‘She signed my boob!’ SLO County residents share favorite Mid-State Fair concert memories

When Cambria resident Dakota Louk saw Joan Jett perform at the California Mid-State Fair in 2002, she wound up with a memorable souvenir.

“At the end of the show, my dad grabbed my hand and took me to her when she was leaving the stage,” Louk recalled. “(I) got a picture with her, and she signed my boob!”

Over the decades, the Paso Robles fair has hosted scores of music legends — starting with Buck Owens and his Buckaroos, who took the stage in 1969.

“He played the fair a handful of times,” fair spokesperson Tom Keffury said of Owens.

Other big-name acts that have performed at the Mid-State Fair range from classic rock bands, including Aerosmith, Tom Petty and Journey, to pop stars Rod Steward, Justin Bieber and Cardi B and country music legends Garth Brooks, George Strait, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.

This year’s Grandstand Arena concert lineup includes performances by Pitbull, Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Nelly, Sammy Hagar, Lauren Daigle and Parker McCollum. The fair’s popular Evening of Music and Wine event will feature Styx.

Meanwhile, the 805 Frontier Stage will feature several free concerts by artists such as Scott McCreery, A Flock of Seagulls and Ben Haggard.

As the 2023 California Mid-State Fair kicks off, here’s a look back to fair concerts past.

SLO County residents’ favorite California Mid-State Fair concerts

I’ve seen dozens of shows at the Paso Robles fair — first as a regular concertgoer with my family, then as the co-owner of a bakery supplying cakes to the headliners. I’ve also covered fair concerts as a reporter for The Tribune.

I wanted to know which shows had been vivid standouts for my family, friends and social media followers. So, I asked.

Within 24 hours of my query, I’d gotten dozens of replies highlighting more than 80 different acts.

Jane Holton remembered “swing dancing at the top of the cheap seats” to Alan Jackson, who was performing at the fair as part of his Don’t Rock the Juke Box tour.

Barry Gallegos still has his ticket stub to Sting’s 1988 fair concert.

Other fans raved about seeing Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Linda Ronstadt and Huey Lewis and the News in concert. Talk about a cross-section of musical genres!

Not surprisingly, some concertgoers had trouble picking just one show to rave about.

“I really don’t have a favorite,” Gloria Fiscalini said. “In my 20s and 30s, I used to go to almost every show. (I) would wait in line for days and be able to sit in front rows. But we didn’t get to go to Las Vegas ... so I felt that was my chance to see those people.”

Sandi Gross-Pound agreed that there are “too many to choose” from when it comes to memorable fair concerts.

It’s the perfect venue for a summer’s evening,” she wrote.

Memories of Paso Robles fair as baker, music lover

For a heat stroke survivor, I’ve gone to the Mid-State Fair a lot.

For years, we manned our Upper Crust Bakery booth in the main vendor building.

Imagine selling chilled, chocolate ganache-dipped custard eclairs and doing cake-decorating demonstrations from noon to 10 p.m. at 110-degree heat.

Being on duty, we couldn’t attend concerts but we sure could hear the music and the roar of the crowds.

Then there was the post-bakery year in which we bit the bullet and bought tickets to every concert. Every. Single. One.

That year’s lineup included Randy Travis, Bobby Brown, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Kenny Loggins, John Denver and Sheena Easton, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1989.

That year, it cost $5 to get in the gate, and between $10 and $18 to see each grandstand show. You’d be hard-pressed to find ticket prices like that anywhere these days.

Denver, I remember, had a minimalist set that fit his lyrical musical style so well.

I also have vivid memories of Easton’s concert, although I remember the weather and her wardrobe more than what she sang.

By the time the show started, it was so cold that vendors used to selling beer, hats, sprayers and tank tops were doing brisk business in sweatshirts, throw blankets and hot coffee.

We concertgoers almost froze.

What about Easton, who was wearing a very low-cut, very short dress?

At one point, a man popped up from his seat in the front row and handed her his heavy jacket.

“You’re making me cold, just looking at you!” he said plaintively, pleading, “Please put it on!”

She held up the coat and asked the audience if it she should wear it.

The loud, overwhelming response was “YES!!!”

The same year, I took granddaughter Tina Tanner to see Petty and Smokey Robinson in concert.

More than two decades later, I accompanied granddaughters Caity and Lyssie Tanner, then 17 and 14 years old, respectively, to see alternative rock bands Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox Twenty at a 2013 fair concert.

“We made kind of an odd trio there,” I later wrote in a concert review in The Tribune. But that didn’t stop us from enjoying the show.

“The girls rocked out, played high-speed air guitar and took a gazillion pictures,” I wrote. “I enjoyed the sheer exuberance, energy and entertainment skill of the Goo Goos, and the musicianship and raw, evocative emotion of Rob Thomas and Matchbox Twenty.”

“Amazingly, we all had a blast at the fair performance,” I wrote in my review. “That’s one of the glories of having grandchildren: They take us out of our normal rut and expose us to experiences we absolutely would not have had on our own.”

Here’s to another California Mid-State Fair full of memorable musical moments.

More about California Mid-State Fair

The California Mid-State runs Wednesday through July 30 at the Paso Robles Event Center, 2198 Riverside Ave. in Paso Robles.

The fairgrounds will be open from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. Monday through Thursday and noon to 12 midnight Friday.

For more information, and to purchase fair admission, concert tickets and carnival wristbands, go to midstatefair.com