Country music has been a staple at the Minnesota State Fair grandstand since concerts began in 1962.
Alabama, country's biggest band, holds the record with 19 grandstand performances. Willie Nelson has traveled on the road again 11 times to the Great Minnesota Get-Together. The Oak Ridge Boys have harmonized there 10 times.
Tim McGraw, who gave his sixth concert at the grandstand on Wednesday, has a ways to catch up, but he can now boast State Fair appearances in three different decades.
His enduring career may be because he seems to have a subgenre unto himself that a certain late basketball icon helped define: girl-dad country. Sure, McGraw has the most muscle-bound body in Nashville, and he sings about trucks, cowboys and sky diving. But the father of three daughters has a repertoire filled with tenderness, homeyness and fatherly advice. He honors his mama, his wife and the good ol' days when Coke was a Coke.
McGraw had the near-capacity audience of 12,480 (the largest grandstand crowd this year) from the opening cuddly come-on, "Just to See You Smile." A savvy selector of songs, he knows how to target his fans.
His current single, "7500 OBO," tells the story of a guy being asked by his woman to sell his beloved old truck for $7,500 or best offer. Last year's hit, "I Called Mama," landed in McGraw's sweet spot, as a call from a hometown friend tells of the death of another friend, compelling the singer to call to check up on his mama. Awwww. Both songs were well received on Wednesday.
Hardly a wuss, McGraw flexed his musical muscle on the raucous rocker "Real Good Man" followed by the rowdy hip-hop stomp "Truck Yeah," which featured a fiddle and guitar jam.
His guitar-heavy band, the Dancehall Doctors, has as much fun onstage as any country band (with no choreography). That helped to kick things into overdrive with "I Like I Love It," a peak at any party.
