Range rockers refuse to let rain ruin the day

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This article was published 28/06/2009 (6288 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At least there was no mud.

In what could have been a washout due to a steady rain, Winnipeg’s newest music festival, Rock on the Range, went off without a hitch yesterday at Canad Inns Stadium for a hearty crowd of 14,000 music fans.

“You guys are troopers,” Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong said, summing up the spirit that enveloped the stadium on a cold, miserable, grey and dreary day — those same adjectives could be used to describe the music of Vancouver’s Theory of a Deadman — with brutal wind gusts of more then 50 km/h that sent shivers up and down your spine.

The 15 scheduled bands played on two stages set up on the west side of the field facing east. When one stage finished, the next would start soon after, meaning there were no lapses in music, despite the less than perfect conditions.

A few hundred people were on hand when the first band, Minneapolis all-female quintet Sick of Sara, started at 12:45 p.m., growing to 5,000 by 3 p.m. and steadily increasing as the day went on.

“It’s cold and wet, but that’s about it. It’s still fun,” said Jenetta Singbell, 14, sitting in the rain on the east grandstands wrapped in a poncho beside her friend Candace Houle, also 14.

The two arrived before the first band started and were staying to the bitter end.

“We’re sitting here because it’s closer to the stage,” Houle said as the rain fell on her wool cap.

Mason Bergman almost didn’t even make it to the show. The 18-year-old Kenora resident, who graduated yesterday, left his house at 6 a.m., but his car died at West Hawk Lake. After being towed home, he borrowed another vehicle and made it to the show before 3 p.m.

“It’s a little cold right now but it’s getting better because the bands I like are coming on,” Bergman said prior to the performance of Silverstein.

“We were coming regardless, even though we saw like five accidents on the way up,” said his friend Karen Trent-Holmstrom, 16.

Places where the rain could be avoided were packed, especially under the east grandstands, in the alumni lounge, the Sony PlayStation truck and in a beer tent. It should be noted these rock fans were ready to party — beer sales were brisk all day and cups were flying through the air all day.

The schedule was only 15 minutes behind — shout out to the crew — which meant Thornley’s muscular alt-rock started at 4:20 p.m. for a few thousand crowd-surfing fans. Ian Thornley and his band even pulled out the old Big Wreck classic That Song that had people singing along.

On the second stage, Los Angeles group Hollywood Undead tried to revive the rap-metal of Limp Bizkit that has been out of fashion almost since the last time there was a show at the stadium in 2000.

The early highlight proved to be Florida post-grunge band Shinedown, whose hook-filled meat-and-potatoes modern rock got the crowd pumped, singing along to power ballad Second Chance and other radio hits. The group even managed to start the day’s first mosh pit during the single Devour.

Inward Eye did their hometown proud with a short, spunky set of their punked-up take on the British Invasion. With their rock-star poses and stage moves, these guys are auditioning for some more arena shows, and maybe they’ll even get back there if they ever release an album.

Toronto pop-punk band Billy Talent headlined, but press time came just as the group hit the stage. Prior to their appearance were the best sets of the event with San Francisco’s Rancid and Chicago’s Rise Against providing the punk and Toronto’s Anvil delivering a dose of old-school metal.

Rancid delivered a 40-minute set of their greatest hits blasting through street-punk favourites like Tenderloin and Salvation, some hardcore with Maxwell Murder and ska-punk with Timebomb, finishing things off with their anthem, Ruby Soho.

Anvil — riding high on their new documentary Anvil! The story of Anvil — showed off their speed-metal chops for a small, but appreciative crowd. Frontman Steve (Lips) Kudlow was in great form howling through Metal on Metal and 666, while drummer Robb Reiner was given a five-minute drum solo. Yes, five minutes in a 25-minute set.

Rise Against delivered a powerhouse set of leftist punk that had the mainstage audience thrashing as the rain continued to fall on the range.

rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca

ConcertReview

Rock on the Range

“ö Canad Inns Stadium

“ö June 27

“ö Attendance: 14,000