Free act messiah Rick Springfield descends on Marin!

- Peter Hartlaub
June 21, 2006

Rick Springfield, the royal flush of county fair free acts, is coming to the Bay Area this summer. And in a huge shock to free act prognosticators, he's headed to the Marin County Fair on June 30.

Please, please, pleeeeeeaze, Rick, play something from the "Hard to Hold" soundtrack.

In recent years, the Alameda and San Mateo County fairs have been the free act superpowers of the Bay Area. Last year, Marin mustered little more than Huey Lewis and the News and Starship. Marin scoring Springfield is the county fair free act equivalent of Tunisia winning the World Cup. Last summer's free act champion Alameda is down this year, although Rita Moreno (6/28) and Pat Boone (7/5) are intriguing possibilities. San Mateo held steady, scoring REO Speedwagon (8/17), along with county fair standbys The Charlie Daniels Band (8/13) and The Village People (8/18).

But the Marin fair comes from out of nowhere with easily the best lineup of the summer, which also includes cheapskate dream acts Joan Jett (7/3) and Eddie Money (7/1). (Two free tickets to paradise!)