I heard the News!!!

The OC Fair lasts for most of July and August. It's held in the fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, about half an hour from Laguna Beach. It's a huge affair - reminded me of the Cork Summer Show multiplied by 100 + the merries thrown in (or Funderland for those who don't know what the merries are!!). Of course the Americans do it bigger and better: giant hot dogs, humungous turkey legs, funnel cake ( a 10" plate of deep fried doughnut type stuff with a massive dollop of icecream in the middle, all drizzled with sauce of your choice and topped with cream!!!) Dinner today was turkey leg:

Here are a few more shots of the Fair:

Tribute bands play in the hangar - while people take aerial rides!!

Soon enough it was time to go to the Pacific amphitheatre to hear the highlight of the week - Huey Lewis and the News. I heard the news!!!

Huge open-air theatre, not quite full. But then again, as Huey and the boys have been playing in Los Angeles for 35 years, they reckon most people have already seen them! Great concert!Lots of old favourites like The Heart of Rock n Roll, Respect yourself, I want a new Drug, Hip to be Square, as well as some new tracks for his latest CD - Soulville (the name of the tour).

As is usual in their concerts (half the audience knew what to expect), they did an a capella set - really smooth harmonies. '60 minute man' was the title of the song - funny! It took them ages to come out for an encore!  I was beginning to think they wouldn't, until we spotted the instruments on the stage! So of course they did Power of Love and then If this is it. He commented that they didn't realise when they wrote Power of Love that they would be singing it every night of their lives after that!! Then he said his voice was getting tired (what a voice! That unique timbre is still as clear as ever) so they finished up with a bluesy number 'The rule is cool and bad is bad', giving all the musicians an opportunity to extend the tune and improvise a little.

Plenty of merchandise available: Signed CDs $25, or plain $15. I opted for the T shirt (in B'town colours - that persuaded Aidan that it was worth the price;-)

Here are a couple of photos I was pleased with:

By the way Ciaran - the drummer was excellent!!