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Fair starts, ends with a bang
By Dan Craft
dcraft@pantagraph.com
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SPRINGFIELD -- If you look at the grandstand lineup for this year's Illinois State Fair, opening Friday, and see no rhyme or reason to it, then you're mistaken.

Just ask the fair's head honcho, Amy Bliefnick.

As Illinois State Fair manager for the past three years, her credo has been to weight the slate in a carefully calibrated manner that will appeal to the broadest range of tastes and demographics possible.

Which is why she decided to start ending the fair with a bang on closing night.

Which is why she was determined to snare an A-list pop star to kick-start everything on opening night.

Which is why there's a retro-rock night to lure in mom-and-pop rockers.

Which is why there's an economically priced family friendly show to make good on the fair's 2008 theme of "A Family Tradition."

Or, she notes, "a little bit of something for everyone."

Kicking off the lineup with an expected bang Friday night is that A-list pop star noted above: sultry chanteuse Fergie, best known for her day job as Black Eyed Peas vocalist, but also as a solo star in her own right.

"Fergie is a huge thing for us," admits Bliefnick. "A really big thing."

Every year, she notes, "we set a goal of booking a currently popular pop artist," along with the requisite country and retro acts. This year, "we kept at it until we got someone big."

Which isn't as easy as it may sound.

"It's always a challenge to get an artist of that caliber, because they usually don't want to play state fairs (in the summer)," says Bliefnick. "They'd rather play sheds, where they can sell 50,000 tickets."

The Illinois State Fair grandstand can seat around 9,000 seats in the stands and another 4,000 to 4,500 on the track.

Clearly, 14,000 doesn't trump 50,000. And the $30 to $38 ticket range doesn't begin to equal what a concert at an outdoor venue in Chicago would charge.

"It's an unbelievable price," enthuses Bliefnick. "And the best thing about a concert at the Illinois State Fair is that, with the 13,000 seats, there isn't a bad one in the house."

Besides Fergie, the other clear-cut blockbuster on the slate is the seemingly jarring pairing of rockers ZZ Top with country duo Brooks & Dunn for Aug. 15.

"What happened is we actually booked just ZZ Top as a headliner," Bliefnick says. "Shortly after that, they called back and said they'd changed their plans and were going to go on tour with Brooks & Dunn for the summer."

The fair's response: "That's great: we'll take both! Again, this is a really huge thing for us to have both bands, each of which has their own set of fans."

But will they mix?

The initial reaction among some fans was, "huh?" But, adds Bliefnick, if you stop scratching your head and think the pairing through, "you'll see that it makes sense."

Elsewhere on the lineup, the lowest-priced show ($10 to $20), Saturday's concert with veteran pop jester "Weird Al" Yankovic, was booked to own up to the fair's theme, "A Family Tradition."

Then there's Sunday's retro twin bill of Huey Lewis & The News and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, aimed at '80s survivors, while the teaming of Brit pop star Natasha Bedingfield, fresh off her recent Grammy nomination, with "High School Musical" alumna Vanessa Hudgens on Aug. 16 is aimed squarely at the young Saturday night date crowd.

Closing out the series on the fair's closing night (Aug. 17) is a country double-header, with Trace Adkins and Trent Tomlinson.

We can thank Bliefnick for instituting the tradition of ending the fair with a bang on closing night.

Before her tenure, closing night was reserved for a free Illinois Symphony Orchestra concert, which drew well (and now is presented on Monday night).

But there was also a mood that "the fair was closing down and crowds were waning. I thought, gosh what if we end it on a bang and give them somebody to remember?"

The ploy worked, and, closing night or no, the grandstand turnstyles are twirling away even as the Ferris wheels are cranking it down.

Grandstanding



Following is the complete lineup for the grandstand shows at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, opening Friday and continuing through Aug. 18. Tickets are available via area Tickemaster outlets or at the fair box office by calling (217) 782-1979.

• Friday: Fergie, pop singer, 8 p.m., $30 to $38

• Saturday: "Weird Al" Yankovic, pop parody singer, 8 p.m., $10 to $20

• Sunday: Huey Lewis & The New and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, '80s rock groups, 8 p.m., $20 to $30

• Monday: Illinois Symphony Orchestra, pops concert, 8 p.m., free

• Tuesday-Aug. 14: Twilight Harness Racing, 8 p.m., free

• Aug. 15: ZZ Top and Brooks & Dunn, rock group and country duo, 7:30 p.m., $30 to $38

• Aug. 16: Natasha Bedingfield and Vanessa Hudgens, pop singers, 8 p.m., $20 to $25

• Aug. 17: Trace Adkins and Trent Tomlinson, country singers, 8 p.m., $18 to $25

Take a look
ZZ Top joins Brooks and Dunn in the lineup for the Illinois State Fair.
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