'Non Stop Fun'- Iowa State Fair

First off let me apologize for not blogging until now.  We had a huge run at the Iowa State Fair with back to back large acts and massive crowds.  I had to choose whether to catch an extra hour of sleep or blog.  Fortunately/Unfortunately, the first selection won! 

Iowa, as always, was a blast!  I arrived on site Tuesday the 12th ready to hit the ground running.  Being on the fair circuit and getting to work with the same fairs every year turns into somewhat of a family reunion.  Some of these folks have been working together for over 20years. 

As most of you know Iowa was hit with some major storms a few weeks ago.  Almost 20" in 3 Days.  Fortunately, it didn't affect the fairgrounds a great deal but did flood many streets in the city as well as large areas immediately north and south of the city. 

We had several huge successes in the grandstand;
Mercy Me/newsboys 5,671
Keith Urban 9,850
Shinedown 6,154
Jeff Dunham 9,238
REO Speedwagon 8,619
Darius Rucker 3,583
Boys Like Girls 2,932
Sugarland 10,813
Sheryl Crow 5,856

Sugarland was BY FAR my favorite show to work with and to watch.  It was the only one that I parked myself at front of house and watch every minute that I could.  Their crew, staff and the artists themselves were a class act.  We had no problems throughout the day and everyone was in a chipper mood.  The tour manager greeted me that morning with a hug.  You can't beat that!!  If I were to tour with an act...this would be the one.  Jennifer and Christian were running around all day.  Christian watched the demolition derby we had on the track that day. 

Jeff Dunham has it figured out...they arrived by private plane at 5:30, an hour before doors opened.  They did a 30minute soundcheck and unloaded the 5 "cases" aka characters.  We figured the stagehands that day were the highest paid ever at $26.00/MINUTE :)  His show was halarious as always!  However, he substituted his encore character, Bubba J with a new one, Diane.  He and 'Diane' are in the new movie 'Dinner with the Schmucks'.  She's not nearly as funny as Bubba J. :(

Keith---Well Keith will always be my favorite, even though by the time the show rolled around I had dealt with so many issues I was exhausted and didn't even care to watch the show. 

REO Speedwagon day was filled with drama and went OK until the end of the night.  Great show, but I can do without the divaism. (my new word (= )

Shinedown was a beast of its own.  These guys are always great to work with.  While success has lead to some preverable body parts exploding most of them are still great.  We dealt with some contractual issues between several of our fairs which made the experience up until the day show a  little rough.  The day of, they were fantastic and everyone played nicely. 

Weather for the fair was absolutely brutal!  For the first 2-3 days it was 110 heat index.  The humidty was ridiculous.  We had some storms on Tuesday with REO which led to some relief in the heat...only a day or so and then it was back to the heat again.  There were several storms that threatened us throughout the 11 days but fortunately there were no severe storms.  Two of our other fairs, Missouri State and Illinois State were not so lucky.  Unfortunately, they each lost two shows.  They happened to be their largest shows, Shinedown (MO) and Lady Antebellum (IL).  Then each of them had to stop and cancel one other show each; Darius Rucker (MO) and Blondie/Cheap Trick (IL).  While we had great producers on those shows and they handled everything well, I sure felt sorry for them and blessed for what we had (or didn't).

I couldn't have a better staff to work with at this fair.  From the caterers, runners, security, matinenance, marketing, ticketing, sound/lights, video, an fantastic Fair Manager, and anyone else that works in the web we weave, I can't thank them enough!  With their glowing personalities, drive to give their all, and just plain dedication and pleasure to be working at the fair...it truly made the 11 Days, Non-Stop Fun!

The fair overall did well in this tough economy.  Considering the weather, natural disaster, schools starting they still had over 968,000 people there! 
I have arrived safely in New York...which I'm writing this from my pillowtop bed, large suite and bathroom with fluffy towels.  My hotel in Des Moines wasn't as luxurious with a very humid room, mold in the bathroom, scratchy towels, a shower that wouldn't drain and housekeepers that don't like to clean.  I've already "moved in" to my new home for two weeks so tomorrow we'll continue building schedules and reuniting with my east coast friends (Happy Birthday to me (=  ).  I'll try to blog more often on this leg but considering we have two bands each day....I'm not making any promises. =)