State Fair Music Blog

Here are three years at the fair that will be unforgettable.

2007: Spoon “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga”: My family took the exact wrong shuttle to take if you wanted to avoid cattle vehicles and other shuttles. We sat on the shuttle for about an hour waiting to get into the fair, giving me the opportunity to hear the funky sounds of this album. “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” had its subtle saxophone flourishes entrench themselves in my brain while “Don’t You Evah” evoked the soulful side of Spoon.

2004: Iron & Wine “Our Endless Numbered Days”: This year my family took the U of M shuttle. Sam Beam’s soft voice and lyrics of our bodies’ ashes in “Naked As We Came” provoked existential emotion. “I’m Minnesotan? I’m at the fair, of course.”

200x: The Breeders “Saints”: “I like all the different people / I like sticky everywhere / Look around / You bet I’ll be there.” Kim Deal’s timeless lyrics about fairs are an undeniable ode to the summer classic. It is mandatory listening anytime you get that special carnival polo out.

Summer’s ready when you are.

State Fair and music

The Minnesota State Fair arrives every year, and inevitably there is music in our lives that narrate the coming of the great Minnesota get-together. In one way or another, pop music permeates our everyday lives and contextualizes times in our lives.

The Minnesota State Fair is always a memorable time in my life thanks to the pop music I was listening to at the time. While on State Fair shuttles to the fair, many of us have our ipod on. I decided over the next few weeks on my Minnesota State Fair blog I am going to highlight a few of the years I remember at the fair and the music that comes along with it. Check back next week to see which Minnesota State fair year I chronicle!

Ejection seat addicts

Do you know how the Minnesota State Fair has had the ejection seat ride for a while now? Well, maybe this is the year to ride the ejection seat for the first time. I’ve always been pretty frightened of it, but I wonder what the sensation is like when riding it. I’m also afraid that it might be akin to some addictive drug that you need to experience over and over. That would be bad because riding the ejection seat has to be pretty expensive and time-consuming (with waiting in line and everything). I’m sure all you ejection seat fans are waiting for your chance to hop on at the fair again this year. Only seven and a half months to the Minnesota State Fair.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Minnesota State Fair Fans. Now that it is 2008, we can start saying this years Minnesota State Fair, instead of "next years" fair – get it? This years fair is just eight months away! This years fair!!!!