“Alberta knows how to give’er!”
That’s the word, according to Econoline Crush’s frontman Trevor Hurst, who was speaking, er, shrieking between songs during his band’s set. Econoline Crush was the second of four acts on the opening night line-up for this year’s Rainmaker concert series. Certainly the loudest of the bunch (and maybe the least appreciated because of it) but the crowd grew with them regardless.
Starting off on a gorgeous sunny evening, the show kicked into an early high gear with China White belting out their cover of Judas Priest’s, You’ve Got Another Thing Coming.
That heavy metal party tune was apparently the theme for the night as band after band rolled out hit after hit until midnight. Five solid hours of classic rock for $35! An astounding deal like that does much to alleviate the grief of being jostled by the throngs. There were just as many cowboy hats as backwards baseball caps, proving once again that music is the great mediator between cultures.
That said, the crowd was particularly slow to get into it. Despite not being on the bill, China White made the best of what they had by warming up the 200 people with stadium-ready crowd pleasers including Another Thing Coming and Three Dressed Up as a Nine. It was like an awesome mix tape played live.
After they finished, things got a little louder. Twentyone-7 (also unbilled) didn’t make their call so Econoline Crush stepped up. This was a major miscalculation on the organizer’s part. The Winnipeg band has a much harder industrial edge than all the other acts. This made it seem like they were playing because they were a name band, not because they were good. Loud does not make up for lousy. Obviously decibels and long hours of standing both help concession sales.
Once they were done with their noise, the audience had a respite with $5.50 beers and all flavours of smoke. It was at this point that I was thankful for the pervasive police and security presence. I only hope that the taxi companies had steady business.
When David Wilcox took the stage, he brought his entire funky repertoire with him including song after song of twangy guitar rhythms, offbeat lyrics and toe-tapping, hip-shaking blues beats. He is one of the most enjoyable performers to listen to and Friday night proved that he’s just as fun to watch too. Wilcox struts around like an affable, bald iguana with bulging eyes and a goofy grin.
Unfortunately there’s only so much good music that one person can take. I love Wilcox but was tired of him by the midpoint of his set. To be honest, the whole show went until midnight (54-40 finished out the evening) and by then most people were cool if not cold and tired of so much standing. Maybe a back row of stadium seating isn’t a bad idea. I bet a vendor could even make a killing selling cheap fold up chairs.
Otherwise it was a good show but not great. My legs just can’t take that kind of sustained standing and my ears can’t stand the sustained sensory overload either.
