Tribute band rocks the house in first live band appearance at fair since 2019

The question of whether a tribute act could attract a large grandstand audience at the Lorain County Fair was answered pretty definitively Monday night in Wellington. Due to the fact the music industry is slowly reopening during the pandemic, many national acts are taking the year off. That's why fair organizers decided to book popular act E5C4P3 — The Journey for a headlining gig. "It's a tricky thing to do," said Lorain County Fair Board member Joe Buchs, who also is the entertainment co-chair. "When we book these acts it's so far in advance. Budget-wise, we look at who draws. We previously had E5C4P3 at the back stage. I had people comment we should have them at the grandstand." While the local group with a regional presence has drawn Rockin' in the River crowds in the 9,000-person range, last night the grandstand was nearly filled, while just over a dozen adventurous folks started out in the expansive general admission racetrack. The entire venue holds roughly 3,500 people. Included in the pit area was Wellington resident Ashley Trager and her two daughters, Laci, 10, and Trinity, 5. "I'm here because of E5C4P3," said Trager, who saw Journey in the 2000s at Blossom Music Center. "The lead singer is awesome. We love watching him perform. I'm also here to bring my girls. They adore Journey. We listen to them all of the time. "I had to send a Snapchat out of them today before we came to the Journey concert. They've been bugging me all day about the concert." For Trager's mother-in-law, a Wellington native who saw the Steve Perry-led Journey in the 1980s, Judy Brenner was just happy to be back working as a Lorain County Fair ticket taker. "I love it," said Brenner, who has been working the Wellington grandstand for more than a quarter of a century. "I'm happy to be here. It's great to see the crowds again." The multigenerational audience that came out to enjoy live music on a hot and humid summer night greeted the band — Jason Kelty (vocals), Steve Raz (guitar, vocals), Erney Chaney (keyboards), Paul Soos (bass guitar, vocals) and Michael Scott Nelson (drums, vocals) — with open arms. While the band's early set included lesser-known radio hits and deeper cuts, eventually E5C4P3 started rolling out the group's platinum catalog such as "Lights" and "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'." The latter found the singer asking for the crowd to sing the "Nah-nah-nah" part. The results were mixed but Kelty thankfully helped them out. After a brief intermission, the outfit played "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)," "Faithfully" and "Open Arms." Not only does Kelty dress the part of former Journey singer Perry, but vocally he'd give current spot-on Perry sound-alike and Journey frontman Arnel Pineda a run for his money. Also, kudos to the group, which had to awkwardly perform roughly 30 yards from the audience. By the time E5C4P3 played "Don't Stop Believin'," the crowd — albeit a distance away — was all theirs. Overall, the concertgoers seemed pretty happy with the group's roughly two-hour set. As for the 2022 Lorain County Fair lineup, Buchs is optimistic. He's basically telling audiences to "Don't Stop Believin'." "I guess we're kind of hoping things go back to normal next year," Buchs said. "We're taking it as it comes this year to see how it shakes out. We've got a decent reputation and had good names over the years. I think at some point we want to continue that but the industry changes a lot, too." Looking ahead, local country act Post Road is set to perform a grandstand show tonight after the rodeo at the fair. Read our 2021 Lorain County Fair tab for more highlights Contact John Benson at ndiffrence@att.net.