We now know which performers will close out the Grandstand concert series. The Fair has announced that comedian Jim Gaffigan will appear on Aug. 28, followed on Aug. 30 by country musician Hank Williams Jr. and by soulful chanteuse Patti LaBelle on Sep. 3. The stage will then be dismantled to make way for a couple of motorsports events to tear up the track on Sunday, Sep. 6.
Prices, all including an excessive $3.75 per ticket fee to make etix richer, are $18.75 and $23.75 per seat. If you buy with a credit card, you will pay even more.
Many country music fans will be happy to see Williams return, as the man behind the shades is a multi-talented entertainer who always brings a hot band and a truckload of famous songs, some penned by his legendary daddy. Unfortunately, Junior is also a loudmouthed lunkhead prone to offensive and brainless comments that approach Ted Nugent territory. We can hope he tones it down up here in Yankee country, but we won’t stop holding our breath until his show concludes without him making some outrageous comment that would cause embarrassment and reflect poorly on the Fair.
The timing of the announcement that Williams will return, coming just as people in South Carolina and around the nation have finally admitted the disturbing truth about the confederate flag, is intriguing to say the least. Vendors at our own New York State Fair have agreed to refrain from selling that infamous banner, often has used by Hank Jr. as a stage prop over the years. Worse yet, he has championed the appalling, arrogant rhetoric that made it a redneck icon.
You can bet your State Fair Hound will be on hand when Hank Jr. plays the final country concert at the old Grandstand and we’ll let you know how it works out. But we can’t help but consider the irony that the Joe LaGuardia stage’s first concert–long before it bore that name–was Williams’ opposite, Charley Pride, in 1976. Not only are they opposites in terms of race, but there’s so much more. Pride, who still performs but wasn’t available for this show, is beloved by fans around the world for his class and graciousness. We could use some of that for this landmark event.
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