As we come into Sunday night, FredRockers are slowly beginning to wake up and show early signs of recovery from a night that many would call the biggest party Fredericton has seen this summer.
For the third year in a row, thousands of fans from across the region flocked to the Fredericton Loyalist Rugby Grounds for the annual FredRock Music Festival. The 2011 edition featured some of the best talent we have to offer as a country including Carmen Townsend, Serena Ryder, Classified, Joel Plaskett Emergency, plus headliner Sam Roberts.
Sam Roberts. (Photo: Cole McLean)
As 5pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon came around, fans began entering festival grounds in order to insure the best possible standing area as Carmen Townsend was set to take the stage at 5:30pm. Many fans also found themselves in the beer tent and Molson Zone watching from the rails. Regardless of where you sat or stood, you could see all of the action.
The unique thing about this festival was that it allowed every act a 90 minute set, rather than only giving the opening acts a 30-40 minute run, this made sure fans got a good taste of their favourites, after all, thats what a festival should be, right?
Once Townsend hit the stage, several fans flocked near the stage to see and hear the up and coming Cape Breton rocker. During the set, Carmen showcased several songs from her debut album “Waitin’ and Seein”” in what was a great way to kick off FredRock 2011.
As the crowd began to grow, Serena Ryder took the stage at 6:45pm with accompanying band The Beauties to perform crowd sing-alongs as well as show off some fresh material. During her set, she performed hits such as “Little Bit of Red”, “Weak in the Knees” and “All for Love”.
Serena Ryder kicks off FredRock 2011. (Photo: Cole McLean)
With the sun beginning to get lower, fans eagerly awaited the appearance of Halifax rapper Classified. By 8:20, Classified took over the FredRock stage to a large screaming crowd. During the set he performed hits such as “That Aint Classy”, “Oh, Canada”,” The Maritimes” and even brought fans on stage for a performance of “All About U”.
Having seen Classified at least once or twice, I was very excited by the fact that he brought Joel Plaskett out on stage for a performance of “One Track Mind”. This is considered very special as he only ever performed the song when Plaskett could be there, which up until last night was only twice. The song was part of his “Self Explanatory” record.
Classified and Joel Plaskett perform “One Track Mind”. (Photo: Cole McLean)
As fans awaited the arrival of the Joel Plaskett Emergency, the sun had fully set and the moon began to glow as the sky turned darker.
By 9:50, Joel Plaskett, along with Dave Marsh and Chris Pennell hit the stage to rock the house with an opening performance of “Come On Teacher”. It should be noted that Plasket would often save this song for near the end of a set, as soon as I heard the opening chord, I knew we were in for a treat.
Plaskett’s set was not short of amazing as he took us through hits and sing- alongs such as “Through & Through & Through”, “Work Out Fine”, “Deny, Deny, Deny”, “Nowhere with You”, “Love this Town” and “Extraordinary” just to name a few.
Finally as the clock turned to 11:30, fans began eagerly cheering “SAM ROBERTS! SAM ROBERTS! SAM ROBERTS!” this went off and on for a steady 15-20 minutes as we waited for Sam Roberts and his band to rock us with their Canadian tunes.
Sam finally took the stage at around 11:50pm performing hits such as “Hard Road”, “Brother Down”, “With A Bullet”, “Bridge to Nowhere”, “Where Have all the Good People Gone” and “Don’t Walk Away Eileen”.
Sam Roberts Band Lead Guitarist Dave Nugent. (Photo: Cole McLean)
The show finally ended by 1:40 and fans peacefully walked away from yet another amazing rock show.
FredRock was just such a fun event, whether it be the amazing music, the party centric hotel, or even meeting Classified in an elevator.
Huge thank you’s should be given to everyone involved including the performers and organizer Nick Z, the event was a smashing success and couldn’t be accomplished without your determination.
Congratulations once again to Stephanie Anthony, ACR’s FredRock Getaway contest winner, I’m hoping you had a blast as much as I did.
With another year behind us, it’s time to start looking ahead for what could happen next year. With this in mind, I ask the usual big question….
Who do YOU want to see at FredRock 2012?