We’ve had a very hot week, plus 30, and adding to that on Wednesday, smoke from wildfires to the west. Advisories were, “If you don’t have to be outside, stay in.”
Thursday, that changed. Temperatures were more reasonable, and the smoke made for hazy skies but no breathing issues. In the afternoon, a short-lived shower cleared the air even more. I headed out, catching the LRT down to Sunnyside and walking to the festival site on Prince’s Island, folding chair and ski pole in hand, the pole to assist my gimping along, with lower back issues.
Back in the green room, I bumped into a bunch of old friends from the days back in the late ’80s, early ’90s, when we re-started the festival from scratch. There’s much reminiscences of that sort in store for the weekend. Leith Ross and band came in, and I popped over to introduce myself. We have them on the Canmore main stage next weekend.
Luna Li started the music on the main stage with very pleasant singing, but it was background for visiting backstage. At the end of her set, I headed out, making for the Stage 4 evening stage. As I did, Kinjo and Young performed a mainstage tweener spot, offering great picking and singing on Jackson 5 and Stevie Wonder classics. The main stage audience area was well attended but not packed.
At Stage 4, I set up at the back of the crowd awaiting the concert by Leith Ross. Leith no sooner started when main stage kicked in with very loud rock from Making Movies. The sound bleed made it impossible to enjoy Leith, at least from where I was. I moved up to beside the sound stack which helped a bit. From there I was able to watch a solid line of late teen/early 20s women, standing at the fence in front of the stage. They were obviously huge Leith fans and were singing along from the start. Leith presented a very pleasant set that was well received by the crowd.
I headed back to main stage, setting my too-tall chair on the sidelines back where I could see the big video screens. Leif Vollebeck was on stage performing on keyboards and electric guitar with a nice backline ensemble. Leif is a very strong singer who plays with an animated style, dipping and bobbing at the keys. I quite enjoyed him. The food trucks drew my attention and after stashing my gear, I headed over, opting for rice and butter chicken. I found a small table where I could still see the video and I was set. Leif got a good response from the crowd, but I was too far back to judge how the up front patrons responded.
Indigenous singer Sara Currichuch from Guatemala got the next tweener spot accompanied by a xylophone type instrument.
The evening was getting surprisingly cool with a fairly strong breeze. I retreated back to the trees but was still chilled. After our recent heat wave, I hadn’t expected to need a better warmer layer. Ben Howard and band got the final spot for the evening. Ben’s a good singer and he employed some guitar effects on his songs. I lasted for three tunes then, shivering a bit, decided to pack it in. Up front, the entire crowd in front of the FOH tent, were on their feet ensuring Ben of a standing ovation later on.
Heading out via the green room, I bumped into Edmonton’s Terry Wickham, and we chatted a bit. I also saw Peter Warne, Canmore Stage 3 stage manager and Greg Monforton, our Canmore FOH tech. We chatted Canmore stage plots a bit and then I headed out, dropping my chair in instrument lock up on the way.
