Collective Soul will shine at Deschutes County Fair

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 25, 2019

Collective Soul will let its light shine down on the 100th edition of the Deschutes County Fair on Wednesday. The post-grunge five-piece will kick off the fair’s free concert series at the First Interstate Bank Center on opening day with hard-rocking hits such as “Shine,” “Gel,” “Breathe” and “Heavy,” as well as a dose of its latest record, this year’s “Blood.” Since releasing its debut album, the re-purposed, basement-recorded demo “Hints, Allegations & Things Left Unsaid,” in 1993, leader Ed Roland and company have churned out guitar-heavy albums with little regard for prevailing music trends. “Blood” continues this staunch progression — no tricks, but plenty of treats in the form of classic, meat-and-potatoes rock ’n’ roll.

Collective Soul checks the requisite “rock” box for the fair’s concert offerings. The rest of this year’s shows fall in the country or country-rock realm; check out the full lineup below.

Wednesday — Collective Soul

Aug. 1 — Old Dominion

Aug. 2 — Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Aug. 3 — Michael Ray

Concert passes will be available at Point S Tire locations in Bend, Redmond, La Pine, Madras and Prineville from open to close every day through Wednesday, according to a news release.

Collective Soul: 7 p.m. Wednesday, doors open at 5:30 p.m.; free with concert pass and fair admission ($22 for full fair, $12 for day pass; $13/$7 for kids ages 6 to 12 and senior citizens ages 62 and older; free for kids younger than 5); Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, 3800 SW Airport Way, Redmond; expo.deschutes.org or 541-548-2711.