By George - It's The Concert Lineup At The Gorge

With a summer schedule that stretches all the way from Tina Turner to Def Leppard to Barry Manilow, MCA Concerts would be hard-pressed to sell many season passes this year to the Gorge, located in George, Wash.

But they promised something for everyone, not everything for everyone. To that end they've packed a wide range of talent into the 14-show lineup announced yesterday. Tickets go on sale Saturday through Ticketmaster, starting at 9 a.m.

Here's what's coming:

-- Tina Turner kicks off the season at 7 p.m. June 12, with Lindsey Buckingham as an opening act. This is Turner's first American tour in six years.

-- The Lollapalooza tour is next, coming June 19, but if you don't have your ticket yet, too bad. All 25,000 tickets have been sold.

-- Def Leppard and Ugly Kid Joe come to the Gorge for a July 4 show that starts at 7 p.m. As Jeff Tristler of MCA concerts noted, "Where else would a patriotic American go on the Fourth of July but George, Washington?" Of course, Def Leppard is a British band . . .

-- Country phenom Billy Ray Cyrus plays at 7 p.m. July 17, with an unannounced guest.

-- Sade, also with an unannounced guest, plays July 24 at 7 p.m.

-- Clint Black and Wynona Judd play on the same bill at 4 p.m. July 25.

-- Bringing a breath of salt air to the dry side of the mountains, the Beach Boys play at 7 p.m. July 31 with America.

-- The George Washington Blues Festival starts at 3 p.m. Aug. 7 and features the Robert Cray Band, Albert Collins & the Icebreakers, J.J. Cale, John Hammond and more acts to be announced later.

-- The Steve Miller Band plays with the Paul Rogers Band Aug. 14, starting at 7 p.m.

-- The Spin Doctors, with Soul Asylum and Ellensburg's own Screaming Trees, play Aug. 15 at 7 p.m.

-- Barry Manilow plays Aug. 22 at 5 p.m., with an unnamed opening act.

-- George Thorogood & the Destroyers play Aug. 28 at 7 p.m., with an unnamed act.

-- The Moody Blues play Sept. 11 with the 64-piece Seattle Festival Orchestra.

-- Closing out the season will be a show by INXS on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. Tickets for that concert will not be on sale this Saturday; a sale date will be announced later.

Additional shows will be added to the schedule, Tristler said.

With all these tickets going on sale at once through Ticketmaster, there's certain to be a crowd Saturday morning. Camping out is not allowed, however, and won't do any good, anyway. Starting at 8:30 a.m., customers will draw numbers for a place in line. Only cash will be accepted at most Ticketmaster outlets. Customers can charge tickets by phone (call 628-0888) or at Ticketmaster's Wherehouse outlets.

Concert-goers will find several improvements to the Gorge, which is the now-official, shortened name for the Champs de Brionne Summer Theater, 140 miles east of Seattle above the Columbia River (take Exit 143 off Interstate 90). Bathrooms have been improved, trees have been planted, and more food service has been added, Tristler said. There will be no wine sales in the amphitheater.