The 2016 edition of the South Florida Fair, which will be held Jan. 15-31 at the South Florida Fairgrounds, will host a variety of music from country and Christian rock to alternative and classic rock.
The classic rock bands are Starship featuring Mickey Thomas, the Guess Who, the Grass Roots and the Buckinghams. The national country acts are Emerson Drive and the Brothers Osborne, while the alternative rock band is Hoobastank and the Christian group is Tenth Avenue North. In addition, the Rat Pack Now will feature Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin impersonators.
Tenth Avenue North will kick off the national entertainment schedule at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 17. The group, which formed while in college in West Palm Beach and made its national debut in 2008, won the Gospel Music Association Dove Award in 2009 for New Artist of the Year, and in 2010, “By Your Side” was named Song of the Year. They recently released their fourth studio album, Cathedrals.
The versatile L.A. band Hoobastank will perform at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19. The band’s Fight or Flight album marks the beginning of an important new chapter in its nearly two-decade run. Described as musically and emotionally intense work, the LP is Hoobastank’s initial release on their own Open E Entertainment label following a productive decade on Island Records, during which they ruled the modern rock charts, sold 10 million albums and crossed over with the iconic smash hit “The Reason.”
Next up, at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 20, Emerson Drive will perform. This Grammy-nominated country band has a decade of music and more than a million miles of life on the road behind them as they look toward a bright future. The band has been a part of the country music scene since they signed their first record deal with DreamWorks Records Nashville in 2001. The Decade & Driving Tour celebrates the 10 years of music that began with their debut single, “I Should Be Sleeping,” and continues today with their most recent single release, “Let Your Love Speak.”
Starting at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 21, the first of two Bike Nights, the Guess Who takes the stage, a group connected with a hit parade spanning 14 Top 40 hits, including “These Eyes,” “Clap For the Wolfman,” “Hand Me Down World” and “Share the Land,” as well as fellow classics and double-sided singles like their #1 rock anthem, “American Woman” and “No Sugar Tonight,” plus “Laughing” and “Undun.”
At 1 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 25, the Rat Pack Now will feature Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin impersonators. Then at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 26, the Buckinghams, one of the most beloved and respected Chicago bands to burst onto the national scene, will entertain guests with familiar pop rock tunes from the 1960s and 1970s. Since 1985, original Buckinghams Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna and their band have continued to deliver fast-paced, solid shows that bring crowds to their feet to dance along. Their song “Kind of a Drag” is a standout favorite that first made them famous. Next came seven national chart hits, 15 singles and eight acclaimed albums. The Grass Roots, one of pop music’s most memorable bands, will follow that concert. The band set a record between 1967 and 1972 by being on the Billboard charts an unbelievable 307 straight weeks, and they hold the all-time record for a one act, U.S. concert, by performing for 600,000 people on July 4, 1982 in Washington, D.C.
At 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 27, the stage sounds will return to country with the Brothers Osborne. Two sons from a working class family, John and T.J. Osborne form a twang-and-crunch duo that blends equal parts country and rock into one of the freshest, most identifiable sounds to come out of Nashville in recent years. Their debut album Pawn Shop will be released on the fair’s first day and features their current Top 15 single, “Stay A Little Longer,” which has already garnered more than 19 million total streams.
The main stage lineup will conclude with the fair’s second Bike Night at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28, with Starship featuring Mickey Thomas, the venerable San Francisco band behind several of the 20th century’s biggest pop and rock anthems: “We Built This City,” “Sara” and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” The band’s new album, Loveless Fascination, is the group’s first studio record in more than 20 years. The band has one of the most storied histories in rock ’n’ roll. While forming as Jefferson Airplane in the 1960s, the current incarnation of what is now Starship began in 1979 when Thomas joined Paul Kanter to resurrect Jefferson Airplane’s follow-up group, Jefferson Starship.
General seating is free with a fair admission ticket (which is required). Reserved seating is also available for purchase online at www.southfloridafair.com for $10 for all concerts, which is in addition to the fair admission ticket. To save money on admission, patrons can buy advance tickets at any Palm Beach County Publix supermarket, Bud’s Chicken & Seafood, Palm Beach County TD Bank branches and Palm Beach County BB&T Bank branches.
Adult admission, 12 and older, is $10 in advance and $15 at the gate. A child’s admission, under 12, is $5 in advance and $8 at the gate (5 years and younger are free). Those who are 60 years of age and older pay $7 in advance and $9 at the gate.
For more info., call (561) 793-0333 or visit www.southfloridafair.com.
ABOVE: Starship featuring Mickey Thomas will perform Thursday, Jan. 28.
