By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Las Vegas may be the entertainment capital of the world, but during the Clark County Fair it will see some stiff competition coming out of Logandale.
Entertainment this year at the fair will be bigger and more varied than ever; with lots of new acts as well as returning favorites. With the exception of the Friday night concert, all entertainment is free with fair admission, which really makes it the best show, or shows, around.
Preparation and scheduling for the entertainment portion of the fair starts over a year in advance. It is really a labor of love for fair Entertainment Coordinator Denise Robison.
Robison personally scouts out the acts that she schedules for the fair. To do this, she attends three different conventions every year. There she meets with other fair schedulers, previews acts and shares experiences. Her convention schedule kicks off with the Rocky Mountain Association of Fairs in November, followed by the Western Fairs Association convention in California and the International Association of Fairs in Las Vegas.
In addition she goes a step further and travels to fairs around the west to see the acts that she has chosen in action and make sure they are a good fit for the Clark County Fair.
“Everyone has different ideas about what makes a great act,” Robison said. “I get suggestions, and even complaints, all the time. But I also get a lot of rave reviews for acts that people really enjoy. My job is to pick the acts that will appeal to the largest demographic. We try to please as many people as we can.”
Choosing an act is more than just picking something that looks good on paper, Robison said.
“We meet at these conventions and share stories of our experiences with different acts,” she explained. “If someone has a bad experience with an act in any way, we don’t book them for our fair.”
She adds that choosing entertainment for the local fair is particularly difficult because, with Vegas having so much to offer in the way of entertainment, people are used to really being wowed. It can be a hard to compete with that, she said.
Still, there are plenty of great acts out there that are “Vegas quality” just waiting to make it big. Robison said. Those are the acts she is trying to bring in.
Indeed, the Clark County Fair has been a springboard for many acts that have gone on to have big Vegas shows. Terry Fator, famous for winning America’s Got Talent with his impersonations and ventriloquism, was a regular at the fair for about 9 years before he made it big. He first started coming to the Clark County Fair as a member of the group Texas, the Band. After the breakup of that group, he came on his own.
Marc Savard was also a CC Fair regular before getting his own Vegas hypnotist show. Other acts include The Fab 4, who now play in Vegas as a Beatles tribute band; Gwen Sebastian, who won The Voice; and country stars Blake Shelton, Lone Star, Lee Brice, and Jake Owen.
This year’s headlining concert is country band “A Thousand Horses.” This up-and-coming band just released its first hit album, Southernality. Their debut song, “Smoke” entered the country charts at number one.
The band members describe their music as a combination of “muscular country, drawling rock, high gospel harmony, low-country blues, and old school soul melded together.”
Tickets for the Friday night concert are on sale at the fair office or at ccfair.com. They can be purchased by themselves, or in combination with fair admission.
A number of other high quality bands and acts will be ongoing through the Fair this year.
“This year we have more entertainment and a bigger variety of acts than ever before,” Robison said. “We’ve made some changes in the layout of the stages to make things more balanced and friendly for fair-goers. Our fair has more entertainment than any other and we keep it going for five days. It’s a great show!”
Some of the layout changes include expanding and rearranging the Brandin’ Iron stage to make it primarily an area for bands to perform and people to listen. In fact, the stage has been renamed the “Brandin’ Iron Honkey Tonk” and the food court around this area will also be expanded and reorganized to support the increased traffic the performances will bring.
This year, 4 different bands are scheduled to play at the Honkey-Tonk, including the popular returning Doo-Wah Riders, Pierce Avenue, the Koles, and the Rock Bottom Boys who describe their sound as, “Rock-n-roll with hillbilly soul.”
Returning favorite Swifty Swine Pig Races will also be relocated over by the Brandin’ Iron so there will be something there for everyone.
For those in the mood for more than music, the Plaze stage in the center of the fairgrounds will host returning favorites master hypnotist Tyzen, and DSB, a Journey tribute band. Joining them will be Party Rock Project, the Alley Cats, and Hilby, the skinny German juggling boy.
The Midway stage has also been renamed and will now be known as the Showcase stage, which is appropriate because it primarily showcases local talent. Acts scheduled to appear on this stage are mostly drawn from Clark County and especially Moapa Valley. They will include performances from the Nelson family band, Kenny Marshall’s cowboy poetry, Ballet Classique, and the popular Cinderella Pageant to name a few.
Many people look forward to the grounds acts. This year there are plenty of those. Tumbleweed Crossing will be putting on a Wild West Stunt Show. The group Trick Dog Thrill Show will have the most popular parts of all dog shows rolled into one. Frank Thurston, a family comedy magician, Fables of the West, and Willy’s Washboard Jamboree will also be stationed around the fairgrounds entertaining young and old alike. Rounding out the shows is Paul Bunyan, an exciting lumberjack show which includes log rolling, axe throwing, dragster chainsaw, and traditional lumberjack activities in an historical, educational, and humorous presentation. So for those looking for great entertainment this year, the place to be is the Clark County Fair.
