Photo by Stacy Schwartz

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Kiss, Motley Crue lead Minnesota State Fair 2012 offerings
Dawes at First Avenue, 11/4/11

Although the Minnesota State Fair has done a fairly good job of packing in some variety for its Grandstand shows, the free entertainment this year should pull a hefty crowd this late August/early September.

Dawes, the best local band not from Minnesota, is indeed lined up for not one, but two performances. Actually, in this case, the smooth folk-rockers love playing here so much that they probably requested these performances themselves. This is only the tip of the deep-fried Oreo of a lineup for this year's festivities, however. Check out the lineup and schedules below.
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Photo by Erik Hess

Kiss' Paul Stanley at the 2010 State Fair.

​The 2012 running of the great Minnesota get-together is starting to pile up a load of concert offerings for this August. Tops among the Grandstand Concert Series shows is the Minneapolis St. Paul stop on the Kiss-Mötley Crüe joint tour, which will be the first series of dates these two monsters of rock have shared since, oh, 1982. Kiss, the band that hosted one of the most miraculous cruises ever to hit the high seas, performed at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010.

Updated: Wiz Khalifa and Journey shows have been added to the list. The salient details are included below.

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Phil in the video for "Rocket"

​As if the State Fair wasn't already crawling with interesting creatures from all corners of the state, today's sure to provide even better people watching as Def Leppard take the stage at the Grandstand (with rock-n-roll sisters, Heart). Time to bring out your tightest pants, Aquanet hairspray and ratty rock tees!

We caught up with longtime lead guitarist Phil Collen recently and talked to him about the hair metal era, who rocked, who were posers, and how he came out of it a happy, healthy Californian.

Here's our extended interview (a shortened version ran in print this week).
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​Know what'd be really convenient? Like really, really convenient? If everything in our lives was completely automated and available from one giant place. Need your oil changed? Walmart! Need Fig Newtons? Walmart! Need Lady Gaga tickets? Walma-- wait, what?More >>

Photo by Nikki Miller

​Time to enter into the musty depths of your closet and find that old acid-washed jean jacket and tattered rock tee (or just head to Hot Topic, I guess) -- you're going to have the perfect place to wear that stuff this summer. As if the State Fair weren't already the ideal spot for it, Heart and Def Leppard are convening badass buttrock forces to play the State Fair ampitheater on Friday, August 26, according to Leppard's publicist. 

Armageddon, indeed.

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While the rest of the nation spent the waning days of summer fretting about expensive gas, struggling to pay their mortgage, and obsessing about which guy is going to lead the country for the next four years, the people of Minnesota were focused on cattle judging, corn dogs, and Cee-Lo. Attendance at this year's great Minnesota get-together was 1,693,533. That topped last year's crowds by more than 11,000 revelers. Almost 85,000 people took in live music at the grandstand. But what's even more impressive is this photo of a vicious giant gopher attack. The victim, 3, walked away with only minor injuries.

With the cost of getting through the gates, two or three food items on a stick, a couple of rollercoaster rides, and a prance through the house of mirrors, going to the Great Minnesota Get-Together can get awfully expensive. Especially if you have kids or a date to drag along. Never fear. With these cash-saving tricks, the Fair won't suck all your cash.

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