Fire and ice. Sweet and savory. Willie Nelson and Joan Jett?Â
There's nothing wrong with a little bit of balance, and that's what fans in the Quad-Cities got at the Mississippi Valley Fair in 1983.Â
That summer's concert series spread over multiple weekends, with the first offering quite the juxtaposition. The reviews that came in were mixed, too, but it still offered the closest thing local rock fans got to the outdoor rock festivals of the late-1970s.Â
Fans that really love rock and roll were especially pleased with the first night: Loverboy, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and Quiet Riot.Â
The trio of rock bands appeared at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds on August 5, 1983. The order of performance may seem surprising in hindsight — Canadian rock band Loverboy was the headliner, despite them managing to put out just two RIAA-certified records in the years after the show.Â
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But the Quad-City Times reported that fans in the crowd were there, more than anything, to see Loverboy.
'They came to see Loverboy'
When you consider the hot streak they were on, it makes sense. Loverboy were certified stars at the time. Their now-signature single "Working For The Weekend" was in Top 40 rotation for much of 1982, and they had just released their third consecutive Billboard Top 10 album.
"Rock crowd makes it clear: They came to see Loverboy," read the headline of the review published in the Quad-City Times the next day.Â
There were 13,000 fans in attendance, but the show hit a pause before Loverboy went on, in order to prevent a mass push against the stage.
Though it's worth noting that Jett & The Blackhearts and Quiet Riot rocked, too, according to a review in the Times.Â
"Quiet Riot lead singer Kevin DuBrow's gnome-like face scrunched into a demonic grin as he told the audience, 'If you want metal, then it's metal health you get,'" it read.Â
While Loverboy was the band many of the 13,000 fans came to see, nobody could deny that Joan Jett & The Blackhearts had the biggest hit: "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," a cover that spent seven weeks in 1982 at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.Â
Jett also had "Cherry Bomb" under her belt, a song she wrote with her prior band The Runaways. Both songs were certified rock anthems, and significant ones at that.
To this point, mainstream rock music had been almost entirely monopolized by men, a trend that was even more evident in The Blackhearts' native genre of heavy metal.Â
As heavier rock became more and more prevalent in the '80s, expanding the repertoire of major rock bands fronted by women became more crucial. And Jett helped pave the way. Into the early '90s, she worked with bands from the Riot Grrrl punk movement like Bikini Kill.
By the late 1990's, solo female acts Alanis Morrisette and Sheryl Crow each won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album. Crow won again in 1999. And then just this year, Paramore became the first female-fronted band to win the award.Â
Fan complaints, but not for the rock concert
Despite the noise, The Times reported that there were very few complaints called into the sheriff's office. The calls that did come were related to profanity. But mostly, neighbors of the fairgrounds tolerated the havoc.Â
"Even though it's not my kind of music, I don't mind," one woman told the Times from her porch. "I'm more country and western, but the kids are having fun and it's not hurting anybody."
Believe it or not, it wasn't until the actual country and western show that complaints started pouring in.
Two nights later at the fairgrounds, on August 7, 1983, the headlining act for the concert series was Willie Nelson.
At the time, Nelson was a year removed from Top 5 hit "Always On My Mind." He was certainly one of the biggest country stars in the world, and probably one of the most famous rockstars, period.
"Willie Nelson played at the White House. He was interviewed by Barbara Walters. Why would he come to Davenport?" wrote Times reporter Jim Renkes in a preview of the show in May 1983.Â
The answer? A $50,000 guarantee that Nelson demanded for his appearance, according to what fair organizers told the Times in 2021.
At the time, it made him the highest paid performer to ever play in the Quad-Cities. Today, that price tag adjusted for inflation would be over $150,000.Â
Tickets sold for $2, but re-sale listings littered the newspaper classifieds in the weeks before the show. It was bound to be a local music event for the ages. But still, many attendees who wrote into the Quad-City Times were incredibly disappointed at how it actually went.
More specifically, they were upset with the other Nelson fans.Â
"One fellow was so stoned that all night long, all he did was kick the dust at his feet," wrote one letter-writer from Clinton.
This reader went on to tell a story about an attendee who dumped beer on another fan, who in return swung at him him with a folding chair. She punctuated the letter: "You Quad-Citians are just a bunch of animals."Â
Other readers griped about the re-sale prices going over $160, or other fans standing up and blocking their view or at Nelson not sticking around to sign autographs.Â
"To the beer-drinking, rude slobs at the Mississippi Valley Fair: Next time, stay home," wrote a letter-writer who submitted under the name Also A Beer Drinker.Â
Many swore to not see the final act of the fair concert series — The Beach Boys — out of spite.Â
Still, The Beach Boys packed the fairgrounds on August 19, 1983, drawing 14,000 fans. The group played almost all of their hits to a crowd of agreeable music-lovers in floral tees and leis, according to the Times review written by John Willard.Â
But this big concert series, among others in the mid part of the decade, put the fair in a debt that accumulated to $350,000 by 1989, the fair told the Times in 2021.
Eventually, under new leadership, the fair got back above water, and has helped to bring in some of Quad-Cities' biggest talents in the 21st century: Brooks & Dunn, Darius Rucker, Ludacris and more have all taken the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds stage.Â
This story is part of a series called "Timeless Tickets," where we're aiming to find the most notable concert in the Quad-Cities, every year from 1960 to today. Do you have a story or photo to share from an iconic local show? Send it to entertainment reporter Gannon Hanevold at ghanevold@qctimes.com.Â
To read more "Timeless Tickets" stories, click here.Â