Stagecoach 2023: Guy Fieri, Jon Pardi toss barbecued turkey legs to hungry fans

Guy Fieri kicked off his shows at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival on Friday, April 28 by throwing swag into crowds including items like baseball caps and water bottles.

Then things got interesting.

The Food Network star took it to another another level this year at the Indio event with the help of Friday Mane Stage performer Jon Pardi. They tossed a couple of turkey legs slathered in barbecue sauce to their hungry fans.

“What a hot mess,” Pardi observed after he tossed the first one.

Fieri has become a fixture at the festival in the last five years with his freewheeling cooking demonstrations that pull in headliners from the festival’s Mane Stage. There is only a waist-high wooden railing between them and their fans. The demos give firstcomers the opportunity to get close to their idols and a little bit of free food.

Crowds have been packing in at least 12 deep for the shows, although most are too far back for any personal interaction.

When Fieri came on board in 2018, his main role was to curate a food tent featuring barbecue from throughout the United States. He also made appearances with pitmasters in an area within the tent set up to look like a backyard barbecue.

Fieri added headliners to the mix in 2019, making Guy Fieri’s Stagecoach Smokehouse a place to be seen. Pardi sought out the experience, telling the Southern California News Group last fall, “Man, Guy is awesome. I would definitely do some barbecue with him.”

This year, Fieri looks more like a star attraction in his own right with a larger tent for barbecue concessions and a larger performance space on one end. It is flanked by two giant screens and even his own DJ spinning classic rock during and between shows. The same space is used to house the Indio Central Market during Stagecoach’s big sister fest, Coachella.

The setup included a barbecue pits tended by members of Operation BBQ, a relief organization that feeds victims of natural disasters. They can be seen hanging pork ribs from hooks above burning charcoal. The aroma is picked up by misters turned on the audience, infusing the damp air with smoke.

Fieri is working from a wooden deck in front of a commercial kitchen trailer painted like camouflage and emblazoned with his logos. On the first day, he made his appearance carrying a bag of Kingsford charcoal into his work area.

Fieri is doing three shows a day, and he set the tone at the start of the first one on Friday, an exceptionally hot day with temperatures going well above 100 degrees.

“This is not going to calm down, is it,” he observed. “It’s just going to get hotter and drunker.”

The shows typically last about 15 minutes, but they have been running long. Fieri kicks them off by honoring military, veterans and first responders. During the latest show on Friday with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Fieri handed band members cups of tequila and raised a toast.

The early shows are devoted to pitmasters, who share their tips for dry rubs and roasting meat. For the other two shows, Fieri drafts musicians into helping him build outrageous foods. Pardi, who claimed he prepped for the experience with tequila shots, was tasked with rolling an oversized burrito made with smoked turkey.

“I’m from Northern California,” Pardi said. “I know how to roll.”

Fieri sliced up the burrito and Pardi and his band handed out samples to some of the people leaning on the rail. After taking quick selfies, they looked around in bewilderment because the pieces didn’t come with forks.

Most of the free samples are easier to handle. When the shows end, a crew comes out with trays of sliders and crispy chicken wings accompanied by most towelettes.