Roxy Theatre.

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"After three years of celebrating the musical legacy of The Sunset Strip with SSMF, as the music fan's airline of choice -- we're thrilled to be back in 2011 for another weekend of great music, fans and fun," said Dimitrios Papadogonas, Director of Marketing at Virgin America. "Music remains an integral part of the Virgin brand DNA and we're proud to support the next generation of artists and honor rock legends at this year's SSMF."

"We are thrilled to welcome Virgin America and Black Star Beer back for the fourth annual SSMF 2011 VIP party at Mondrian Los Angeles," said Karmen Beck, managing director of the music festival. "Virgin's energy and dedication to putting great music in their passengers' ears makes this a partnership that the Sunset Strip Music Festival hopes will last a long time."

Earlier this month, the Sunset Strip Business Association launched the "Show Us Your Wild Side" contest to find out which festival fans from across the country were "Motley" enough to party with SSMF 2011 honorees, Motley Crue. Virgin America is flying contest winners to Los Angeles to meet and party with Motley Crue at the "Get Stripped" VIP Party.

"Music festivals and great beer go hand-in-hand and Black Star Beer is proud to partner with a festival like SSMF as we celebrate the past, present and future of music," said Minott Wessinger, fifth generation brewer and creator of Black Star Beer. "We've enjoyed seeing our fans' 'wild side' in the Show Us Your Wild Side contest and we're looking forward to celebrating with the winners and Virgin America at the upcoming VIP party."

Virgin America features the largest in-flight entertainment library in the domestic skies via the touch screen Red(TM) platform at every seatback. In addition to a 30-film library, live TV, music videos and video games at every seat, Red offers more than 3,000 MP3s and allows guests to create their own playlist in-flight. The airline is known for featuring an eclectic and diverse range of artists in its onboard library from punk to zydeco to classical and back again, including SSMF 2011 honorees, Motley Crue. The airline even features curated music soundtracks in its onboard lavatories.

Other performances during the three day festival include The Veronicas, Dredg, Motion City Soundtrack, Buckcherry, Purple Melon, Mickey Avalon and many more. For more info, visit: www.sunsetstripmusicfestival.com

Virgin America flies to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Cabos, Cancun and Chicago.

About Virgin America: Headquartered in California, Virgin America offers guests attractive fares and a host of innovative features aimed at reinventing air travel. In just four years of flying, Virgin America was named "Best Domestic Airline" in the Conde Nast Traveler 2008, 2009 and 2010 Readers' Choice Awards and "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure's 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 World's Best Awards. The airline's new aircraft offer interactive in-flight entertainment systems and power outlets near every seat. Virgin America offers Gogo(TM) WiFi on every flight and hosts the largest in-flight entertainment library in the North American skies via the touch-screen Red(TM) platform. For more: www.virginamerica.com

About Black Star Beer: Black Star Double Hopped Golden Lager was first brewed in Whitefish, Montana at the Great Northern Brewing Company in 1995. The beer was created by Minott Wessinger, a fifth generation brewer and great-great grandson of West Coast brewing pioneer Henry Weinhard. Black Star is a remarkably crisp and refreshing double-hopped (dry-hopped) lager with a distinctive, hoppy aroma and a rich, full-bodied flavor. In February 2010, Minott Wessinger and the Great Northern Brewing Company celebrated the 15th Anniversary of its first brewing. To find Black Star near you visit Black Star's Beer Locator -- blackstarbeer.com/beerlocator. For more information: blackstarbeer.com or facebook.com/blackstarbeer

About Sunset Strip Music Festival: The Sunset Strip Music Festival (SSMF) was created in 2008 to promote, preserve and perpetuate the legendary Sunset Strip music experience. The Sunset Strip Business Association is the managing member of the limited liability company, which owns the Sunset Strip Music Festival. SSMF 2011 is scheduled for Aug. 18-20 and includes a tribute event Sunset Strip rockers Motley Crue, performances in the venues Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights as well as an all day street festival on Saturday, featuring Motley Crue, Bush, Public Enemy and more than 70 additional bands throughout the day. For more information, please visit www.sunsetstripmusicfestival.com.

About Motley Crue: After over 80-million albums sold worldwide, Motley Crue returned to the top of the charts in 2008 with Saints of Los Angeles, their first studio album with the original line-up -- Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil -- in a decade and the ninth studio album in their career. Based on the band's New York Times bestseller The Dirt, the disc debuted at #1 on the Independent Album chart and was the top debut of the week on the Billboard Top 200 albums at #4. "Saints of Los Angeles," which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was also noted as the #1 Rock Song of the Year in 2008 by iTunes critics. Half a million rock fans old and new celebrated Crue Fest, the top touring rock festival in the summer of 2008, featuring Motley Crue, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Sixx:A.M. and Trapt. Continuous touring around the world brought the band back to the U.S. for major arena shows and last summer's Crue Fest 2, which featured ten bands on two stages as well as treated fans to a show comprised of two separate sets -- the complete track listing from the hit album Dr. Feelgood (for the first time ever) followed by the best of the rest. This year, Motley Crue set out on a headlining summer tour with support from Poison and special guests New York Dolls . For more information on Motley Crue, please visit http://www.motley.com.

SOURCE Virgin America

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Virgin America

CONTACT: Patricia Condon of Virgin America, +1-650-762-7187, patricia.condon@virginamerica.com

Web Site: http://www.motley.com

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