What the New York State Fair Grandstand Acts Really Want Before Their Shows

I was going through the highlights from 2013 when I found this post from Polly she wrote during the State Fair season.  It got me to thinking, what would I want in my dressing room if I was "big time."  What would your "must have" be?  Click to see what the stars asked for and tell us yours at the bottom.  Did you ever wonder how much it costs to bring in a country act to the New York State Fair, or what the artists ask for in their dressing room? The answers may surprise you.

Syracuse.com published the price tag for each concert as well as a look inside the artist contracts.  There were no demands for only green M&M's, but there were some unique requests.

Luke Bryan was the biggest country show this summer, in terms of the crowd and the price. 17,000 fans saw the $470,000 show.  Not a bad paycheck for a few hours on stage.  You'd think Luke could afford to buy his own crunchy peanut butter, Lay's potato chips and Nacho cheese Doritos; the items he requested on his artist rider.  He also asked for Red Solo Cups.

Toby Keith, on the other hand, did NOT ask for any Red Solo cups.  He probably brought his own.  Toby's show cost a little less than Luke's at $450,000 and saw 10,000 fans in the crowd.

Florida Georgia Line, who put on a free show in Chevy Court to about 30,000 fans, cost the fair $55,000. A bargain compared to Keith and Bryan.

The unusual artist requests didn't come from the country stars, but the rock bands.  The Fall Out Boys asked for Transformer action figures and a local soccer jersey.  Both items were crossed off the contract.  They also asked for runners who will "without a doubt be transporting artists to various personal destinations... The excuse 'we cannot transport artists' is not acceptable.'

Lynyrd Skynyrd wanted for homemade chicken soup in a crockpot.  I wonder who was in charge of making it and if it was any good. Although there wasn't a green M&M request, they did want 4 packs of green Wrigley's Eclipse gum.

We've seen our own unusual requests during our 25 years at FrogFest.  Trailer Choir always included Crown Royal in their contract, along with bread and lunch meats.  Josh Turner asked for a weird health shake I never was able to find.

Source: Syracuse.com