The busiest concert weekend of the year is upon us, so let's start things off today with a look at who's playing Rotaryfest Stage 1 at Clergue Park! This is the 25th year since Rotaryfest adopted its current staging and format for the covers-centric pop-up stage beside the Centennial Library, and as usual, there will be three days' worth of FREE live music for all ages over the weekend! Visit the festival website for more on non-musical activities going on downtown before, during, and after the bands. Here's what you should know on the musical end of things!
Andrew Stuetz is returning as the MC for Stage 1 this year on all three days. We'll start our Rotaryfest weekend concert previews off TOMORROW for night #1, as the first four bands in this year's program will take the stage, three of which being festival newcomers. In a first for the Thursday lineups, a touring headliner will close things, namely Billy & Elton: The Legends, the joint Billy Joel/Elton John tribute show from accomplished & relocated local musician Mick Dalla-Vee and Michael Sicoly in a relatively rare local concert appearance from them in any project. They headline at 9:30 PM, while hard rock fans will get the largest bone of the evening at 8:00 PM when classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 pause their summer break in their second straight appearance on Stage 1. Debuting local ten-piece yacht rock/R&B band The Lock City Rollers will take the stage at 7:00 PM, while pop rock cover band Bourbon Blue will make their Stage 1 debut at 6:00 PM.
Like Silent 9, Bourbon Blue are taking a couple months off from bar gigs, so if you've missed either as of late, be at Clergue Park tomorrow! The current weather forecast from 9&10 News has sunny skies with temperatures of around 17-18°, but there is rain currently expected tomorrow morning, so follow your preferred weather outlets for specifics closer to. Sounds like a talented and varied lineup to kick off Rotaryfest for 2025, and Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve should deliver some hard rocking favourites for the occasion, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Silent 9 live!
Next up, let's profile night #2 of Stage 1 music on FRIDAY, as six local bands will grace the stage, four being returnees from past Rotaryfests. Your headliners are classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations in their third consecutive year on Stage 1 and first turn as the closing act on a given day, so don't miss their old school cover classics at 10:20 PM! Jeffrey Wright' classic country cover band The Way Backs will themselves play Rotaryfest for a third straight year at 9:00 PM, and country fans will also want to check out Soundcheck alum Cameron Oliver's one-off band Mile 38 at the 8:00 PM timeslot. Handsome Sandwich guitarist Jesse Cook will notably be showing his musical diversity in Mile 38, though with Cameron's teased move out of town this fall, see them on Friday while you can! Classic rock cover veterans RPM will play Stage 1 for a fifth time at 7:00 PM, while fellow classic rock staples Flathead Ford play their seventh Rotaryfest at 6:00 PM.
Opening on Friday at 5:00 PM are The Jazz Cats (not to be confused with 2017's "Jazz Catz"), a newer local jazz cover quintet featuring Convergence bandmates Jacob Valois & David Peredun, so while the metal is a day away on Stage 2, the technicality will be present on Stage 1! As of this writing, we're too far from Friday for an hourly forecast, but 9&10 News is currently calling for partly cloudy weather with a high of 21° then. Another varied but very talented lineup of musicians for fans to check out on Friday, with Generations ending things on a heavier note, so visit the above links for more on night #2, and here's Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre live!
Your closing lineup of bands on SATURDAY is, as usual, the longest of the three days, with ten bands taking over Stage 1, and your featured touring headliners are Toronto-based AC/DC tribute Who Made Who in their fifth local concert appearance since 2010 and first since they played at the former Canadian Nightclub in 2019. Good to see their faithful take on the Australian hard rock legends again on home soil, and hopefully they infuse Stage 1 with lots of high voltage rock n' roll on Saturday night! As normal, the touring attraction aren't the final band, with Who Made Who playing at 8:30 PM, but the closing band this year will be classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush, closing the festival at 10:30 in their Stage 1 debut, which ain't a bad spot to be in at all! Working backwards, local pop rock cover quartet Lime will rock Stage 1 for a fourth time at 7:00 PM, while alternative/punk cover sextet BookcluB will play Rotaryfest for a third straight year at 6:00 PM.
Classic rock quintet Encore
will hit the big stage at 5:00 PM in their fourth time on Stage 1, while The
Northern Jazz Ensemble will return at 4:00 PM in their sixteenth time at Rotaryfest and seventh consecutively (both records among this year's lineup). Two of Sault Ste. Marie's four active high school rock band programs will rock Stage 1 in the 3:00 & 2:00 PM timeslots, namely Crusade from St. Mary's College (in their Rotaryfest debut) and Steel Rock from Superior Heights Collegiate (who played last year). The kids are alright, as you'll see on Saturday afternoon! Funk/dance rock cover band The Rhythm Junction will play Stage 1 for a second time at 1:00 PM, and the day's music lineup will be led off by local blues rock veteran Rusty McCarthy and his new classic rock cover outfit Rusty & The Soft Parade, and you can see them kick off the day #3 program at 12:00 PM.
For both the amount of bands total, the multiple SMS-amenable acts, and the concurrent Stage 2 program on site (more on that tomorrow), Saturday will likely appeal the most to diehard readers, but don't bypass any of this year's lineups on Stage 1, as there's loads of talent on hand! The current weather forecast is calling for mostly cloudy weather with a similar high temperature of 21°, but there is a 30% chance of rain at press time. Again, keep tabs on your preferred weather forecast for updates as we approach the festival proper. Visit the above links for much more on all three days of Stage 1 action at Rotaryfest, and here's Who Made Who live!
That's all for now, but we'll next dive into non-Rotaryfest previews and Stage 2, so stay tuned for all of that shortly! Thanks everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment