Rain Couldn’t Dampen The Canada Day Party
We’d all been waiting every day for the rain to arrive. The farmers needed it, the lawns and the gardens needed it. Finally it came. Unfortunately it timed its arrival to coincide with the outdoor festivities that happened downtown all day. At the Market Square, where several hours of entertainment had been planned for the bandshell at the west end of the square, Amber Knott, coordinator of the day’s events, and Johnny Roy, who organized most of the live music, both scrambled to adapt, with the help of Chris Scerri, who was kicking off his Meaford Summer Concert Series as the climax of the day. The stage and sound system were set up in the tent at the other end of the square where the Rotary Club was selling drinks along with hamburgers and hot dogs.
When Too Nice, the reggae band from Barrie, kicked things off at three the crowd was thin, many driven away by the rain. But they brought a lot of energy and bounce to the stage from their first song, drawing cheers from those who were there, and coaxing the sun from behind the clouds.
Too Nice brightened up a rainy day with their infectious rhythms
The band ran through an entire catalogue of reggae and ska tunes, ranging from Desmond Dekker to Sting, with a lot of Bob Marley in the mix. Their performance was worthy of a much larger crowd but by the time they finished the tent had filled up and new fans gathered around to buy their CDs.
Johnny Roy was really the hero of the day. He had booked all of the bands except the finale and he was on hand to make sure that each of them had the sound set up they needed. And then he played with two of them.
River and Rock’s Beaker Grainger grins at Johnny Roy the rock solid foundation of the day’s music
The second band on the bill was River and Rock, built around the songwriting and singing of Beaker Grainger. They started out with three originals and then followed them with several covers ranging from The Beatles to The Band. As the afternoon progressed, the tent filled with more people.
Shane Cloutier, powerhouse guitarist, singer and songwriter
Shane Cloutier’s trio notched up the energy with some great renditions of familiar tunes, many of them guitar centred to showcase Shane’s remarkable chops. This is where Johnny Roy really had a chance to shine as part of a trio of excellent musicians, each of whom was full of energy and technique. It was a rocking set that lasted through the dinner hour and had the crowd in the palm of its hand.
Emma Wright, the little girl with the great big voice, held the audience spellbound
Emma Wright took the stage to sing three songs. Tempting as it is to focus on the fact that she is a twelve year old girl,that is irrelevant when you hear her sing. Her powerful voice carried away the audience and prepared them to welcome the feature act, Tyler Yarema and His Rhythm.
Tyler Yarema and his Rhythm
Tyler began by saying how happy he was to be back in Meaford and his band, with drums, sax and upright bass, lived up to their name from the start and through the entire set with songs that mostly dipped deep into the history of blues piano, from the beginning of the Twentieth Century when New Orleans was bringing a new fire to popular music that originated in the bawdy houses of the Storyville district where jazz was born. The joint was jumpin’. Dancers began to fill the empty spaces on the floor and at the front, where kids had hovered around the stage all day, they began a frantic display of acrobatic dancing complete with cartwheels.
Gracie returned the love of the crowd with an outstanding performance
When Tyler brought Gracie up on stage it was clear that the crowd remembered her from previous appearances and she was greeted with whistles and cheers before she sang a note. She reflected the enthusiasm of the audience with a number of songs she made her own, from a reggae/jazz inspired version of Sam Cooke’s “Cupid” to a couple of dark Amy Winehouse songs that were vehicles for her impressive vocal chops.
The show carried through until the fireworks began and everyone in the tent was lifted to a party mood by a great day of music.
Happy Canada Day!
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