Unlike Ottawa’s rainy day blues, St. Albertans celebrated Canada Day’s 150th anniversary under sunny skies. That is until supper hour rain and lightning strikes threatened to derail the evening’s outdoor concert at St. Albert Place plaza.
But our luck held out and Current Swell, Locarno and Shred Kelly rocked the night with a three-hour plus concert that attracted about two-thousand people.
When Shred Kelley kicked off the celebrations with Rowed Away and Stereo, an estimated 100 people were standing in the plaza. By the time they’d finished their set the numbers had tripled.
And people kept trickling in walking and jogging. Some of the more inventive youth rode skateboards and weekend athletes wheeled bicycles.
Mothers pulled wagons filled with tots waving Canada Day flags while fathers lifted their children on shoulders to better see the stage action.
Children shook their hips, a couple of young ballerinas improvised pirouettes while Frisbee throwers took over the barricaded-to-traffic St. Anne Street.
Even flying seagulls kept an eye on festivities hoping for spilled crumbs from food trucks.
In a nutshell, the three bands created a high-spirited party tone and the community responded with equal exuberance and enthusiasm.
First on the program was Shred Kelly, providing a special indie folk sound that delivers a homey nostalgic feeling.
At times the lyrics portrayed struggles and challenges. Never one to keep a sombre pace for long, the Fernie, B.C. band would burst into a cheery toe-tappin’, head-bobbing chorus of guitars and banjos.
The band’s music exploded with powerful intensity and an elastic energy that was compelling to all. Whether it was the more restrained Ghost Inside My Head or the tongue-in-cheek I Hate Work, the all-ages crowd lapped it up.
Any band following Shred Kelly had their work cut out, but Locarno was up to speed. The full-throttle Mexican-style band from Vancouver was the ultimate booty shaker pumping up the evening to yet a new high.
The concert’s largest band, Locarno blended guitars, bass, drums, percussion, fiddle, xylophone, trombone, trumpet and tambourine into a heavy groove of Mexican and Cuban folk.
Most charts, whether simply instrumental or vocal, were a modern reinterpretation of Mexican folk songs, each one more intoxicating than the last.
Once the band had uncorked the tight musicianship and lightning-in-a-bottle energy, there was no going back. The sexy driving rhythms had the effect of literally grabbing people and pulling them onto the dance floor.
By the time Locarno sang its finale, Albuquerque Disaster, they’d broken into a sweat but were rewarded with a hearty round of applause.
As Locarno dismantled their gear for Current Swell’s set, a crowd, several metres thick gathered in front of the stage.
Despite the incredible musicianship of the previous two bands, St. Albert had reserved most of its love for hometown boys Scott Stanton and Dave Lang, co-founders of the surf rock band now based in Victoria.
The foursome was ready to party and they cranked up the amps. Depending where you stood in the plaza, you could feel the music’s laid back vibrations undulating through you.
They revved up the intensity and whether it was Woman in White, Fallin’ or When to Talk and When to Listen, people clapped and swayed to the rhythms.
Departing slightly from their traditional rock sound, they superimposed an electronic vibe that created a more daring beat and ratcheted the intensity.
All in all, it was a great 150th anniversary party – one that created a lot of new memories.
