Finger Eleven, the rock ‘n’ roll successor to last year’s country show at the Troy Fair, took the stage Thursday before a cheering audience in the grandstand at Alparon Park in Troy.

Before the band appeared, a loud voice stretched out to the audience. "This show was designed to rock every part of your body. ..."

And then the name of the band — the name of the rock ‘n’ roll stars of this rock ‘n’ roll show — echoed and echoed.

"Finger Eleven ... Finger Eleven ..."

The band members — like an electric force — then claimed the stage shortly after 7:30 p.m. with their opening number. The crowd was energized. Even the weather seemed revved up. The wind blew and sprinkles started to fall.

Debi Hulslander, ticket administrator, said attendance was up and 1,150 tickets were sold before the concert, beating last year’s crowd of 1,100 for Heartland and Jake Owen. The VIP seats had been sold out for four months. She estimated that the attendance could reach as high as 1,300, and surmised that the threat of rain kept some people away.

The band, which has been together 16 years, is known for hits like "Paralyzer," "I Will Keep Your Memory Vague," and "One Thing" and is made up of members Scott Anderson, James Black, Rick Jacket, Sean Anderson, and Rich Beddoe.

Before the concert, they met with some fairgoers and signed autographs. Natalie Foust, 17, of Gettysburg, Pa., was in line. Ellen Foust, the fair board treasurer, is her grandmother.

"They’re a good band," she said. "We like their music. We’ve got the songs that are on the radio."

Kane Borek of Troy was also in line. Though he said, "They’re just people," he appeared interested in meeting the band.

Black, the guitarist, wore dark sunglasses and sported a Mohawk haircut. Purple bled down a white shirt that he wore with blue jeans on a lean body. A tattoo snaked down his right arm.

He explained the band’s name. "It was originally plucked from a song that we were recording for our album, ‘Tip.’ We were in the studio and were listening to Scott doing his vocals and we heard this lyric about ‘Finger Eleven.’"

"It just seemed like a strange combination of words, so we asked him what he was intending, and it was sort of like a Third Eye, or a sixth sense kind of idea, like an extra kind of guider or pointer..."

"It seemed fitting for the band at the time, the philosophy that we were going to kind of apply to, the way we were going to run our career in music."

"It comes from within the band, and that was sort of a cool part of it as well." He said a lot of people have different ideas as to what it means. "I like that. It doesn’t just have one meaning, so anyone can apply what they think to it."

He thought it was an improvement over the band’s former name, Rainbow Butt Monkeys. "It’s a step above that, that’s for sure," he said.

Black said the band’s musical inspirations are "pretty much everything we can get our hands on. From the early days ... the common ground for starting the band was, like, Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam." They got together in the early 90s.

"Rick was really raised on Elvis, I was raised on Beatles, Rich kind of grew up with, like, some kind of rap roots and metal roots. Scott and Sean were very much into progressive music like Genesis and Rush."

Black describes their music as rock ‘n’ roll with "soft spots" and "hard spots" and "slow spots" and "fast spots."

"I think rock is the only term that really encompasses all that."

Not surprisingly, he’s most proud of their most recent album, "Them vs You vs Me." He also likes a CD/DVD package called "Us-vs-Then-vs-Now" put out recently. He said it looks back over their career.

He likes working the fair circuit and its atmosphere, though he prefers indoor shows because of sound. "I think it’s kind of interesting. You end up feeling like a carnie, really. And I think that’s pretty cool, for a while at least."

Black was positive about the band’s history — and its future.

"From when we started our band, it’s just always been these gradual steps. Luckily, they’ve always been gradual steps up. Here we are, 16 years later, and we’re still taking steps upward, so that’s a good feeling."

Eric Hrin can be reached at (570) 297-5251; e-mail: reviewtroy@thedailyreview.com