Costa Mesa : Fair Seeks to Block Amphitheater Concert

To prevent a massive traffic jam like one that developed last year, the Orange County Fair Board requested Thursday that the state attorney general’s office sue the operators of the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa to block a pop concert during the annual 10-day county fair.

The amphitheater, on the fairgrounds but operated under a 40-year lease by New York-based Nederlander West, has booked Al Jarreau and Chaka Khan for Saturday, July 11--a day the fair expects to draw 55,000 people, including about 5,000 for a concert by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap in the fairgrounds’ own open-air Arlington Theater.

Last summer, the Pacific Amphitheatre booked the Beach Boys on the same night that Jan and Dean appeared at the Arlington.

“It was incredible,” said fair spokeswoman Jill Lloyd. “Traffic was backed up for miles on the 55 (Costa Mesa Freeway). We had gridlock for hours.”

The fair board--which is already suing Nederlander West for causing excessive noise, selling alcoholic beverages to minors during concerts and not properly maintaining the amphitheater--maintains that the lease agreement precludes the entertainment company from holding concerts during the summer fair.

Laura Gold, a spokeswoman for Nederlander West’s Los Angeles office, confirmed the Al Jarreau/Chaka Khan booking but said she was not aware that it coincided with the fair.