Diamond Rio shines at fair

Crowds came from all over but they met in the middle Thursday night at Warren County A&L Fair’s Clifford McClain Grandstands to see country music supergroup Diamond Rio. Drawing what several fair organizers called the biggest crowd they could remember, the show was an overwhelming success.

Fair attendees began marking out their spots with blankets and stadium seats early Thursday morning. As showtime approached traffic was reportedly backed up on Smithville Highway to Applebees‘s near the intersection with Bobby Ray Memorial Parkway.

Local group The TC Bryant Band went on at 5:30 p.m. in front of a growing crowd and set the mood, performing a variety of hits as anticipation grew for the main event at 7:30 p.m. By showtime, the grandstands were packed and a standing-room-only crowd filled the areas between the grandstands and the arena on both sides of the stage as Grand Ole Opry members Diamond Rio performed their hits including “Unbelievable,” “Meet in the Middle,” “Norma Jean Riley,” “Mirror, Mirror,” “One More Day,” “Beautiful Mess,” “I Believe” and many more.

“We’re extremely proud of our community for coming out and being part of the event,” Warren County Fair Board entertainment director Steven Helton told the Main Street Journal following the show. “You can bring in any band but the community has to show up and they absolutely did that. It’s the first time I can remember getting phone calls saying there are miles of traffic trying to get into the fair. The fair volunteers that help organize it are just an amazing group of people and put in hours and hours of sweat equity to make this happen. The community came together and we shined tonight. It makes me proud to be in Warren County.”