Iggy Azalea headlines state fair’s final four

PALMER — On Wednesday, the Alaska State Fair announced its list of the four final acts it has booked, and headlining the final four is Australian pop sensation Iggy Azalea.

Azalea will take the stage on Aug. 27 at the Conoco Phillips Borealis Theater at the state fairgrounds in Palmer.

Everyone’s favorite Australian girl-rapper headlines the last four-pack of performers coming to this year’s Alaska State Fair, along with DNCE, which features former Jonas Brother Joe Jonas and has on its hit list, such jams as ‘Cake by the Ocean’ and ‘Toothbrush’, up-and-coming country star Aaron Watson and Beatles tribute band The Fab Four.

The fair’s marketing director, Dean Phipps, said its never an easy task locking down big-time talent each year.

“We make 12 to 15 offers for every act we book and a lot of variables enter into it,” Phipps said. “For example, are they on tour? Do they play fairs? Does the routing work? Are they touring on the east coast or Europe? And then there’s the cost.”

Phipps said some acts want as much as $1 million to show up, far more than the fair can recoup from the capacity at the Borealis Theater.

The other consideration for Phipps and his team is the family friendliness of the lyrics, which can be heard pumping from the theater, especially now that the arena has a new speaker system.

“In the rap world, some of the more well know acts, like Macklemore — people like that — either they’re not available, or don’t want to come to Alaska or don’t do fairs,” Phipps said. “And some rappers, the language is more offensive than the typical fairgoer would like, so do they offer a G-rated, relatively, show?... Iggy is willing to have a G-rated show. I would say she’s pretty hard to classify. She’s definitely a rapper, but more hip hop in some areas going into pop, a broader audience with the direction she’s going.”

Azalea is coming to Alaska on top of her game, with her new album Digital Distortion coming out on June 30 and Phipps is curious to see if her performance will draw as well in early ticket sales as country headliner Josh Turner and ventriloquist Terry Fator, who first came to the Alaska Fair in 2008, right before he hit it big in Vegas.

In Azalea, the fair is able to check off two boxes not represented particularly well so far on the 2017 docket.

“We take everything into consideration, and we were asked, ‘why don’t you have any women performers?’ So we looked at all kinds of different possibilities and we knew we had Lecrae, who’s a rapper and pretty well respected, but Lecre is a little bit different, more of a faith-based rapper,” Phipps said. “We done really well in the past with G-Easy and some others, so when (Azalea) became available, she was a woman, she was a rapper and she was coming out with some new things.”

Phipps said the ‘get’ highest on his bucket list would be Willie Nelson. But that’s not likely to happen.

“We’ve tried several times to get Willie Nelson, but he doesn’t like to fly, so the price is really high because of that,” Phipps said. “Disturbed was on our list (this year).”

Phipps said all year round the Fair asks for input on its Facebook, the booking endeavor is year-round, and the secretive June 1 reveal is not by design.

“We start off and we’re ready to book ‘em all… But at some point you get a critical mass. We didn’t wait forever. We had four slots to fill, and I think, going in we hoped we’d be able to book those within 45 days,” Phipps said. “I always tell my manager Jerome, ‘don’t panic; don’t take your cousin to the prom. There’s a concert out there that’s right for us.’ But it does get to be a little pressure on you.”

The final four:

Iggy Azalea

Sunday, August 27

6pm

Borealis Theatre on the Alaska State Fairgrounds

Lawn Area $40

Reserved Area $55

Fair admission additional. Convenience fees apply. Please note there is no seating at this concert.

Iggy Azalea would be the first to admit that she's something of an outsider in the world of rap. As a white girl from rural Australia, raised in a small New South Wales town, she's nonetheless risen to the status of one of the most promising new MCs.

Ignorant Art, the mixtape that first garnered Iggy her mainstream attention, was followed by collaborations with everyone from Southern rappers to EDM artists, as well as the catchy single, “Murda Bizness,” and her follow-up mixtape, TrapGold.

Gravitating toward Southern rap, Iggy has perfected a distinct, uptempo-friendly clipped style of her own. She’s currently working on her debut album proper, which she's writing while currently holed up in – of all places – the Welsh countryside.

The Fab Four – The Ultimate Tribute

Monday, August 28

7pm

Borealis Theatre on the Alaska State Fairgrounds

Lawn Area $25

Reserved Seating $35

Fair admission additional. Convenience fees apply.

Credited as the best Beatles tribute ever, the Emmy Award-winning Fab Four is elevated far above every other Beatles tribute due to their precise attention to detail.

With uncanny, note-for-note live renditions of the Beatles' classics such as "Can't Buy Me Love," "Yesterday," "A Day In The Life," "Twist And Shout," "Here Comes The Sun" and "Hey Jude," the Fab Four will make you think you are watching the real thing.

Their incredible stage performances include three costume changes representing each era of the Beatles’ ever-changing career.

This loving tribute to the Beatles has amazed audiences in countries around the world, including Japan, Australia, France, Hong Kong, the U.K., Germany, Mexico and Brazil.

Aaron Watson

Tuesday, August 29

7pm

Borealis Theatre on the Alaska State Fairgrounds

Lawn Area $25

Reserved Area $30

Fair admission additional. Convenience fees apply. Please note there is no seating at this concert.

With a 17-year career that spans a dozen albums and more than 2,500 shows throughout the U.S. and Europe, Aaron Watson is considered one of today’s finest torch-bearers of real country music.

Considering himself an “anti-rock star,” the singer-songwriter’s music is delivered with a warm smile and fueled by a wild spirit.

His 2015 album, The Underdog, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart, marking the first time an independent, male country artist had ever outsold majors to premiere at the top spot.

His most recent release, Vaquero, is an ambitious, 16-song set of “character-driven storytelling, level-headed cultural commentary, and love songs for grownups.”

DNCE

Monday, September 4

3pm

Borealis Theatre on the Alaska State Fairgrounds

Lawn Area $45

Reserved Area $60

Fair admission additional. Convenience fees apply. Please note there is no seating at this concert.

Formed in the summer of 2015, DNCE first introduced themselves to audiences worldwide with the release of "Cake By The Ocean," their three-time certified platinum-selling breakout smash.

Included on the group’s 2016 self-titled debut album, “Cake By The Ocean” entered the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and became a hit at Top 40 radio, where it was one of the most-played songs of the year.

Following up “Cake By The Ocean,” the sexy, gold-selling “Toothbrush” amassed over 68 million YouTube/VEVO views and received widespread critical praise from the likes of Entertainment Weekly, People and Rolling Stone.

Their next single, “Body Moves,” starring model Charlotte McKinney, earned 25 million views. Most recently, the band released the single “Kissing Strangers,” featuring global superstar Nicki Minaj.

Cementing them as one of 2016’s breakout acts, the band took home the win for Best PUSH Artist at the 2016 MTV European Music Awards and Best New Artist at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards.

DNCE is frontman Joe Jonas, bassist and keyboardist Cole Whittle, guitarist JinJoo, and drummer Jack Lawless.