I really enjoyed the 2014 season of American Idol. The judges really seemed to like each other and they were hilarious together. The top 12 finalists were fantastic. My favorites were Caleb, Jena, Malaya, Jessica. I actually liked them all. Unfortunately,the tour wasn't making a stop in St Louis so we thought about going to Kansas City. Well, the concert was the day before we were planning to leave on vacation so KC was out. The other logical choice was Springfield Illinois on August 8. That was the perfect choice for several reasons; it was a Friday but there was no Muny performance that day, we were still on vacation but would be back in St. Louis, Springfield is only 2 hours away and oh, there is a microbrewery in Springfield that was calling our name...hee hee hee.
We left home around 1:30pm and arrived at Engrained Brewing at around 3:30pm. The food was good although I ordered a pepperoni and green OLIVE pizza and they put green PEPPERS on it instead. Normally, I would have said something but the pizza took about 20 minutes to arrive the first time and I didn't want to wait for a new one so I ate it and it was good. The beer was good too. I had the red ale and an IPA and Bill had an IPA and an oatmeal stout. We will definitely be paying another visit maybe in the spring when we can also go to the Lincoln Library.
So, the concert was at the Illinois State Fair. The last time I was at a state fair was back in 1984 and that was the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia. Bill and I went to hear President Reagan speak but I digress. OK, so we found the fairgrounds easily (gotta love gps). We parked and made sure to note exactly where our car was and then walked around the fairgrounds. I had to have a funnel cake. I mean seriously, you can't go to a state fair and not have a funnel cake...hee hee hee.
No, I did not eat the entire thing. Bill and I split it. It was soooo tasty! We then continued walking around the fairgrounds. Oh my goodness, how cute are these babies...
One of the building next to the grandstand has spaces where vendors sell various items and throught the building there are displays of memorabilia from past fairs. I smiled when I saw this...
Um, they incorrectly spelled Tennille. Maybe I should let them know. Ha. I would have thought that someone would have noticed the error since I also saw this...
They spelled it correctly here! Yeah, I'm definitely going to let them know. Anyway, we then headed to the Grandstand where the concert was to be held. The weather had been overcast most of the afternoon and by now, it was actually getting chilly and it was drizzling. Our seats weren't covered so we moved back to seats that were. One of the ladies I work with is an Idol fan and so is her son. They were at the concert and the ended up moving also and sat in the row right in front of us.
The concert started at 8:00pm. Here's the setlist (copied from Wikipedia):
Intermission
I was sooooo glad that Jena sang Can't Help Falling in Love as she had on the show. What a great performance! I'm also glad that Alex sang his song "Fairytale" because even though he wasn't one of my favorites, I love the song. As for Caleb Johnson, wow! I love rock and he's definitely a rocker. His CD will be available on Tuesday and I will definitely add it to my collection.
The concert ended at about 10:20 and we were in the car and on the road by 10:45pm. We pulled into the driveway at 12:45am which was earlier than I had anticipated. I figured that we wouldn't get home until 2:00am or so but there wasn't any concert traffic leaving the fair. I think they all stuck around to eat more funnel cakes...hee hee hee.
Until next time...
