Andrew Sherman
Audio By Carbonatix
Some things at the State Fair of Texas never change. Big Tex still towers in his denim. The corny dogs still sizzle. And the line for fried whatever-they-dreamed-up-this-year still snakes around the midway. But this year, the music wafting through all that funnel-cake fog deserves its own headline.
The Chevrolet Main Stage lineup dropped this week, and it’s surprising to say the least. From opening weekend on Sept. 25 through week three on Oct. 18, you can catch live sets every day, all of them free with your fair admission, though you may find yourself going to the fair just for a concert.
Legends Kansas anchors the marquee, and that’s no small thing. Fifty-plus years deep, the prog-rock institution behind “Carry on Wayward Son” still plays like it’s 1976. Bring your lungs. You’ll need them for the chorus.
Hometown heroes show up in force. Clint Black, raised in Katy, carries the country torch. Denton’s Bowling for Soup turns every set into a comedy club with power chords. Fort Worth’s Toadies arrive fresh off “The Charmer,” recorded by the late, great Steve Albini. Dallas legends Tripping Daisy celebrate more than 30 years of “I Am an Elastic Firecracker,” blooming back into the Deep Ellum spirit that made them. Baytown’s RaeLynn brings sharp, modern country, and Houston icon Paul Wall slides back in with that unmistakable screwed-and-chopped swagger. Keeping the classic-rock flame burning, Dallas-Fort Worth’s own Petty Theft, a beloved tribute act, channels the music of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
The gems of the lineup will offer pure, glorious fun. Mini KISS, the Guinness-certified “World’s Shortest Band” comprised entirely of little people, delivers KISS in miniature and maximum spectacle. The Red Hot Chili Pipers rock harder than any bagpipe has a right to. 2010s radio mainstays 3OH!3 bring electro-pop chaos, Queensrÿche bring prog-metal muscle, and the Pink Floyd Laser Light Show bends the night sky into color. And for all the ’90s kids out there, Deep Blue Something takes the stage, so get ready to jam out to “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” one more time.
The lineup opens up with fresh, new voices. JayDon, an 18-year-old R&B phenom co-signed by Usher and Chris Brown, has already been crowned “the future of R&B” by Ty Dolla $ign—and you might recognize his voice as Young Simba in the 2019 remake of “The Lion King.” Joy Oladokun, a Black queer folk-Americana songwriter who calls herself a bridge builder, turns a crowd into a community. EDM duo Two Friends keep the energy soaring, and a collective set from Steve Ray Ladson, Pynk Beard and The BoykinZ rounds out a bill that reflects the stategoing crowd.
Prog rock, country, hip-hop, folk, metal, EDM, lasers and four little people in face paint. That’s not a lineup. That’s a love letter to Texas in all its weird, wonderful variety.
General daily tickets aren’t on sale yet. Season passes, for $52, are available now, and with unlimited visits all season long, a pass pays for itself in fewer than two trips through the gates. So, pick your nights. The music’s already paid for.
