Kenny Chesney rocks, and so does the Kentucky State Fair
August 20, 2004Went to the Kentucky State Fair yesterday, to see Kenny Chesney. And both were great.
When you buy tickets to one of the shows, they include fair admission (though not all the ticket-takers knew this on opening day so I had to explain how it works to one of them). So I took off work a couple hours early to give me time to check out the fair.
FIrst off I went in quest of a deep-fried twinkie. Basically they take a Hostess Twinkie, dip it in batter, then deep-fry it. Then they liberally sprinkle it with powdered sugar to make a confection that’s absolutely wonderful. I love the things, and they tend to only appear at places like State Fairs. The heat makes the creamy filling melt and expand, it’s just indescribable. Very recommended, at least by me.
Then I wandered around the fair taking in all the sights and sounds. They have a carnival midway that has some really kooky shows. Like for three tickets ($1 each, or 25 for $20) you can see “the world’s largest rat” which is clearly, from the crude painting, a capybara. That seems like a rip-off–yest the capybara is the largest rodent but it’s not a rat. They also open up Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom but you have to use the same tickets for those rides which is another rip-off for season ticket holders like me.
The FFA exhibits were fascinating–who knew there were so many breeds of pigeons and chickens. Some ducks too but definitely more pigeons and chickens than ducks.
Also saw the pig races, which were kinda silly but cute. The grand prize is that the fastest pig gets to eat an oreo cookie. The freaky thing was that the race is put on by the Kentucky Pork Producers, who had a booth nearby selling pork chops and pork BBQ. I guess the slowest pig in the race becomes the next day’s dinner 
Then on to the Kenny Chesney show at Freedom Hall (which is part of the fairgrounds). Opening act was Uncle Kracker, who is definitely living the rock star life a little hard. He looked kinda large and slightly drunk. He’s going for the Meatloaf look.
Chesney really did a good show–everyone got to their feet and stayed there when he came on stage. No big pyrotechnics or fancy stage mechanisms, though there was a platform that lowered him onto the stage for his opening number and then lifted him off when he was done. But other than that it was just him and his band rocking out. He opened with my favorite Chesney song, “Young”.
What I like about country artists is they tend to be real class acts compared to some musicians. For example, when he closed his show Kenny spent some time signing autographs on stuff that people were waving at him in front of the stage. I saw him sign hats and t-shirts and whatever, he spent a good ten minutes doing that. I don’t see that at any rock or pop shows I’ve been to.
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