Arkells, Tom Cochrane, Blue Rodeo to rock the block at four-day festival

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This article was published 17/04/2024 (600 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Burt Block Party is a few steps closer to getting the party started.

Hamilton rock group Arkells join Tom Cochrane, Blue Rodeo and the Headstones at the annual event, which takes place at an outdoor stage set up in a parking lot and a cordoned-off Smith Street outside the Burton Cummings Theatre Aug. 22-25.

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m., at Ticketmaster; however, there is a presale scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m. Prices for a single-evening ticket begin at $59.50 plus fees, a price that remains until 1,000 tickets are sold or until May 1.

Prices were not announced for VIP tickets, which include a separate viewing area, two beverages, popcorn, bar service and access to washrooms inside the theatre. Prices for four-day passes were also not released.

Opening night, Aug. 22, delivers an evening of Canadian roots-rock as Toronto folk-pop act Skydiggers and Winnipeg group Indian City are on the bill with Blue Rodeo.

The potential for collaborations abound: Skydiggers and Blue Rodeo, also from Toronto, have performed together several times before, while Jim Cuddy, Blue Rodeo’s lead vocalist, is featured on the song Star People from Indian City’s 2021 album, Code Red.

Aug. 23 will be an alt-rock Friday night with Arkells, July Talk, the Blue Stones, all from southern Ontario, and Winnipeg’s the Haileys on the bill.

The Headstones and I Mother Earth, bands that found success in the 1990s and reunited in the 2010s, are confirmed for Aug. 24.

Cochrane, who’s originally from the northern Manitoba mining community of Lynn Lake and topped the charts with the band Red Rider and as a solo artist, headlines Burt Block Party’s final day, Aug. 25.

Streetheart, the Winnipeg group that began in the late 1970s with the album Meanwhile, Back in Paris, and Montreal’s Sass Jordan will also rock out on the final evening.

The concert site will be fully licensed and a variety of food trucks will be on hand to serve party-goers.

Alan.Small@winnipegfreepress.com

X: @AlanDSmall