Del Mar Fair Banks on Reputation to Draw Headliners

Mel Simas has been booking the Del Mar Fair’s annual concert series for six years, and as he continues his quest to bring bigger acts to the 15,000-seat grandstand, his job has become increasingly difficult.

“I think as you get into the larger acts, you find their tour time is substantially less than smaller acts,” said Simas, who has booked disco siblings the Jets to open this year’s concert series with a 7:30 show tonight.

“A smaller act will be working some 300 days a year because they’re not that well known and basically have to pay their dues,” he said. “But a major act will generally play only major markets, and therefore have a lot less available dates.”

Once again, however, Simas has gotten around this obstacle “by doing a lot of networking with other fairs, venue operators, and agents so we can route a tour our way,” he said.

Among the major-name acts Simas has been able to lure to Del Mar this year are Ruben Blades, Hank Williams Jr., Kenny Loggins, Smokey Robinson, Waylon Jennings, Sheena Easton, Howard Jones and Crystal Gayle. The grandstand shows are free with fair admission.

“A lot of acts are reluctant to play fairs because they’re dealing with the philosophy of two flatbed trucks for a stage and two-pound coffee cans for lights,” Simas said. “They’re used to playing places like the Universal Amphitheater, with a backstage suite and all possible amenities, and to go from that to a typical fair, with everything dusty and dirty, is a great inconvenience.

“The reason we have never encountered this reluctance is that, from a production standpoint, our atmosphere is a lot more like a regular concert venue. Just as bad news travels fast, good news travels fast, and among agents we have a very good reputation.”

Simas, 46, began his career in the entertainment business as a deejay on various small-market radio stations in Central California. In the late 1960s, he opened a management firm and talent agency in Los Angeles and worked with several movie and recording stars, including actor Tommy Kirk (“Swiss Family Robinson”) and Canadian rock bands New Wing and Privilege.

“In getting our acts booked, we dealt a lot with fairs, and we liked what they were doing in terms of providing exposure,” Simas said. “One of the advantages of free grandstand shows is that they’re almost always full, and from the standpoint of the artist--particularly a new artist--it does very well for their future hard-ticket sales.

“If just half the people who showed up for free thought the act was fantastic and buy tickets the next time the act is in town, that’s enough to fill most houses.”

Simas’ affection for fairs prompted him to switch careers to fair management, beginning with the Salinas Valley Fair in 1970. Since then, he’s managed, booked or worked as a consultant with more than a dozen other fairs throughout the West, the Del Mar Fair being the biggest.

The schedule of grandstand concerts (except where noted, showtime is 7:30 p.m.) during the Del Mar Fair’s today-July 4 run:

Today: The Jets.

Saturday: The Drifters, 2 p.m.; Bo Diddley, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday: Ruben Blades y Son del Solar, 2 p.m.; Shadowfax, 7:30 p.m.

Monday: Hank Williams Jr.

Tuesday: Kenny Loggins.

Wednesday: Smokey Robinson.

Thursday: Tony Bennett, 2 and 7:30 p.m.

Next Friday: Milli Vanilli.

June 24: Sweethearts of the Rodeo, 2 p.m.; Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, 7:30 p.m.

June 25: Spirit, 2 p.m.; Bachman-Turner Overdrive, 7:30 p.m.

June 26: Stevie B and Sweet Sensation.

June 27: Waylon Jennings.

June 28: BeBe and CeCe Winans.

June 29: Dukes of Dixieland, 2 p.m.; Concrete Blonde, 7:30 p.m.

June 30: Karyn White.

July 1: Fattburger, 2 p.m.; Sheena Easton, 7:30 p.m.

July 2: Midge Ure, 2 p.m.; Howard Jones, 7:30 p.m.

July 3: 30th Anniversary of Rock ‘n’ Roll, including the Coasters, Tiny Tim, Herman’s Hermits, the Troggs, the Surfaris, Al Wilson, Donnie Brooks, Otis Day and the Knights, and singers Mike Pinera (the Blues Image, Iron Butterfly) and Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night), 2 and 7:30 p.m.

July 4: Crystal Gayle, 2 and 7:30 p.m.