Beer in hand, music lover Laura Horner of St. Paul surveyed the scene Monday night at Canterbury Park. She was evaluating a new outdoor concert site at the Shakopee horse racetrack, an alternative to the Minnesota Zoo's longstanding Music in the Zoo series.
"The zoo is much more intimate, and the sound is better there," she said. "But we're happy to be back. Any [live] music is good music."
Music at Canterbury Park kicked off Monday with Old Crow Medicine Show, a veteran Grammy-winning band that is equal parts bluegrass, country and folk — and wholly entertaining. The two-hour performance was an unqualified winner. And Canterbury offered some advantages over the zoo in Apple Valley, which is not hosting concerts for the second year in a row because of uncertainty over COVID protocols.
Parking is free vs. $7 at the zoo. Canterbury has a full-service bar (and wait staff for VIP) as well as an air-conditioned grandstand with nicely appointed restrooms. Some Canterbury seats are at picnic tables, some at tall table tops, some in the grandstand.
The stage, set up on the track facing the grandstand, is deeper and wider than the one at the zoo's Weesner Family Amphitheater. Canterbury accommodates about 2,000 people, nearly 500 more than the zoo. Some seats have backs, some don't; the zoo's backless benches require concertgoers to squish together.
However, the Canterbury setup lacks the intimacy and sightlines of the zoo. Like the State Fair grandstand, the one at Canterbury is much, much wider than the stage, and there are no giant video screens to benefit concertgoers who aren't close to the performers.
Aside from the bars, concessions were limited to two food trucks, one selling hamburgers and the other selling burgers, cheese curds and pulled pork sandwiches. Neither offered beverages, and there was about a $4 price disparity on the burgers between the trucks. So much for planning.
The Canterbury series is being presented by the racetrack and Sue McLean & Associates (SMA), longtime promoters of Music in the Zoo. While the zoo series usually offers about 30 annual shows, SMA is staging just a half-dozen or so concerts at Canterbury, including En Vogue on Friday, Steve Earle on Saturday and Robert Cray Aug. 16.