The Bacon Brothers bring on the cheese to rock state fair crowd

The New York State Fair is all about fried delights and guilty pleasures, but it was an entirely different kind of bacon that drew a crowd at the Chevy Court stage on Saturday night. 

Actor Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael performed as The Bacon Brothers, doling outbursts of wisdom and life lessons during their hour-and-a-half-long set.

The brothers, backed by Paul Guzzone, Joe Mennonna, Frank Vilardi and Ira Siegel, brought guitar, mandolin, cello, harmonica and djembe into their brand of rock. The band motored through their bluesy, twangy, often reggae-laced set with gusto, only slowing down for the occasional ballad dappled with smooth saxophone and saccharine lyrics.

"Two Rivers," a new song for the nearly 20-year-old band, wound a sweet, sappy melody around lyrics of love. In "493 Miles," a song from their sixth studio album to be released in September, Kevin detailed a road trip with his wife and what it's like to have an empty nest.

The Bacons came with a hefty helping of cheese.

During "Only a Good Woman," the Kevin crooned about exactly what it takes to be a man: "Eatin' snakes won’t do it/ Body By Jake won't do it." They detailed what would be in their pockets when they died in "36¢." They encouraged the crowd to "Get a Little" and asked if it was OK to get funky before leaving the stage.

But then, finally, gloriously The Bacon Brothers returned to the stage for an encore that included "Footloose." Kevin, donning tight denim on a stage flanked by hot tub sales booths, gyrated and shimmied to the tune to everyone's delight. The crowd wanted it, and the Bacons obliged.

While perhaps not as exciting as some of the bacon options at the fair (the bacon-wrapped, deep-fried, Twix-stuffed Twinkie comes to mind), The Bacon Brothers were meaty, satisfying and not soon to be forgotten.