Shakopee, MN - Media Reviews

Hot bands please thousands at Last Chance Summer Dance By Star Tribune

The clock ticked down to :00 and Chris Burns, in a Randy Moss jersey, and Regan Oslund, in a John Randle jersey, threw their hands in the air to celebrate the Vikings victory over Atlanta. Suddenly, the TV monitor in the Ubetcha Bar and Grill at Canterbury Park in Shakopee where Burns and Oslund had been watching the game Sunday evening changed. "There's Mariah Carey," Burns shouted as he looked at the screen. Yep, Mariah Carey live - just a football field away on the stage out at the racetrack.

KDWB Radio's Last Chance Summer Dance at Canterbury turned into a mixture of music and sports. There were hot hitmakers Christina Aguilera, 98 Degrees, K-Ci & JoJo and Fastball, veteran rockers Def Leppard and, the diva for life, Ms. Mariah, making a video before 27,000 people. And there was pig racing, Splat Ball, the throw-a-mini-football-into-a-hole-in-a-cardboard-goalie contest, a water-bottle fight among concertgoers, a dodge-the-raindrops battle during Fastball (when the concert was stopped for about an hour) and, of course, the Vikings game on TV monitors throughout the grandstand at Canterbury.

Burns, 25, of St. Paul, a Byerly's manager, and Oslund, 20, of Oakdale, a University of St. Thomas student, pulled up a table in front of two TV monitors in the Ubetcha, where hundreds more gathered in front of eight other TVs. Inside the grandstand, countless others watched the game on big-and small-screen TVs. However, onstage where Aguilera, Monica and Shaggy were performing during the game, the score was given only one time. A few vendors, such as the root-beer booth, posted updates.

Celidit Bohmer, 18, a University of Minnesota freshman in a Randy Moss jersey, didn't worry about missing the game because she was taping it on her VCR. Music was the pull on Sunday. "You can't get all these groups at once like this," she said about the 10-act lineup.

Even though Alicia Kiehne, 28, of Minneapolis, was wearing a fading Cris Carter jersey, she didn't care that she was missing the game. "I voted against them in my pool at work," she said as she watched Monica with her binoculars. Anyway, Kiehne bought tickets to Last Chance Summer Dance before she realized it conflicted with the game.

The same thing happened to Burns and Oslund. He wasn't about to miss the game, and she wasn't about to miss Shaggy, the reggae singer. "He was awesome," she said. "Football is football; Shaggy is Shaggy," said her boyfriend, who once sneaked a small TV into the produce freezer to watch a Vikings-Packers game at work. "Shaggy can wait. I can buy a CD."

Wait is what many concertgoers had to do Sunday night. After Fastball had played its first song, the '98 hit "The Way," during swirling rains, the band shut down, and folks hurried into the Canterbury grandstand. Still, it wasn't the weather disaster that befell last year's Last Chance Summer Dance, when scorching conditions resulted in dozens being treated for exhaustion and dehydration. That situation was compounded by the last-minute cancellation of the headliners, popular boy-band Backstreet Boys, the best-selling group of 1998.

"I think the day went superb except for a 10-minute downpour," said KDWB program director Rob Morris. "All the acts showed up. The Vikings won. Overall, it was a great day."

The temperatures didn't reach 98 degrees Sunday, but 98 Degrees, a hot boy-band, showed up to shoot a video with Carey and then sing for a while.

"This one is better than last year; no one is passing out," said Jenni Armour, 14, of Apple Valley. "It's a better lineup," said her friend, Becky Talpas, 14, of Eagan. She thinks 98 Degrees is better than the Backstreet Boys. Why? "They're much more muscular," she said.

Perhaps 5,000 hearty souls stuck around for Def Leppard's abbreviated 45-minute performance (there was a 10 p.m. curfew). "We grew up on them," said Charlene Sheikh, 37, of Fridley, after singing along to "Pour Some Sugar on Me." She'd been at Canterbury since 8 a.m. because her daughter had wanted to see the newer bands that began at noon. '98 Degrees is hot," said Jill Drott, 18, her daughter. "Def Leppard is the greatest," Mom countered.

Musically, Last Chance Summer Dance was impressive. Aguilera, 18, who has had one of the summer's biggest hits with "Genie in a Bottle," showed a sassy, soulful, world-class voice, although it was a bit raw at times. Monica shone on dreamy ballads, although she disappointed by doing a short version of her hit duet with Brandy, "The Boy Is Mine." K-Ci & JoJo, with their sweet soul ballads, sounded better in concert this time around. And how could anyone complain about Carey even if she was lip-synching?

She cancelled last year at KDWB's Star Party, but made good Sunday. She chatted up the fans, telling them how great they were. And, accompanied by R&B singer Joe and 98 Degrees, she mouthed the song "Thank God I Found You" twice for the video cameras. For those screaming fans who might end up on MTV or can say they were there when she made the video, it was as exciting as a Vikings victory.

By Star Tribune 1999.

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