NC State Fair announces 2015 lineup, lots of locals

After years of losing money for the Dorton Arena concerts during the North Carolina State Fair booking somewhat expensive national acts that didn't typically deliver strong ticket sales, this year the lineup will exclusively feature North Carolina acts and all of the shows will be free.

A few acts caught our attention including local indie favorites The Love Language playing the big stage on Friday, October 23. The outdoor waterfall stage will feature Hammer No More the Fingers and The Beast among the lineup on Saturday October 24. Other acts playing the fair include the Charlie Daniels Band, Jason Michael Carroll, The Real Laww, Peter Lamb and the Wolves and many more. Check out the full lineup below.

NC State Fair announces 2014 lineup, Joan Jett, Vanilla Ice & more

The North Carolina State Fair is a little over three months away and the lineup for the Dorton Arena concerts has just been rolled out with a few interesting inclusions.

Along with the usual country and Christian acts, this year's lineup will begin and end with two anomalies. First, the concerts will kick off on Thursday, October 16, with rapper and reality TV star Vanilla Ice. Then the series will wrap on Sunday, October 26, with venerable rocker Joan Jett and The Blackhearts.

In between those two performances will be Tamela Mann, Clay Walker, Parmalee, Love and Theft, James Gregory, Brandy Clark, Newboys and Trace Adkins. One date has yet to be announced. Check out the schedule with ticket prices below. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 1, HERE.

North Carolina State Fair announces 2013 music lineup

The North Carolina State Fair is just a a little more than three months away and the organizers have just announced the full 2013 music lineup of Dorton Arena headliners on October 17-27 except for a single date which is still TBA.

This year's lineup is about as underwhelming as every other year but a portion of the schedule does resemble the Lincoln Theatre schedule a bit more than in previous years with the inclusion of Sister Hazel and the Michael Jackson tribute band Who's Bad.

N.C. State Fair announces 2012 concert lineup

Temperatures in the Triangle may be soaring, but thankfully, fall will be here before we know it, along with the N.C. State Fair.

Organizers announced the fair's 11-night concert series today, highlighted with a two-night stand from Garner's Scotty McCreery and, as usual, relying heavily on country music. One performance of note is on opening night, Thursday, Oct. 11. Dubbed the Varsity Vocal Showcase, a cappella groups from N.C. State, UNC Chapel Hill and Duke will take the stage. Performers also include Matthew West and Sanctus Real, Jake Owen, Hot Chelle Rae, Jason Michael Carroll, Brian McKnight, Michael W. Smith, Billy Currington, and Corey Smith.

Tickets go on sale Wednesday, Aug. 1 via ncstatefair.org.

Click through for the complete lineup, prices, and the formal annoucement video from the N.C. State Fair intern, Honey Bee.

2011 NC State Fair lineup: Tift Merritt, Dionne Warwick & more

As summer rolls on, it's time to start thinking ahead to the fall, which means the 2011 North Carolina State Fair. The lineup of the concert series in Dorton Arena has been announced, and features some typical fare as well as a few nice surprises.

Former Raleigh resident and gifted singer-songwriter Tift Merritt will play October 16, country legend George Jones will play October 18, R&B hitmaker Dionne Warwick will play October 20 and 1970s rock band Kansas will play October 22.

There is still one question mark on the October 15 show, but you can check out the rest of the schedule below including ticket prices, ranging from $5 to $15. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Monday, August 1 via etix.

Final three N.C. State Fair performers announced

The final three Dorton Arena performers for the 2010 N.C. State Fair have been released and surprise, they're all country, though one wasn't always a country singer. The big addition is former Hootie and the Blowfish frontman turned country star Darius Rucker on Saturday, Oct. 23.

The other acts announced are Easton Corbin and Justin Moore. Tickets for all three shows go on sale on Wednesday, Sept. 1 at 8 a.m. here.

Check out the full line-up below and our previous post about the performers here. We still recommend checking out Carolina Chocolate Drops for just $5.

Most 2010 N.C. State Fair performers announced

Autumn is quickly approaching and the North Carolina State Fair is just three months away. With that in mind, the organizers have announced most of the performers that will play Dorton Arena from Oct. 14-24.

For the most part, it's the usual stuff, Christian, Country and past American Idol contestants. But this time, they've tossed in an interesting wild card, local old time string band Carolina Chocolate Drops. The trio will play on Sunday, Oct. 17. Tickets are just $5 and will go on sale Monday, Aug. 2 here.

There are still three holes in the schedule that have not been announced yet and maybe we'll get lucky and something else cool will be announced, but obviously we're not holding our breath. Check out the current schedule below.

NC State Fair line-up announced, fairly typical

This year's Dorton Arena performance schedule for the 2009 State Fair has been announced, and it's not surprising that it follows the same formula we see year after year. There's an assortment of country and Christian music and this year, there's some Nickelodeon music tossed in.

Local boy Jason Michael Carroll will kick things off on October 15 and Eric Church will wrap things up on the 25th. The one interesting show of the bunch is The Temptations on October 20, which will feature lead singer Dennis Edwards.

There's still one hole in the schedule. The October 22 performer is still "to be announced." The notable absence is someone from the Food Network. Bobby Flay was there last year and Paul Dean was there in 2007.

[UPDATE: American Idol contestant and Chapel Hill native Anoop Desai has filled the October 22 spot. My Food Network prediction did not come to pass.]

Tickets for the shows will go on sale on August 3 via etix.com. Check out the schedule and ticket prices below.

NC State Fair Dorton Arena performers:
10.15 - Jason Michael Carroll - $5
10.16 - Third Day - $15
10.17 - Kellie Pickler - $10
10.18 - Nat and Alex Wolff - $10
10.19 - Jamey Johnson - $5
10.20 - Temptations featuring Dennis Edwards - $10
10.21 - Julianne Hough - $5
10.22 - Anoop Desai - $5
10.23 - Jeremy Camp and Tenth Avenue North - $10
10.24 - Blake Shelton - $10
10.25 - Eric Church - $5

The Roots, Eve 6 to play (separately) in the Triangle

It's barely spring but dates are popping up across the area that will take us well into the sweltering days of summer.

The Roots will play a free show at Duke University on Wednesday, April 23, for the university's "last day of class" party. In our experience, there's no sort of ID check to keep these shows students only, so by all means head out there.

In a move proving once and for all that they are totally out of touch, Downtown Live organizers have booked Eve 6 to play in Moore Square on Aug. 23. What should be a really cool event is instead a parade of past-their-peak rock bands. My hope of redemption lives on, but I'm guessing it will quickly fade as each new show is announced.

State Fair organizers are also already hard and work and have booked Jason Aldean, TobyMac and Joe Nichols for their weeklong Christian 'n Country extravaganza. This year's fair will be held Oct. 17-26.

In another Van Halen update, the show has now been re-rescheduled for May 5. We're not holding our breath.

And for those of you who are, like us, wondering when the hell R.E.M. tickets will go on sale for their June 10 show at Walnut Creek, we have no idea. But you'll be the first to know when we do find out!

Josh Turner joins the state fair schedule

Continuing our NC State Fair coverage, another country artist has been added to the 2007 schedule. MCA Nashville artist Josh Turner will perform on Monday, October 15.

Here's the schedule so far.

Friday, Oct. 12 - MercyMe
Saturday, Oct. 13 - Sara Evans
Monday, Oct. 15 - Josh Turner
Tuesday, Oct. 16 - Kellie Pickler
Friday, Oct. 19 - Steven Curtis Chapman
Saturday, Oct. 20 - Daughtry
Sunday, Oct. 21 - Trace Adkins

With the fair running October 12-21, that only leaves three more performers to be announced. At the rate they're being rolled out, we should have the entire schedule soon.

NC State Fair 2007 schedule taking shape [UPDATED]

The North Carolina State Fair concert schedule for this year is starting to take shape. Here is how the schedule stacks up so far.

Friday, Oct. 12 - MercyMe
Saturday, Oct. 13 - Sara Evans
Tuesday, Oct. 16 - Kellie Pickler
Friday, Oct. 19 - Steven Curtis Chapman
Saturday, Oct. 20 - Daughtry
Sunday, Oct. 21 - Trace Adkins

So far there are no big surprises. It's the typical line-up of country and christian performers (plus another American Idol contestant). So far Daughtry is the only "rock" act on the schedule. Read this older post to find out how I feel about that ("NC State Fair snags Daughtry for weekend performance"). We'll have more on the State Fair as it becomes available.

NC State Fair snags Daughtry for weekend performance

According to pollstar.com, Daughtry will be playing the J.S. Dorton Arena during the NC State Fair on Saturday, October 20. To that, I say bleh. I never expect anything from the fair booking agents, but that Nickelback wannabe Daughtry just makes me nauseous.

I have to say though, for the fair to actually be able to book Daughtry is impressive considering he's really riding high right now. His record has sold over 2 million copies and shows no signs of slowing down. This strengthens my theory that people will buy anything that is spoon-fed to them.

That's concludes today's rant.

Just some random speculation

For whatever reason, I'm a little obsessed with the state fair. Maybe it's the honey cotton candy, the lure of deep-fried Coca-Cola, or just playing a friendly game of "count the mullets," but I love the fair.

Some of you may remember me expressing some disdain with the selection of performers this year, as well as wondering why they didn't have a bigger name for the final night.

Turns out they may have tried.

Flip to the last page of the fair's program guide to the calendar for Sunday, Oct. 22, and you may see a familiar name blacked out for the concert: Willie Nelson.

The listing has been fixed on the pdf version of the program and hopefully on the ones to be handed out at the fairgrounds, but it's hard not to wonder what happened with that arrangement. Oh well. We may not have Willie's signature braids, but at least I still have my mullets.

From the "Who the hell is that??" department

Last week we let you know about this year's State Fair concert lineup and its heavy reliance on country and Christian music. There was also that mystery TBA slot on the final night. Perhaps just right for local American Idol contestants of past or present.

Well, about 20 minutes ago, the N.C. State Fair sent out a press release announcing that final concert and I must say...I'm a little perplexed.

Country music chart topper Gary Allan will wrap up the N.C. State Fair concert series Sunday, Oct. 22, with hits from his newest album "Tough All Over," the N.C. State Fair announced today. The concert series, which was announced in July, features Nashville superstars, teenage dance favorites and contemporary Christian music.

Gary who? Oh well. The show costs $10 and will start at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 22.

State Fair concerts announced

After a whole four days of reprieve, the temperatures here in the Triangle are back into the 90s. With that in mind, I'd like to take this time to think of something a little...cooler. Autumn! Changing leaves! Funnel cake...the State Fair!

This year's fair will be held Oct. 13-22 at the usual location and, as always, along with the greasy food, pig races, 4-H competitions and rides that make you want to throw up the aforementioned greasy food, there will be the series of next-to-free nightly concerts.

Here's who's playing:

Oct. 13 / Chris Tomlin (Contemporary Christian) / $5
Oct. 14 / Jo Dee Messina (Country) / $10
Oct. 15 / Blake Shelton (Country) / $10
Oct. 16 / Eric Church (Country) / $5
Oct. 17 / NC Tunes: Earl Scruggs, Mike Cross and Tift Merritt (Bluegrass, Country) / $15
Oct. 18 / Little Big Town (Country) / $5
Oct. 19 / Chris Brown and Paula DeAnda (Dance/R&B) / $15
Oct. 20 / Casting Crowns (Contemporary Christian) / $10
Oct. 21 / Chris Cagle (Country) / $10
Oct. 22 / TBA

Anyone else notice a bit of a theme? I mean, there's nothing wrong with country music. Okay, that's a lie. There's nothing wrong with some country music. I've only got one disc in my personal collection (Rachel Proctor's Where I Belong ... highly recommended), but there are some decent songwriters out there, and some great music definitely has strong country roots (Johnny Cash, anyone?).

While it's certainly not a shock, this lineup is definitely a disappointment to me. Except for the NC Tunes concert on Oct. 17, there's nothing that remotely peaks my interest here. But, who cares what I think. What about you guys? Anything worth seeing here? And is anyone else willing to bet a certain local American Idol runner-up will fill that "TBA" slot on the last night?