Red River Ex brings back free concerts

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/05/2002 (8788 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BACK in the not-so-good old days when the Red River Ex was too seedy for biker gangs, one of the highlights of the annual fair was the free concert lineup.

In 1996, the last year the exhibition was crammed into the Winnipeg Stadium parking lot, there was an amazing Saturday double bill featuring rockabilly madman Junior Brown and country outfit The Mavericks. At the end of the show, Mavericks frontman Raul Malo destroyed his amp with his cowboy boots, apparently incensed by the lousy acoustics of the Winnipeg Arena.

It was the last big concert held by the Ex. The next year, the summer fair moved to its well-groomed new site by Assiniboia Downs. The creepy factor was eliminated, but so were the free concerts, which weren’t a priority at the new, family-friendly location.

Now, after five summers without these shows, the Ex is getting back into the live music game. Four concerts are slated for the Red River Ex grounds during the fair’s June 20-29 run.

Juno-winning hip-hop duo Swollen Members and punk-pop band Gob will play a miniature version of Edgefest on June 28. Classic rock band Loverboy is up on June 24, country singers Amanda Stott and Chris Cummings perform on June 25, while there’s another show in the works for June 26.

“We’re trying out the music again. If you remember, we used to have music 10 days in a row,” says Red River Ex events manager Ronn Enns. “We’re going to see how people respond. If it works, we’ll do it again next year.”

The concerts will take place on a covered, temporary stage. The seating area should have enough room for 3,000 to 4,000 people, Enns says.

The shows are free with admission to the festival grounds: $7 at the gate for youths and adults, or $5 in advance at Safeway locations.

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In other concert news, the West End Cultural Centre has added a few good names to its summer lineup. Hyper-intelligent singer-guitarist Robyn Hitchcock, arguably the most consistently bizarre songwriter in the U.K., plays a solo show at the WECC on Tuesday, July 30.

Edmonton’s Richard Buckner, whose last recording was an excellent Gothic-folk meditation, plays the inner-city venue on June 18, British folk legends Fairport Convention drop in on July 17, while Dallas psychobilly band Reverend Horton Heat returns on July 27.

The WECC also has lined up another date by gospel-influenced blues-rock singer Michelle Shocked. She plays Le Rendez-Vous on Saturday, June 22.

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Finally, here’s one more show to plug for early next week: Grade, the Burlington, Ont. hardcore band about to strut its stuff on the Warped Tour, plays Winnipeg this coming Wednesday at a rarely utilized live venue — Riverview Community Centre.

That would be the 350-seat hall on Ashland Avenue, not the 386-bed personal/palliative care centre on nearby Morley, though I’m sure the elderly residents at Riverview Health Centre wouldn’t mind a little live music now and then.

Flashlight Brown warms up the May 22 show.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca