Atkins to play at Lake Co. fairgrounds

When the stage lights go on Saturday and Rodney Atkins cranks out one of his Country music chart-topping songs, it will mark a new era for the Lake County Fairgrounds' Expo Center.

Atkins - with four No. 1 songs off his 2006 platinum-selling album to his credit - is the first national touring act to take center stage inside the Grayslake facility since it opened a year ago, and officials say he won't be the last.

"We are still working on acts for next year, but we have another national act scheduled to come December," said Lake County Fair Board Member Kelli Kepler-Yarc. "We are hoping to book another larger act in January and February. Hopefully, people will start to realize that we are capable of holding these larger acts inside."

The 67,000-square-foot arena is perfect for larger acts looking to play a mid-sized arena, she said, and added the acoustics in the building lends itself to touring bands.

Currently, the Expo Center at the Lake County Fairgrounds, 1060 E. Peterson Road, has a seating capacity of only 3,500 people, but that number could change as its proven the center can attract a larger crowd, Kepler-Yarc said.

Ticket sales for this weekend have been brisk, she said, but added it's unclear at this point exactly how many have been sold. Atkins, a native of Tennessee, has a song list that includes hits "Watching You," and "These Are My People."

"Our goal is to host something for everyone at least once a month," she said. "Bringing in Rodney Atkins is, hopefully, just the start."

The names get bigger in December, Kepler-Yarc said, when Country superstars Ronnie Milsap and Lorrie Morgan take the Expo Center stage for a Christmas concert.

There has been one glitch in the schedule as the planned November concert, entitled the "New Faces of Country", was canceled because two of the four acts involved had to drop out.

People who have already purchased tickets for that show are entitled to a refund, or can attend the Rodney Atkins Show, or the Christmas Concert, officials said.

"This is one of the things we wanted to start doing when we built the Expo Center - bring in larger acts that people could see without heading to Chicago," Kepler-Yarc said. "And we hope people start to look to us in the future for the larger concerts."

Th new fairgrounds moved across town to Petersen Road and opened to the public in October 2008. It hosted its first county fair in July after spending more than 50 years at routes 120 and 45.

Aside from national acts, there will be arts and crafts shows, flea markets, swap meets and other events the fair has hosted in the past. For a further schedule, check out the fair events at lcfair.com.