The Minnesota State Fair has recruited two familiar voices to round out its 2017 grandstand concert series: Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac has been confirmed for opening weekend, Friday, Aug. 25, while Garrison Keillor will return again without his "A Prairie Home Companion" name brand the following Friday, Sept. 1.
Tickets to Nicks' concert go on sale June 9 at 10 a.m. for $49-$99 via etix.com, (800) 514-3849 or in person at the fairgrounds' box office. While her fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted bandmates Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie are readying their first-ever collaborative album outside of Fleetwood Mac, the shawl-twirling, gold-dust-sprinkling rock legend returned to touring as solo act last year, including a well-received show with the Pretenders at Xcel Center in December. This will probably make it two years in a row that Minnesotans get to hear "Landslide" performed at the grandstand, since the Dixie Chicks also performed the classic song two nights in a row last year.
Tickets to "The Minnesota Show with Garrison Keillor" also go on sale June 9 at noon for $28-$36. Although he officially retired as the host of "Prairie Home Companion" last year, Keillor still sporadically performs. He put on a very "PHC"-like show at the grandstand last summer and drew over 12,000 attendees -- an even bigger crowd than the 11 tapings he did there in prior years with his old radio program.
There's still one more big night open on the grandstand calendar, Saturday, Sept. 2. The rest of the shows announced are: Nickelback with Daughtry (Thursday, Aug. 24), Jim Gaffigan (Saturday, Aug. 26), Toby Keith with 3 Doors Down (Sunday, Aug. 27), Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons (Monday, Aug. 28), John Mellencamp with Carlene Carter (Tuesday, Aug. 29), Pentatonix (Wednesday, Aug. 30), Usher (Thursday, Aug. 31), MSF Amateur Talent Contest Finals (Sunday, Sept. 3) and Sam Hunt (Monday, Sept. 4).
