Kenny Loggins, Loverboy, Boyz II Men, REO Speedwagon, Sinbad, Village People, Rick Springfield, Ted Nugent and Tesla. The cast of a new reality show where washed up celebrities go on diets or blind dates? NO. The soundtrack to your upcoming high school reunion? NO. The leftover Karaoke choices at the end of a long night on a cheesy cruise to Ensenada (she asks from experience)? Alas, no.
My friends, these are the headline acts for the California State Fair starting this Friday. Are we not California? Can we not do better than this? It’s bad enough that it will be hot and the parking overpriced but really, Tesla?
The Sac Rag 
I love crappy 80s hair bands as much as the next guy, but for the life of me, I can’t think of a single Tesla song. I know they were out there, but not ringing a single bell.
Frankly, that whole conglomeration of late-80s hair bands start to run together for me after a while: Tesla, Slaughter, Slayer, Cinderella, Ratt, Warrant, Stryper, Skid Row, etc.- they all boil down to one long, vibratto-filled ballad about a small-town girl getting away from her abusive daddy, subsequently getting lost in the big city lights.
But Kenny Loggins? Dangerzone here I come!
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if you go see Ted Nugent, remember: do not take out a wrist rocket and shoot the Nuge in the face with a ball bearing, as happened in Minneapolis in 1992.
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Wrist Rocket??? Intriguing. Where would one acquire such a “wrist rocket” if one were so inclined? Any ideas?
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Whoa whoa whoa… i love those guys!!!!!!!!!!
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calling Slayer a hair band is blasphemy!
and Tesla also did the acoustic cover of “Signs”
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Scooter: Tesla did “Love Song” that “Love IS ALLL around YOUUUU!” hair-band ballad (where’s my lighter?), and they also did a cover of “Signs.”
They performed at my high school when they were still known as City Kidd back in about ’84 or so. That was HUGE — like, front page of the Auburn Journal huge and prominent coverage in the Placer High School “Potpourri” yearbook huge.
I’m sure many of the artists featured at the fair (current and years past) have their “hits” playing either in the Gravitron or on that bobsled ride that goes really fast forwards, then really fast backwards. Maybe you can win a mirror with one of the bands on it out on the midway!
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Any concert with the Village People is worth going to, right? Right? Never had to buy any of their stuff…just seeing them once every 10 years or so holds me over…
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I don’t know, Glenn. At some age the village people are going to start looking kind of creepy and senile. I’m not saying that age has come, but I’m starting to get suspicious. I know one thing for sure, and that’s Boyz II Men have reached the II Men point and I don’t need to see them live. And Sinbad? Really? Sinbad?
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All we can attract are has-been 80s bands? Coincidentally, isn’t Arco Arena a has-been venue? Not that those two things are related, but maybe they are.
We should build a new arena and see if we can get better talent at the expo. By the looks of it, it’s worth a try.
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The state fair bands don’t play at Arco Arena, dude. They play at the fair. But, what the hell. Let’s build a multi-million dollar taxpayer-funded sports complex to see if Sinbad is any funnier in that venue. If not, at least the Maloofs won’t be out any cash. We could repair our levee system but that’s totally not going to get anybody action backstage if you know what I mean.
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“The state fair bands don’t play at Arco Arena, dude. They play at the fair.”
This statement would seem to imply that “better” bands perform at Arco and “worse” bands play at the fair. And yet your post seems to take issue with the poor quality of bands playing at the fair this year.
You know, just trying to find your point is all.
Man, Boyz II Men? 25 million albums sold worldwide! Dudes better be headlining, that’s all I gotta say.
Boyz II Men, ABC, BBD…the East Coast family.
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My point is simply to keep a petty and pointless round of commentary going as a distraction from work. Looks like mission accomplished!
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pointfinder, i confused. please to explain what is HeyMeg’s missing point in making fun of the lame bands at the fair and then implying that the “worse” bands are at the fair?
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cooldmz to the rescue!
I tried to disclaim with my “would seem to imply” but after reading HeyMeg!’s comment again I see that she was making no such implication. More like that Arco had nothing to do with her post and that lowpost (who is that guy/gal? man, the nerve) was trying to force a connection to get his/her jab in about the Arena issue.
And of course, I’m cursing myself now because after my first comment I haven’t been able to stop humming that bIIm tune…
motown philly back again…doin’ a little easy coast swing…
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i thought maybe you read the opposite of what she wrote, and thought she was implying that the better bands played at the fair.
either way when you anonymous commenters try to gang up on one of us Raggers you’ll see my finest nit-picking skills being put to use! no matter who you are or what you do for a living!
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“This statement would seem to imply”
“You know, just trying to find your point is all.”
Ganging up, huh? I’ll make a note of your point though. Cause that’s what I do!
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Sorry cooldmz, didn’t mean to make HeyMeg feel threatened with my snarky arena comments.
I harbor no ill will towards the raggers. They are, after all, some of my biggest fans:
“Posted by HeyMeg on 08/01/06 at 11:47 AM
I like your style lowpost. “
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Dude, those sentences are totally intended to construct an argument. 66.6% of voters would agree on that. And two commenters makes a gang in the blogging world. Beware of the strike team!
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I can’t believe you’re ripping on the most successful band out of Sacramento. Besides, Tesla ROCKS!!!
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