Interesting Article

State fair performers ask for various perks

By Mary Clarkin
If Kansas State Fair entertainers appear especially energized when they take the stage, at least some credit may belong to the energy drink Red Bull.

A number of Grandstand acts - including, for example, .38 Special, Chris Cagle and Pomeroy - specified a supply of Red Bull in riders attached to their state fair contracts.

The fair opens Friday and runs through Sept. 19. As of late last week, Friday's Ben Jelen/Clay Aiken concert and Saturday's .38 Special/REO Speedwagon concert posted the strongest advance ticket sales, selling about 4,000 each. The Grandstand can accommodate about 10,000 people.

The fair pays entertainers a base fee - such as $100,000 for Aiken and $50,000 each to the next most expensive acts, REO Speedwagon and Trapt, a rock group performing Sept. 18.

Among country music acts - Tracy Lawrence, performing Sept. 17, and the Oak Ridge Boys, taking the stage Sept. 14 - each is guaranteed $27,500. Fees for Brad Paisley and Cagle, both appearing Sept. 16, are $40,000 and $20,000, respectively, while John Michael Montgomery will receive $32,500 for his Sept. 17 performance.

Some, but not all, entertainers will earn an additional percentage depending on the strength of ticket sales. Also, the acts keep a majority of the proceeds from concert souvenir sales.

Typically, concert venues furnish food, beverages, support services and amenities to entertainers. Artists performing at the Kansas State Fair, however, don't always get what they want.

Most acts requested wine, beer, vodka or champagne. REO Speedwagon also asked for wine glasses and corkscrews.

Fair officials nixed all alcohol requests.

"A lot of them want it to load their buses and take it with them down the road, and we're not going to do that," said state fair General Manager Denny Stoecklein.

Ditto for requested post-concert repasts.

"We feed them while they're here," Stoecklein said, "but not to load up the buses."

Fair officials also said no to a request for a carton of Marlboro Light cigarettes for Tracy Lawrence's entourage.

And they rejected a request on behalf of Christian singer Mark Schultz that they telephone local churches to make them aware of his concert.

However, they did mail notices of the Sept. 13 concert to churches, Stoecklein said.

Aiken's agent asked for five dressing rooms for the entourage. They'll get four rooms "because that's all we have," Stoecklein said.

As for meals, the representative for .38 Special noted that most of the band and crew are on "low-fat diets," pushing fried foods off the menu. Trapt wants a vegetarian entree, and the rider pointed out that vegetable side dishes shouldn't be considered a substitute.

Cagle wants peanut butter - low-fat - and grape jelly, while the Oak Ridge Boys like morning newspapers - the local paper and USA Today - served with breakfast.

It's important to Paisley that concert security personnel are courteous, his representative stressed. And Montgomery wants his dedicated fans to be able to grab premium seats near the stage, instead of the venue awarding those seats to holders of complimentary tickets.

Local "runners" handle errands and provide transportation for the visiting entertainers, and Montgomery wanted a runner with a clean van who will show up "without friends, relatives, children or pets."

Members in the REO Speedwagon party hope to snag convenient tee times on the golf course while in Hutchinson, and they are willing to trade concert tickets or passes.

That detail is pending, Stoecklein said.