Everclear plays the Grand Central Stage at the Illinois State Fair this Thursday.
Hold your horses, stop the presses, turn the streets one way and grab an extra flyswatter, the Illinois State Fair is in town. For most of us in Springfield, the state fair is a big deal, and those of us in the business of making live music find it a really big deal. Along with all the fair fanfare, our local clubs also reap benefits from the influx of folks in town and the overall excitement of having extra stuff going on. So let’s go see what we can find at the fair while keeping in mind the usual gigs in regular venues.
Thursday provides an excellent example of the extended events happening with a listing of 34 shows in our calendar, about double the usual number. And speaking of doubling, we have straight from Music City USA, otherwise known as Nashville, Tennessee, the touring duo of Dylan Wolff and Morgan Swink playing at 2 p.m. on the Apex Stage (near the Grandstand), then packing up and heading out for a 5 to 8 p.m. encore performance on the patio at Casey’s Pub.
Considering the amount of live music performances at the fair, it’s tough to know where to begin or end, but watch for music in the Expo Building (Mike Anderson, the Dulcimer Guy is there at noon this Thursday), the Lincoln Stage (the ever-popular fiddle and banjo contest is this Saturday at 11 a.m.). In the Village of Cultures, formerly Ethnic Village, look for the cool “vibes” of Kevin Lucas Experience at noon and 4 on Thursday, with Peaches and Bacon on old-time fiddle and banjo sandwiched in at 2. Of course, all the big beer tents will be showcasing mostly local bands generally twice a day during the week and three times on weekends with familiar groups such as Lick Creek, Brandy Kristin Band, Brushville, Elvis Himselvis, Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters, Mike Burnett & friends and Kapital Sound (plus plenty more) filling up the stages.
For an air-conditioned listen to acoustic singer songwriters, stop by the Illinois Wine Experience in the Artisan’s Building (4-7 p.m.) for OAT on Thursday, along with Stuart Smith on Friday, Greg Williams on Saturday and Ben Bedford on Sunday.
The Grand Central Stage located in the Reisch Pavilion (the old Food-a-rama) brings it again this year with spotlight artists every evening and mostly area bands during the day. Watch out for Sushi Roll at 2 p.m. and 90s pop-rock band Everclear at 7:30 this Thursday. On Saturday, local original band Fireside Relics plays at 2, followed by Pecos and the Rooftops, a country-rock band from Lubbock, Texas, at 7:30 p.m.
We haven’t even touched the Grandstand shows, but with all the publicity already on them let’s just say go look for yourself. There’s about something for everyone this year. And, as us old-timers can attest to, it wasn’t always that way, when not so many years ago the lineup was fairly stale and unexciting. So thank you, ISF organizers, for fixing that issue.
While attending to music outside the fair, be sure to support our regular spots, because there’s plenty happening all over as usual. One of our special delights during fair time includes the Curve Inn’s Southside Fair, when Ric “Skippy” Major, house sound guru at the Curve for years and former sound guy out at the fair beer tents for years, serves up his pick of local bands at Springfield’s favorite dive bar.
Now go have yourself a fairly good time at the ol’ state fair, if you dare. Does that sound fair?