I'm wrapping up my stay in Salt Lake at the Utah State Fair tonight. Since tomorrow is a travel day to the next location I figured I'd go ahead blog so I don't get far behind.
I'm writing this with 'America' playing in the background to about 4,000 people. A great crowd! While they do sound just like a recording....I haven't recognized one song! =) It's nights like these where I show my age or lack there of.
However, last Friday was a different story with Boyz II Men. I love those guys! Considering I grew up listening to their music and last summer I had the pleasure of working with them several times, it's always a fun show. They packed the house for the second time. We had them here last year and because of how quick the tickets went and the number of people that showed up, I suggested they bring them back again. And they did it again! Maybe I'll just go on tour with them. =)
We had Mitchel Musso on Saturday and Ray Price on Sunday. Mitchel packed in the screaming little girls and their parents. It's always fun when you have to wear your earplugs not because of the show...but the audience. Unfortunately, this group hasn't figured out that you can't try and be louder than the audience. They were so loud! We finally had to just turn the main pa volume down because they didn't quite know what they were doing. Ray Price was a nice quite and relaxing environment. I definitely didn't recognize any of his music but everyone was a pleasure to work with.
I got to work with my buddies, Eli Young Band again. This makes the third show that I've worked with them this year. I also booked them at Iowa but didn't work on that show. They are just a great band to work with. One issue was screwed up with the promotions of the show and the crowd was extremely small. However, they just pushed through and played just as if there were thousands. I'm definitely looking forward to working with them at the next stop.
Salt Lake is such a beautiful city. If there's no other reason to come, I would come here for the scenery. For some reason this city girl from the flat lands of corn loves the change to the rolling mountains. However, I could do without the dryness! My allergies have gone haywire.
I've really been more conscious of my eating habits here. I've steered away from the McDonald's that's right outside my door. Thankfully there's a Wendy's right behind me. =) I'm started to feel better from just not eating so much junk as I did in NY. Since I have so much downtime I finally was able to do my hotel room workout and use Bender Ball (excellent option for abs while traveling!). I had planned to go to the indoor pool yesterday on my day off. I was going to revert back to my college days of water aerobics. LOL However, as I was going to the pool I noticed the signs also pointing to a fitness center. How I missed this for two years I have no clue!! Needless to say it was like a mirage and I got a workout in instead of the pool. Then I actually got up and went again this morning. I'll get there....eventually.
Tomorrow I have a long/great day of flying. I'm flying Southwest (my fav airline!). I had totally spaced checking in this morning. As most of you know with this airline you have to check in and they issue you a boarding letter and number. A-C A1 is the best C means you load last. As long as you check in right when you can (24 hours prior to flight) you're good with an A. I finally realized it about 12 hours after I could check in...NOT GOOD! But after checking in a getting in A20/22 I realized I had paid extra to get early bird check-in. They had already checked me in...whew! I wish I'd had remembered that!
I'll finally will get back to the central time zone (I've gone from eastern, to central, back to eastern, to mountain, will go to central and finally back to eastern) tomorrow! That will definitely make the phones calls to the boy easier. =) I'll be a lot less confused on whether I'm calling someone when they're home from work or even going to bed. I don't see how people live in time zones this separated and function with the rest of us.
Only 18 days til the tour is over and I'm home....for a little while anyway. =)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The Great New York State Fair!
Another one bites the dust...or another drop in bucket....whatever saying you want to put with it I'm now half way through my 'Mud and Dust Tour' of 2010!! After the past one I think I can do anything. For those of you that followed me around the country last year you know that I was at the New York State Fair. Fortunately, my co-worker, Clay, was also there and was "shadowing" we'll say at the grandstand. When they had dark days there we swapped up and he would produce the show at Chevy Court (the stage I was at). Since we were granted the bid this year to produce the grandstand this wasn't possible. So that meant 12 days straight of two shows daily for me at Chevy Court.
Two days after finishing at Iowa I flew to NY and celebrated my birthday the next day while "moving in" to the fair. We kicked off the run on the 26th. We worked with acts like EnVogue, Kool & The Gang, Blue Oyster Cult, Kansas, Styx, Lady Antebellum Keith Sweat, Little Big Town and many MANY more! Working 14-17 hour days can be exhausting...working 12 of those in a row...well let's just say it sucks. :) I finally hit rock bottom about the 31st. Somehow the fuel of the following day, with Lady Antebellum, pushed me through and continued until the end.
Things ran as smoothly as they could, considering we were loading in and off two different bands onto a less than large enough stage. Huge crowds poured in for both 2:00PM and 8:00PM shows. Across the way, Clay was having a few more hiccups than we could hope for. Justin Bieber had decided to postpone his show from Sunday to Wednesday. Any other night it wouldn't have been as caotic but this was the same night Lady A was scheduled to play Chevy Court. One of the hottest acts today was playing on a free stage! We knew the numbers were going to be huge and now we had to figure out how to spread the resources of security, catering, vehicles, etc. between the two largest shows of the fair. And it couldn't have gone smoother!! Clay ended up with a little over 17,000 in the grandstand and the show with Lady A was estimated at 29,800!!! I have never seen so many people squeezed into that small of an area.
Here's the link to the time lapse video they did. This started at about 7:30AM, about when people started getting there to save seats. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1274200755640
I was basically on autopilot through the rest of the fair. Great shows...even got to dance a little during Keith Sweat. I got out to see some of the fair as well. Played the lottery, gave blood for the first time, went Christmas shopping :). They have a ton of animal exhibits there. The closest I got to see them though were the tigers and elephants right outside the grandstand. Spent a little time hanging out with Troy Gentry (Montgomery Gentry) and Justin Moore and crew one night....talking about home (Kentucky).
We did create a new fried item! Someone mentioned there was fried chocolate chip cookie dough. To our disappointment and treking across the grounds only to find fried chocolate chip cookies, we decided to have our own made. One of the security guards took a roll to the fried vendor and they cooked it up for us. It was heaven! Turns out it will be at the fair next year. :) I can't wait!!
After wrapping up the 12 days, I spent the next day returning keys, doing laundry, running around town to Walmart and UPS and packing for the next trip. I got to hang out w/ friends and had a wonderful sushi dinner (sushi on a conveyor belt...what a concept!) wine, and more wine. Great times to wrap up a successful fair.
One hilarious tibit that I picked up---those of us that aren't from or have spent a lot of time in NY think of the entire state to be just like the city. Fast paced, heavily populated, rude people (for those that haven't been there and seen that it's not). The funny thing is that outside of the city it's just like anywhere else. Syracuse for example is very small town, country, "hick" like environments. The greatest part is when they refer to the city they call it "New York". Even when I was flying from Syracuse to New York City, the flight read "New York". That's like everyone outside of Louisville, KY calling Louisville; Kentucky. :)
Here's the crowd comparison for the past two years. A 15% increase!
2009 2010
2 PM shows total 48,500 50,500
8 PM shows total 105,500 127,300
Total attendance 154,000 177,800
A break down of each individual show
2:00PM
En Vogue 2,500
Blue Oyster Cult 7,000
Adam Richman 9,000
Trailer Choir 2,000
Steve Lippia w/ CNYJO 4,000
Herman's Hermits 5,000 HOT
Mario Batali 2,500 HOT
Eli Young Band 2,000
Justin Moore 3,500
Mitchel Musso 4,500
Katharine McPhee 4,000
Jackyl 4,500
50,500
8:00PM
Kool & The Gang 6,000
Kansas 16,000
Styx 18,500
Blues Traveler 7,500
30 Seconds to Mars 7,500
1964 The Tribute 8,500
Lady Antebellum 29,800 RECORD
Little Big Town 7,000
Coheed and Cambria 8,000 drizzle rain right after show
Robert Randolph 5,000
Keith Sweat 12,000
Marc Broussard 1,500
127,300
Total Chevy Court 177,800
Next I was off to the beautiful city of Salt Lake. Last year I was able to leave NY a few days early and have a few days at home. This year I was there longer and decided to split the two days off between NY and UT. What I didn't comprehend when booking my flights was that that would mean a 5 hour flight from NYC to Salt Lake City. That was just a small form of tourture. I arrived safely though and have the beautiful views of the mountains. We kick off the Utah State Fair shows tomorrow with Boyz II Men. Looking forward to another great run!
Two days after finishing at Iowa I flew to NY and celebrated my birthday the next day while "moving in" to the fair. We kicked off the run on the 26th. We worked with acts like EnVogue, Kool & The Gang, Blue Oyster Cult, Kansas, Styx, Lady Antebellum Keith Sweat, Little Big Town and many MANY more! Working 14-17 hour days can be exhausting...working 12 of those in a row...well let's just say it sucks. :) I finally hit rock bottom about the 31st. Somehow the fuel of the following day, with Lady Antebellum, pushed me through and continued until the end.
Things ran as smoothly as they could, considering we were loading in and off two different bands onto a less than large enough stage. Huge crowds poured in for both 2:00PM and 8:00PM shows. Across the way, Clay was having a few more hiccups than we could hope for. Justin Bieber had decided to postpone his show from Sunday to Wednesday. Any other night it wouldn't have been as caotic but this was the same night Lady A was scheduled to play Chevy Court. One of the hottest acts today was playing on a free stage! We knew the numbers were going to be huge and now we had to figure out how to spread the resources of security, catering, vehicles, etc. between the two largest shows of the fair. And it couldn't have gone smoother!! Clay ended up with a little over 17,000 in the grandstand and the show with Lady A was estimated at 29,800!!! I have never seen so many people squeezed into that small of an area.
Here's the link to the time lapse video they did. This started at about 7:30AM, about when people started getting there to save seats. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1274200755640
 |
| Lady Antebellum |
I was basically on autopilot through the rest of the fair. Great shows...even got to dance a little during Keith Sweat. I got out to see some of the fair as well. Played the lottery, gave blood for the first time, went Christmas shopping :). They have a ton of animal exhibits there. The closest I got to see them though were the tigers and elephants right outside the grandstand. Spent a little time hanging out with Troy Gentry (Montgomery Gentry) and Justin Moore and crew one night....talking about home (Kentucky).
We did create a new fried item! Someone mentioned there was fried chocolate chip cookie dough. To our disappointment and treking across the grounds only to find fried chocolate chip cookies, we decided to have our own made. One of the security guards took a roll to the fried vendor and they cooked it up for us. It was heaven! Turns out it will be at the fair next year. :) I can't wait!!
After wrapping up the 12 days, I spent the next day returning keys, doing laundry, running around town to Walmart and UPS and packing for the next trip. I got to hang out w/ friends and had a wonderful sushi dinner (sushi on a conveyor belt...what a concept!) wine, and more wine. Great times to wrap up a successful fair.
One hilarious tibit that I picked up---those of us that aren't from or have spent a lot of time in NY think of the entire state to be just like the city. Fast paced, heavily populated, rude people (for those that haven't been there and seen that it's not). The funny thing is that outside of the city it's just like anywhere else. Syracuse for example is very small town, country, "hick" like environments. The greatest part is when they refer to the city they call it "New York". Even when I was flying from Syracuse to New York City, the flight read "New York". That's like everyone outside of Louisville, KY calling Louisville; Kentucky. :)
Here's the crowd comparison for the past two years. A 15% increase!
2009 2010
2 PM shows total 48,500 50,500
8 PM shows total 105,500 127,300
Total attendance 154,000 177,800
A break down of each individual show
2:00PM
En Vogue 2,500
Blue Oyster Cult 7,000
Adam Richman 9,000
Trailer Choir 2,000
Steve Lippia w/ CNYJO 4,000
Herman's Hermits 5,000 HOT
Mario Batali 2,500 HOT
Eli Young Band 2,000
Justin Moore 3,500
Mitchel Musso 4,500
Katharine McPhee 4,000
Jackyl 4,500
50,500
8:00PM
Kool & The Gang 6,000
Kansas 16,000
Styx 18,500
Blues Traveler 7,500
30 Seconds to Mars 7,500
1964 The Tribute 8,500
Lady Antebellum 29,800 RECORD
Little Big Town 7,000
Coheed and Cambria 8,000 drizzle rain right after show
Robert Randolph 5,000
Keith Sweat 12,000
Marc Broussard 1,500
127,300
Total Chevy Court 177,800
Next I was off to the beautiful city of Salt Lake. Last year I was able to leave NY a few days early and have a few days at home. This year I was there longer and decided to split the two days off between NY and UT. What I didn't comprehend when booking my flights was that that would mean a 5 hour flight from NYC to Salt Lake City. That was just a small form of tourture. I arrived safely though and have the beautiful views of the mountains. We kick off the Utah State Fair shows tomorrow with Boyz II Men. Looking forward to another great run!
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