Admission to the fairgrounds is $5 for adults 13 and older, $2 for children 5 -12 and senior citizens, free for children under 5. The fair features a carnival, horse racing, concession stands, entertainment in the grandstand and livestock judging.

There is a concert every evening in the Grandstand. Additional tickets are required for the Grandstand concerts. The featured artists this year are as follows:

8/13 – Lady Antebellum
8/14 – The Original Kiss Army with Journey Unauthorized
8/15 – Shinedown with Chevelle
8/16 – Illinois Symphony
8/17 – Mercy Me with 10th Avenue North
8/18 – Blake Shelton with Candy Coburn
8/19 – Sandra Lee – Semi Homemade – CANCELLED
8/20 – Cheap Trick with Blondie
8/21 – Selena Gomez with Mitchel Musso
8/22 – Darius Rucker with Eric Church

Get your tickets here !

For more Il State Fair information go to the official website

The opening act of the night was Cheap Trick. The stage set up was pretty simple but the back drop was black and white checkered along with everything else on the stage. The colored lights added a cool element to all the black and white on stage. All the original members were there, Robin Zander on lead vocals and guitar, Rick Nielsen on lead guitar and back up vocals, Tom Petersson on bass guitar and back up vocals, and Bun E. Carlos on drums. This was a perfect group to open the show with considering the average age of the crowd was probably between 35 – 40. They seemed to get the crowd rockin right away!

Robin Zander entered the stage wearing leather pants, Rick Nielsen was wearing a suit with tennis shoes and a baseball cap. They opened the set with “California Man” followed by “If You Want My Love”. Tom Petersson was introduced as the inventor of the 12 string bass. There were some close ups of him playing it on the big screen. We’ve never seen one of those before. Rick Nielsen has quite a collection of guitars, I’ve read that he has had over 2000 of them throughout his career. Does anyone remember the Cheap Trick videos on MTV? Rick Nielsen always showcased many guitars in his videos and tonight was no exception. We got to see five of them. Two of them appeared to be black and white checkered, one was square shaped, one was yellow with the faces of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison on it and another featured five necks. When Cheap Trick played “I Want You To Want Me” the crowd got all fired up. Nielsen showered the crowd with guitar picks. They also played “I Can’t Take It”, “The Flame” “Surrender” and the evening finale, “Goodnight”. The band did return to the stage in response to the crowd’s loud chanting for one more song, “Dream Police”.

Have you ever noticed at some concerts during the first band or two, it seems like the sound isn’t quite right, yet? Well, this wasn’t the case last night. The band had a very clean sound and the vocals were great! Jonathan Cain, the keyboardist from Journey, also joined Cheap Trick on stage. This was a good opening act. They got the crowd warmed up and ready to hear some Heart.

The second act of the night was Heart. This band showcases two talented sisters, Ann and Nancy Wilson. I can’t stress the word talented enough. This band is probably my wife Britne’s favorite band of all time. She kept saying “I can’t wait to see Heart, they’re awesome.” I have to admit I was skeptical during the drive to the concert, but after witnessing them live, I was wrong. I’ve never been a huge fan of female rock singers until tonight! Ann Wilson has the most powerful and beautiful voice I think I’ve ever heard, but don’t count out her sister Nancy Wilson either. Her vocals on “These Dreams” and the harmonizing with her sister was spectacular.

“Magic Man” rocked followed by “Never” which featured Nancy playing a harmonica solo. Next came “Straight On”, “Alone” which was played acoustically and then Ann sang an astonishing cover of The Who’s hit “Love Reign O’er Me”. There wasn’t a lot of movement on the stage, but the music was amazing. During “Barracuda”, Nancy flipped her guitar around and there was a big United States Marine Corp sticker on the back of it. Ann sang a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California” and it was incredible. The last song was “Crazy On You” and the crowd went crazy.

Britne says she wished they had been the headliner because she could have listened to them for hours. Yes, I am now a big Heart fan too!

Journey was up next.

Journey opened their set with the “Star Spangled Banner”. The next song was from the new album “Never Walk Away”. The crowd seemed to really like it. Arnel Pineda, the new singer, is all over the stage. He spins around, does scissor kicks off the drum risers and flips the microphone. Arnel brings new life to the band and his vocal abilities are amazing. For those of you long time Journey fans, I’m sure you’re wondering if the new singer sounds like Steve Perry. He definitely sounds like Steve Perry and he is excited about being with Journey!

“Only The Young” was next followed by “Stone In Love” and “Ask The Lonely”. Drummer Deen Castronovo sang the next hit “Keep On Runnin” which featured an awesome guitar medley with Neal Schon on lead guitar, Ross Valory on bass and Jonathan Cain, the keyboardist, was playing guitar also. Arnel dedicated the next song to all the faithful fans, “After All These Years”. The crowd loved him and he gave high-five’s to the fans in the front row, ran around the stage engaging the crowd by clapping his hands over his head, which of course made the crowd follow suit, and jumping all over the place. Man, he can really get some air. He is so energetic, has the most captivating smile and seems to be loving every minute of being the frontman for Journey.

Another song from the new album “Revelation” called “Change For The Better” and then the hits just kept coming, “Separate Ways”, “Lights”, “Feeling That Way”, and “Anytime”. Next up was another song I’m not familiar with, but Jonathan Cain played a piano solo and the video feed on the screen was split so you could see his face in one image and his fingers dancing on the keys in another at the same time. That was pretty cool! “Open Arms” was next and then Arnel was introduced as “the thrill from Manila” and then “Don’t Stop Believing” was played followed by “Faithfully”. I turned around to see the crowd on the lawn behind us and there was a sea of people with cell phones and lighters lit up, swaying to the music. It was a beautiful sight. Music is so powerful and it can bring people together.

The music continued with “Wheel In The Sky”, “Any Way You Want It” and finishing up the show with “Be Good To Yourself”. The band left the stage and the crowd began screaming for more. They came out for an encore. They played a very bluesy version of “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin” with a harmonica solo by Jonathan Cain. This was an incredible show.

Personally, I think Arnel is a wonderful addition to Journey and he is having the time of his life. The couple sitting next to us, John & Misty, really enjoyed the show too. I talked to some long time Journey fans after the show and they didn’t feel the same way. They had seen Journey before when Steve Perry was with them and they felt that Arnel was a good singer but no one can take Perry’s place. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. What are your thoughts about Arnel?

There are a few dates left on this tour. Get your tickets and go! You won’t be disappointed.

[tags]Journey, Heart, Cheap Trick[/tags]

Journey has a new three disc CD/DVD “Revelation” available and it sold more than 104,000 copies in its’ debut week. The first disc contains 11 new songs, the second is 11 re-recorded classic songs and the DVD is a live concert. 

The band’s lineup consists of Neal Schon on guitar, Jonathan Cain on keyboards, Ross Valory on bass, Deen Castronovo on drums and Arnel Pineda on vocals.   Arnel Pineda is the third singer since Steve Perry left the band.  Steve Augeri was the first but he had to leave due to medical reasons.  Jeff Scott Soto then stepped in to replace Augeri and left in 2007.  Arnel Pineda, who is from Quezon City, Philippines, had been singing Journey songs with his band The Zoo in clubs for several years.  The band found Arnel on YouTube.  I think the new lead singer sounds remarkably like Steve Perry.
Scroll down to see a video clip of Arnel singing “Faithfully” while on tour with Journey in Chile. What do you think??

I like Cheap Trick also but I am not as familiar with their music as Journey and Heart. This is a tour we are definitely going to catch.  – UPDATE – We got our tickets for the 9/13/08 show in Maryland Heights, MO.  See you at the show!!!

[tags]Journey, Heart, Cheap Trick[/tags]