Big & Rich play it loud and proud at New York State Fair Grandstand

Posted by Mark Bialczak/The Post-Standard September 04, 2009 11:29PM

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Opener Candy Coburn had a whole section of loyal fans in the grandstand, and she made sure to let everybody know who they were and why there were there.

Coburn's song "Pink Warrior" has been adopted as the official tune for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure, and the special of breast cancer survivors, family and friends was named after the song for this night.

It was soaring song about women who fight the disease every day. And it wasn't just the folks in the "Pink Warrior" section who cheered Coburn for it.

Singing passionately and playing guitar, Coburn showed why she's the only woman currently sponsored by Budweiser.

She gives every song her all, and Coburn and her four-piece band delivered a fine country-rock sound on her original songs, especially "My Lucky Life" and "Big Dream in a Little Town," from her CD "Rev It Up."

Coburn knew how to pick the right cover songs to pump up the crowd, too.

She turned in a tough and bluesy take on Janis Joplin's version of "Bobbie McGee."

And her finishing one-two-three punch of "Black Betty," "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Rock and Roll" packed the right wallop.

Mark Bialczak can be reached at 470-2175 or mbialczak@syracuse.com. His Listen Up blog is at http://blog.syracuse.com/listenup/.

The details
What: Big & Rich in concert, with Cowboy Troy. Candy Coburn opens.
When: Friday.
Where: State fair's Mohegan Sun Grandstand.
Crowd: 4,000 (estimated by fair PR director Frederic Pierce).
Time of performances: Candy Coburn 45 minutes; Big & Rich more than 1 hour, 45 minutes.