Make plans now to catch a show at Chevy Court or Chevy Park at the New York State Fair, starting in just two weeks. The line-up is uninspiring, but you may find one or two you’ll like.
Category: Concert critiques (Page 2 of 4)
Our midwinter mood is getting a boost this week as we eagerly look forward just six months to opening day of the 2022 New York State Fair.
You might expect that the earliest announcements of performers booked for shows at the bookend stages–Chevy Court to the east and Chevy Park to the west–would elicit great enthusiasm. 
Alas, it may be a harbinger of a continuing trend toward acts that appeal primarily to the under-30 crowd as thus far three of the announced headliners will be rap/hip-hop acts.
There’s nothing wrong with booking people who can’t sing or play instruments as part of a long and varied list of entertainers. Only a few shows have been announced. It’s certainly likely that they’ll sign several performers who appeal to your more mature fans, especially those who value actual talent.
When you look closely, the reason for this uninspiring start is that the booking agency–is it still Triangle?–usually books ticketed major venues that invariably want acts most likely to draw massive crowds. Those customers would generally consist of youthful fans, who are thought to be the most reliable concert ticket buyers.
But the New York State Fair is a cow of a different color due to a more mixed intended audience, many of whom go to free-with-admission concerts as part of a whole package of entertainment geared toward both maintaining traditions and getting the most out of a widely-varied, hours-long day on the grounds.
Maybe a few fans come just for the music, but the Fair is such a wide-ranging event that the concerts presented at both major stages have to fit in with the other attractions. Fair vendors need concert fans to also be customers who put the profit in their businesses.
Thus the fan base to which the 13-day itinerary must appeal is more diverse and surely includes gray-haired fans who appreciate the seasoned entertainers who have been their favorites for decades.
Fortunately, there have been a few acts for fans of vintage rock, pop, blues and soul, though classic country fans have been ignored year after year. Those devoted fans of 2oth century country are still plentiful, mind you, but the Fair’s incompetent concert agency makes no effort to find acts who attract them.
It comes down to a matter of balance so everyone gets a couple of shows to enjoy on the schedule and no one genre dominates. 
If only Triangle would wake up and sign a better variety of acts available to appeal to the Fair’s diverse clientele.
Fortunately, there’s plenty of time–six months–to fill out the Fair concert schedule and reverse a troubling trend, so it could still happen. Stay tuned.
The Chevrolet Music Festival presents multiple acts each day at the New York State Fair. Plan ahead to arrive early for the best viewing spot beginning in just three weeks.
If there’s anything better than one performance by the Mavericks at the 2021 New York State Fair, it’s two (or should we say dos) concerts by that award-winning band. 
In a throwback scenario to the days of two Chevrolet Court concerts by the same act every day, the Fair has added a second show by Raul and the boys, the newly-booked set to be performed all in Spanish.
The en Espanol show will actually come first, at 2 p.m. on Sep. 5 on the Stan Colella Stage at Chevy Court, while the previously scheduled concert will play the same venue that evening at 7 p.m.
The last time the versatile, bi-lingual combo played Chevy Court was at the 2019 Fair and the weather couldn’t have been worse, but devoted fans shook off pelting rain and stuck around for a jalapeno-hot time in the old courtyard. Now fans have second and third chances to sample their Tex-Mex talents, this time with hopes that decent weather will greet their Latino virtuosity.
Take it from The Hound; It’s tough to take notes at a concert in a relentless downpour. 
That was the case on day 8 of the New York State Fair when the versatile and red hot Mavericks played Chevy Court. The conditions were as awful as the band was dazzling.
The Post-Standard’s Jacob Pucci wrote a review praising the loyal audience that stuck around when it started to rain at the Roots show a few nights later and rightly so. It’s the true fans who brave lousy weather and that’s where Mavericks fans get top prize this year.
The three-decades-old Florida band included nine members, every one from the horn section to the squeezebox player, a standout musician. With Raul Malo’s inimitable vocals leading the way, the Mav’s didn’t speak many words, allowing their Latin-beat virtuosity and irresistible melodies do the talking as solo after solo kept the crowd cheering every thrilling note.
The poncho-clad fans in attendance may have questioned their sanity for dancing on muddy ground or keeping the beat between raindrops, but few left before the familiar strains of “All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down” faded and the band took their final bow, 80 minutes after they started.
What all this should tell Fair promoters is that Syracuse loves the Mavericks enough to bring them back in 2020, hoping they get better weather.
It seemed like a sick joke that the rain stopped just as the Maverick’s terrific Wednesday afternoon New York State Fair concert at Chevy Court ended. Despite miserable conditions, an enthusiastic audience cheered the 30-year-old band’s 80-minute set. More on the show later on State Fair Hound.
Southern rock band Midland lit up Chevy Court on Monday night touting their Texas roots and promoting their new release, Let It Roll. Attendance was mediocre, but the show was hot, with great harmony and smoking guitar work. You had to get the feeling that they’ll return, their ascending career promising that next time they’ll pack the place.
Join the crowd at Chevrolet Court to hear the concert of your choice, unless you’re fan of traditional-style country music, which continues to be blackballed by Fair promoters (Triangulation, July 15, 2019). Check the schedule and plan ahead to get a good spot. Don’t forget the Experience Stage as it grows in popularity.
Time for a New York State Fair music quiz.
Question one–What do these musical acts have in common?
Rick Springfield, Grand Funk Railroad, .38 Special, Bad Company, Vince Neil, The Roots, Blood, Sweat and Tears and Jackyl.
If you said they’re all booked to play one of the big stages at the 2019 New York State Fair, that’s correct.
If you said they were popular acts before 2000, that’s also correct.
An evening in 2017 at Chevy Court.
Question two–What do these musical acts have in common?
Alabama, Brooks and Dunn, Vince Gill, Sara Evans, Alan Jackson, Martina McBride, Lorrie Morgan, Kathy Mattea, Diamond Rio, Pam Tillis, Steve Wariner, Lee Ann Womack, Marty Stuart, Suzy Bogguss, John Anderson, Joe Nichols, Rhonda Vincent, Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs, Trisha Yearwood, The Whites, Connie Smith, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Gene Watson, Johnny Rodriguez, John Conlee, Tanya Tucker, Janie Fricke, Asleep at the Wheel, Becky Hobbs, Radney Foster, Clint Black, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Ricky Van Shelton.
Yes–They also have decades of popularity playing shows from coast-to-coast. But none of these country acts will perform at the 2019 New York State Fair, although most of them appear to have some availability during the Fair time frame and several will be touring the northeast at that time.
Several of them are in the Country Music Hall of Fame while many are winners of awards including Grammys and Country Music Association awards. There are probably many more acts beyond those named above that would also be good choices for Fair stages.
A recent news report revealed that Live Nation is no longer booking Fair acts and that’s good news. The Triangle agency is back as the concert promoter, but improvement in results has so far been elusive. With the exception of the rock gray-hairs and a couple of other acts, fans beyond their thirties could add the prefix, “Who-the-hell-is” to the names of the acts booked.
Meanwhile, we’re still seeing few country shows, limited to young acts that flirt with country at best. 
One hot young act, the band Midland, will be a rare exception at Chevy Court. Otherwise, the loyal country fans who had packed Fair concert venues for decades continue to be ignored.
The big question is, if classic rock concerts can be successfully booked here, why can’t classic country? There is no acceptable explanation for such neglect. Country fans are tired of excuses.
Motown great Smokey Robinson was a Chevy Court highlight for baby boomers at the New York State Fair. He paid tribute to his lifelong Friend Aretha Franklin and hit high notes on his classic songs. Now 78 years old, he looked great in a red suit as seen in this Nick LoPresti photo.