BANDS & ENTERTAINMENT
T rex to prowl
the fairgrounds
B
Photo courtesy of Alex Sebastiani
Tonka the Tyrannosaurus rex stops his prowling for a
photo opportunity with two young fair-goers.
etter hide your sheep and swine:
There’s a dinosaur on the scene.
An eight-foot-high, 16-foot-long
baby Tyrannosaurus rex, that is. The folks
from Prehistoric Adventures will be hauling
one to the fair, to be led on a leash by an Indi-
anna-Jones-like handler. The dinosaur sprays
venom, smacks around his tail and lets out
guttural roars.
“It’s like a paleontologist dug it out of the
ground,” said Alex Sebastiani, owner of Pre-
historic Adventures. But unlike its extinct
ancestors, this dinosaur is available to touch
and doesn’t mind posing for selfies.
“Our dinosaurs all have sunny disposi-
tions,” Sebastiani said. He offered assurance
that they don’t bite, but did warn that they’ve
been known to snap at obnoxious teenagers
now and again.
“They’re not Barney,” Sebastiani said.
“We offer thrills and chills.”
Bands
continued from Page C12
Tracy Lawrence will keep the country
music going, taking it back to a classic sound
influenced by Merle Haggard and George
Strait. The entertainer boasts one of the most
recognizable voices, which has earned him
22 appearances on Billboard’s Top 10 charts.
The Arkansas-bred singer has sold more than
13 million albums in his three-decade career,
producing hits like “Paint Me A Birmingham,”
“Time Marches On,” and “Find Out Who Your
Friends Are.” His Wednesday night perfor-
mance is sure to fill your fix for honky tonk.
With timeless tracks like “Can’t You See”
and “Fire on the Mountain,” The Marshall
Tucker Band offers a singalong-worthy dose
of Southern Rock. The band, still led by found-
ing member Doug Gray, was a 1970s smash,
filling stadiums with as many as 150,000 fans.
Today, The Marshall Tucker Band ranks with
Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers,
jamming classic beats with blues, boogie and
14 | Umatilla County Fair Guide 2017
Photo courtesy of Umatilla County Fair
Country singer Tracy Lawrence will perform at
9 p.m. on Aug. 9.
jazz influences.
Latin music performers will take the stage
Friday for what Wagner predicted to be the
most popular night of the bunch. National-
ly-recognized La Mar-K de Tierra Caliente
will headline for their third appearance at the
fair, playing tracks off their 2017 album “Ex-
traño a Mi Pueblo” plus classic hits like “Ar-
He said children up to the age of 10 will
be left “without a shadow of a doubt that it’s
a real dinosaur.” Even adults — grown men
— are left trying to figure out the Jurassic
feat.
While Sebastiani can’t give away all the
details, he said the inner organs of these par-
ticular dinosaurs “look a lot like an airplane
cockpit.”
Currently in his sixth year of business,
Sebastiani spends eight months of every
year taking the dinosaurs to fairs and events
across the country. There’s six dinosaurs and
six dragons in his zoo.
Sebastiani designed the whole concept
of bringing dinosaurs alive from scratch. It’s
something he’d never seen done before, an
idea his boyhood self would have loved. He’s
looking forward to bringing the dinosaurs to
Umatilla County.
“We always get big smiles,” he said.
rancame La Piel,” “Escondete Dolor” and
“Cada Vez Mas Fuerte.” The night’s addi-
tional performers include Canarios de Micho-
acan and Domador de la Sierra. Wagner said
last year’s Latino Night attracted an audience
of more than 3,500. He expects this one to be
equally successful.
The rock group Great White will close out
the series with hard-hitting orchestrations.
Best known for their cover of Mott the Hoo-
ple’s “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” Great White
holds six Top 100 Billboard hits, two platinum
albums and over 10 million albums sold world-
wide. With lead singer Terry Ilous of XYZ tak-
ing the place of former frontman Jack Russell,
the band continues a legacy of 1980s rock,
a style that borders on both blues and metal,
sometimes in the same track. Their 13th studio
album “Full Circle” was released June 2.
All performances begin at 9 p.m.. Gener-
al admission seating is included in fair admis-
sion. Reserved seats, which are located closer
to the stage, are available for $12. Tickets can
be purchased online at www.co.umatilla.or.us/
fair or by phone at 541-567-6121.