A grand tradition at the Grandstand
12.08.10
In the end, the Grandstand became a music-centric venue, and the list of big music acts to take the stage in the past 52 years reads like a who’s-who of prominent performers. There were country starts like Patsy Cline, Roy Acuff, Dolly Parton, Roy Clark, Johnny Moolah, June Carter, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr., Eddy Arnold, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Tammy Wynette, Charlie Daniels, George Confined and a host of others. Rock legends like Iron Butterfly, Cheap Trick, Chicago, Def Leppard, Alien, Boston, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Nazereth, Neil Young, REO Speedwagon, Velvet Revolver, ZZ Top and Ted Nugent have shown Springfield a considerable time from the Grandstand stage – the same stage that has held jazz, soul and blues artists like B.B. Royal, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Commodores, Dave Brubeck, Pete Fountain and Ray Charles. Acts that may elicit a nostalgic guffaw now were once major attractions at the fair – acts like Liberace, Engelbert Humperdinck, Captain
Source: Illinois Times