GOSHEN —
It took a little bit of luck and a willingness to put up with some rain for Elizabeth Barker to snag front row tickets to Lonestar Wednesday at the fair.
The Goshen-area native, now living in Camp Pendleton, Calif., walked into the fairgrounds just as a severe storm rolled through Wednesday afternoon and was ushered by fair staff into a bathroom to wait it out.
"So we hid in the bathroom for about 30 minutes," Barker said. She then went to the ticket office and managed to grab front-row seats for the show.
"Yeah, I got really lucky," she said.
Her good luck meant that Barker also had front row seats for a downpour that started a few minutes before Lonestar took the stage. The fast, heavy drops sent concertgoers from the track and wings of the grandstand seeking shelter.
Trace Hansen of Warsaw hid on a handicapped ramp, hoping the rain would let up so he could get back to his seat on the track.
"We like Lonestar and wanted to have a good time," Hansen said.
Bristol resident Marilyn Chason was safe inside a commercial building when the severe weather moved through, and was dry in her front row seat in the center of the grandstands.
Lonestar was Chason’s fourth concert at this year’s fair; she saw the Guess Who, Lady Antebellum, and Huey Lewis and the News. She said she usually tries to hit as many concerts as she can at the fair.
"They always get really good music," she said.
Lonestar was the first concert that mother and daughter Tina and Brittany Stump, of Goshen, were able to see from start to finish together.
Brittany was busy with 4-H and only caught the last few songs of Huey Lewis and the News after the dairy feeder show Tuesday. Mom Tina was able to see Lady Antebellum Monday.
"We like country music and Lonestar is a good group," Tina said.
The concert was peppered with on and off rain early, which meant umbrellas and ponchos were popular items. Lonestar’s lead singer urged the crowd to do an "anti-rain dance," but as soon as it seemed to work, the skies opened up again.
"Thanks for sticking with us through the rain," vocalist Cody Collins said to a cheering crowd.
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