The Daily Orange

Few people were waiting outside the gates at the Standart Street parking lot on Sunday morning before Juice Jam 2004, but by the time Method Man took the stage late in the afternoon, the sold-out crowd packed the stage area of the first-year event. The day's jam-packed concert lineup included performances from The Like, Sahara Hot Nights, Phantom Planet, De La Soul and Method Man.

Somewhere beyond the carnival games and the sea of livestock trailers, there is a different side of the New York State Fair. Inside this small, distant bubble, throngs of teenagers sway to the throbbing rhythm of Busta Rhymes humping a speaker. He and his Flipmode Squad rocked the Grandstand in the closing hours of Sunday night, sandwiched between lesser performances by Petey Pablo and Twista.

He rocked hard, he crooned softly and he joked with the crowd like a practiced comedian. Kid Rock has clearly had some practice at putting on a spectacle. On Friday night at the Wegmans Grandstand concert venue at the Great New York State Fair, Kid Rock showed off his experience-and his mainstream likeability.

Cyndi Lauper may still know how to have fun-but that doesn't mean she couldn't use a pick-me-up. Hours before her Sunday evening performance at the Great New York State Fair, Lauper stopped to order a tall soy latte, said Starbucks employee Sydney Steele, 21, who attended the concert that night.

Method Man, MC/actor Daily Orange: Which do you like doing better: TV, movies or rapping? Method Man: I like to MC, I don't rap. Fuck rap. Rap is bullshit; hip-hop is where it's at. I like doing the music side. All that TV and movie shit wears down on you.

Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company" 4 stars out of 5 Next of Deceased Kin: Nat "King" Cole, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin Ray Charles is an iconic king of soul. Unfortunately, this past June, he passed away at the age of 77. He loved making music and, as shown by his more than 50 releases since 1951, he was a workaholic.

Trugoy the Dove, one third of the De La Soul trio. Daily Orange: How important is crowd participation to your show? Trugoy the Dove: When you have a crowd that is familiar to your work, it's easy. When you have some newcomers, like these, who are new to our music, it's challenging.

Sam Farrar, guitarist for Phantom Planet. Daily Orange: What interested you guys in such a show as this? It's not the kind of venue you guys normally play. Sam Farrar: It's not a dive bar with cigarettes and smoking? No, college shows are awesome. Especially shows like this where you're playing with De La Soul and Method Man.

Black Keys "Rubber Factory" 3 stars out of 5 Next of Kin: Kings of Leon, White Stripes In recent years, the appreciation of Southern culture and retro style has come to the forefront of the fashion scene. One merely has to look at the legions of the bourgeoisie aristocracy, clad in the once ironic mock-vintage cowboy shirts and $50 John Deere trucker hats, to become painfully aware that this trend, once embraced solely by a few hipsters, has become despairingly bloated to the point where wearing a John Deere hat is actually considered fashionable.

The Like "I Like The Like" " ... And The Like" "Like It Or Not" The Like, who opened Juice Jam Sunday, are a trio of female rockers from Los Angeles. Tracks on the group's three EPs range from the coffeehouse feel of "I Like The Like" to power chords of " ... And The Like" to the happy medium of "Like It Or Not.

10. Nelly feat. Christina Aguilera - "Tilt Ya Head Back" 9. Dashboard Confessional - "Vindicated" 8. Kelly Clarkson - "Breakaway" 7. Bowling for Soup - "1985" 6. Avril Lavigne - "My Happy Ending" 5. Lil' Flip feat. Lea - "Sunshine" 4. Maroon 5 - "She Will Be Loved" 3.