Show Review – Canada Day in Abbotsford Exhibition Park

By: Remington Fioraso

Who: The Tourist Company, Bed of Stars and John Welsh Band
Where: Abbotsford, BC
Venue: Abbotsford Exhibition Park
When: July 1, 2014

On Canada Day, the city of Abbotsford held an event featuring many artists from the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland. The artists that I was able to see were The Tourist Company, Bed of Stars, and the John Welsh Band.

I had listened to The Tourist Company’s Space Race EP previously so I was excited to hear that they would be playing for Canada Day. Vancouver’s The Tourist Company consists of Taylor Swindells, Jullian Levey, Brenon Parry, and Josué Quezada. Their set list included songs from both their EP and album “Brother.” My favourite songs that they played were ‘Vostok 1’ and ‘One Giant Leap.’ It was pretty awesome how they recreated the sound from their releases live.

John Welsh is an artist from Mission, BC. He won the 2014 CIVL Radio Battle of the Singer-Songwriters competition. What intrigued me most about Welsh’s performance was the variety of influences within his music including reggae, folk, and Latin. The songs I enjoyed the most were “The Newfie Song” and “Reggae Queen.” It was a really fun performance – and I can definitely understand why he won CIVL’s competition.

Finally, the last artist I was able to see was Abbotsford’s Bed of Stars. Bed of Stars consists of the work of Evan Konrad. He released his debut release “I Fell In Love In The City” in 2013 and second release “Tell Me If It’s True” in 2014. After listening to Konrad’s performance, I had to go and listen to both of his releases. He is a talented musician.

Remington Fioraso

Hi Everyone! My name is Remington Fioraso. I am a graduate of the University of the Fraser Valley’s Bachelor of Arts program in Sociology, Anthropology, and Media and Communication Studies. Within my program, I focused on social media, learning about contemporary and classical sociological theory (Including Marx, Foucault, Bourdieu, and Durkheim), and communicating effectively in various modes and for different audiences (including oral communication, business communication, academic writing, entertainment media, and presentations utilizing visual media). Within my program, the question arose for many courses, “What is the relevance in the real world?” Stepping (temporarily) away from being in university, I gained an interest in Latin American development, social movements, and business. Sooner than later, I will be applying for post-grad programs to dive further into LA development and social movements to gain a theory-background in addition to a personal perspective onto the topics. In my free time, I love to travel, consume media, eat, listen to music, and write. Listening to music and writing led to my interest in working with Canadian Beats! I have been a part of the team since April 2014. A few of my personal highlights of interviews include ones with some of my favourite artists – Sumo Cyco, Madeline Merlo, and High Valley. Be sure to connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!