The rock band “Lit,” which formed in Orange County in 1988 and recorded such hits as “My Own Worst Enemy,” “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” and “Miserable,” will perform for Stanislaus County Fair audiences this summer.
The Fair announced that it has booked the band to perform at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday July 12 on the Coors Light Stage. The concert will be hosted by The Hawk 104.1 and is free with the price of Fair admission.
Just as the nineties dissolved into the 21st century, Lit charged up rock ‘n’ roll uncompromising punk energy and a power pop punch. However, the Orange County-born band left an imprint on popular culture that only fissured wider over the years like a California fault line. Who could forget the immortal lyric, “Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk?” or the time Pamela Anderson devoured the band whole in the “Miserable” music video.
Twenty years after its initial release, the Billboard Music Award-winning “My Own Worst Enemy” not only went double-platinum, but Post Malone also covered it on Instagram Live as did Kelly Clarkson and Jimmy Fallon on his late night show.
The guys have amassed a catalog highlighted by fan favorites such as the platinum A Place in the Sun [1999], Atomic [2001], Lit [2004], The View from The Bottom [2012], and These Are The Days [2017]. Meanwhile, they teased the next chapter with “Yeah Yeah Yeah” in 2021.
Now, the quartet—brothers Ajay Popoff (vocals) and Jeremy Popoff (guitar), Kevin Baldes (bass), and Taylor Carroll (drums) —continue to do what they do best on their seventh full-length album and 2022 debut for Round Hill Records, “Tastes Like Gold.”
“We made a conscious decision to go back to when we had arrived at what we represented musically,” said Ajay. “It took a little bit of time to cleanse the palette and hit reset. However, the creativity flowed better than it had in the past couple of decades.”
“We just decided to make what people expect from Lit and, honestly, what we expect from Lit,” explained Jeremy Popoff. “Our fans have been very cool and gracious over the years. They’ve allowed us to grow, change, morph, and explore. At the end of the day though, Lit means something to people, and we wanted to get back to that. Once the lockdowns happened, it was even more difficult to go back to that place when we were in our early twenties in an Anaheim warehouse with cases of cheap beer and friends without a care in the world other than the next show. While everybody reevaluated the whole world, we tried to make a really fun rock ‘n’ roll record.”
Lit joins a lineup that includes country music act Parmalee on Friday, July 7; and the Plain White T’s on Monday, July 10. Multiple Double Platinum Award Winning, R&B Artist, “Ginuwine” will perform on Saturday, July 8.
The 2023 Stanislaus County Fair is July 7-16. Discounted Fair admission tickets, unlimited ride wristbands, and the Fair season pass will be on sale beginning Saturday, April 22. Visit www.stancofair.com to find information on fair entertainment, local exhibits and livestock.
