“Weird Al” Yankovic and Huey Lewis & the News will perform at the 2008 Illinois State Fair, according to the performers’ Web sites.
The rest of the state fair Grandstand lineup apparently will be confirmed Thursday.
Yankovic is scheduled to perform Saturday, Aug. 9, and Lewis on Sunday, Aug. 10. The Web sites say only that the performances will be at the fairgrounds, but both probably will be Grandstand shows.
Fair spokesman Jeff Squibb said Tuesday that, until contracts are signed, artist appearances couldn’t be confirmed. But that should happen at a news conference Thursday morning at which the entire Grandstand lineup is expected to be announced.
Track and reserved seat tickets to all Grandstand shows will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 10 through Ticketmaster — by phone at 544-9400, (800) 827-8927 and (800) 359-2525 for TTY orders, online at www.ticketmaster.com and at all physical outlets.
The Grandstand’s ticket office will open Saturday, June 7.
Yankovic and Lewis join country musician Trace Adkins as artists confirmed on official sites and/or Pollstar (a concert industry Web site) as performing at the Illinois State Fair. Adkins is slated to perform, presumably at the Grandstand, on Sunday, Aug. 17, the fair’s last day.
The reigning king of pop-music parodies, Yankovic last performed locally in 2004 at Sangamon Auditorium at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Yankovic has won two Grammys (for the “Eat It” song and 2003’s “Poodle Hat” album).
Early on in his spoofing, Yankovic targeted Lewis and the News’ “I Want a New Drug” (which became “I Want A New Duck”). “Drug” was one of five singles from the 1984 album “Sports” — joining “The Heart of Rock & Roll,” “Heart and Soul,” “Walking on a Thin Line” and “If This Is It” — which was the San Francisco band’s pinnacle.
Lewis performed at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in August 1984 and July 1991. Lewis and company has been writing new songs, including a theme to the upcoming film “Pineapple Express.”
Meanwhile, the rumor mill is churning in regard to other artists speculated to show up on the Grandstand stage. They include Vanessa Hudgens of Disney’s “High School Musical” and the double-bill tour of ZZ Top and Brooks & Dunn.
ZZ Top had been scheduled to play Sunday, Aug. 10 at the fair on Pollstar, but that listing was abruptly pulled and the dual-headlining tour announced. The rumored dates for these artists would coincide with their tour schedules.
However, another rumored Grandstand artist, Sheryl Crow, who is touring with James Blunt, would have to bump out Adkins on the fair’s final night. Of the two weekends of concerts at the Illinois State Fair Grandstand, Aug. 17 is the only date Crow has open on her tour.
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