State Fair Reviews

Josh Turner has a bass voice that must be heard to be believed but he didn’t begin to show what he could do until the third song of his set.

Turner was the closing act of a youthful country triple bill Sunday night at the Illinois State Fair Grandstand.

Partway through that third song, “Backwoods Boy,” the music came to an abrupt halt and the lights went out. Then Turner sang a few solo notes, dropping his voice to subterranean depths before bending the note back to the surface. He sounded as deep as a Harley but polished as the leather on a new pair of boots.

Turner played hits such as “Firecracker” and “Your Man.”

Toward the end of his set, the stage went dark again, and a low rumble began to emerge from the sound system. An old steam train appeared on the video screen, and Turner fans cheered at the opening of his career-making hit “Long Black Train.”

At Turner’s invitation, most of the Grandstand stood and clapped or swayed along, many concertgoers stirring for what seemed like the first time in the nearly 4-hour show.

The official attendance figure was 3,358, not bad given the afternoon thunderstorm and a forecast for more bad weather (which, other than a pleasant cool breeze, did not materialize during the concert).

Citing concerns about mud, fair officials closed the track, which usually hosts a pack of eager fans in a standing-room-only crowd clustered near the stage. That’s too bad.

It would be unfair to say the attendees weren’t into the show — many were. People were tapping their feet; a woman patted her date’s back in time to the music. Most concertgoers were paying careful attention, but to an extent that was almost too polite.

I’ve never seen a Grandstand concert from anywhere but the middle of a sea of people on or just behind the track, and hadn’t realized how much of the energy of a show comes from the cheering, throbbing crowd. It just wasn’t the same in the middle of the Grandstand, a football-field away from the stage.

Turner overcame that Cumberland-sized gap, and so did Jamey Johnson, the second performer of the night.

Johnson has an intensity about him that’s difficult to explain. Part of it owes to his appearance: shoulder-length hair and a chest-length beard. And part of it is his voice: a rich, dark bass that smolders like the remains of a redwood forest fire.

Johnson doesn’t prance about the stage, instead standing still at center stage, playing his guitar. He has the air of someone deadly serious about his music — he didn’t say a word to the audience until he was 46 minutes into his set, and by my count said 23 words that weren’t part of a song lyric.

“You guys sing up here in Springfield?” Johnson asked during “In Color.” Then, after the last verse, in which the audience sang along, Johnson said, “I didn’t realize there were so many of you. It’s good to see you all too.”

Johnson’s songs range from wistful to dark, as “That Lonesome Song,” in which he sang: “What the hell did I do last night? / That’s the story of my life / Like trying to remember words to a song nobody wrote.”

Johnson ended his set with “Give It Away,” after which he set down his guitar, raised his arm to the crowd and walked off the stage. Always leave them wanting more, they say, and Johnson did.

Opening act Chuck Wicks didn’t connect with the crowd quite as well. Wicks sang his hit “Stealing Cinderella” and “Man of the House,” a song he said recently gained new meaning for him after he spent time with soldiers about to be deployed and the families they’d be leaving behind.

The song is about a 10-year-old boy who takes on added responsibilities around the house. “It’s hard to be a kid when you’re the man of the house,” Wicks sang.

Brian Mackey can be reached at 747-9587.

By mailto:brian.mackey@sj-r.com
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER