Fans upset about Tracy Byrd concellation

CASEY RESSLER

Frontiersman Valley Life Editor

As Lynette Howell made her way to the ticket-taker at the Borealis Theatre Tuesday night, she was excited to see one of country music's superstars, Tracy Byrd.

Instead, she was met with disappointment - Byrd canceled one day before, but like many concertgoers, Howell had no idea.

"No, I didn't hear about it," she said Wednesday morning. "Our whole group was looking forward to it for weeks. It figures. It's really disappointing."

She said the thought of seeing Billy Dean, the last-minute fill-in for Byrd, didn't exactly get her blood pumping the way seeing Tracy Byrd did, so she opted for a refund rather than see the concert.

"Billy Dean, or Tracy Byrd?" she said. "That's an easy question. I didn't want to see Billy Dean, I wanted to see Tracy Byrd."

Longtime fairgoers remember another incident in which a music superstar booked the fair and then canceled.

"I remember when the buzz was about Jewel coming back to Alaska to play at the state fair," said Megan Atwood, who also had Tracy Byrd tickets.

"She didn't cancel one day before she was supposed to play, but it still [ticked] off a lot of people, just like this did."

On Monday, a day before the scheduled concert, the Alaska State Fair scrambled to get Dean to Alaska, put a refund policy in place and try to soothe angry Tracy Byrd fans. Atwood said she understands that it's not the fair's fault.

"They can't control it, and they are the people who have to deal with it, not Tracy Byrd," Atwood said. "At least they tried to get a good country singer up here."