Day one of the Rock Ambleside Park three day music festival was a great success and the perfect start to a full weekend of North American classic rock. The gates opened at five o’clock and the crowd of three thousand plus made their way into the festival grounds with lawn chairs in hand. Being as this is a classic rock festival, the crowd seemed to be largely in the fifty-plus range and in the mood for some good music, food trucks, and lots of beer.
Streetheart was first to take the stage and these guys rock, they’re a high energy band with a great collection of songs that had lots of people singing along. Of course, we lost the original singer Kenny Shields about two years ago now, but they’ve found a stellar replacement in Paul McNair who can really belt it out and does the fan favourites some real justice. I always feel bad for the first one or two performers at a festival because a lot of the crowd are busy mingling or checking out the concessions instead of watching the band, but Streetheart had them drawn in right from the get-go.
Next up was Vancouver’s own The Headpins who got together in 1979. The Headpins have had tons of big hits over the years and have always had a powerhouse female vocalist leading the way, the Darby Mills days may be over but Kat Lawrence can scream it out like nobody’s business and the crowd ate it right up, oh and I can’t forget to mention lead guitarist Anthony Dellacroce, smokin’ hot solos and a lot of fun to watch.
Honeymoon Suite was the headliner Friday night and they came on stage just as the sun was setting which made for a beautiful backdrop. Johnnie Dee and the boys put the band together in Niagra Falls back in 1981 and they’ve been hammering out solid rock and roll tunes ever since. I know I was singing “New Girl Now” and “Feel it Again” at the top of my lungs with everyone else at Ambleside this evening.
Well this is the third year of Rock Ambleside Park and the first day went great, the crowd was into it, the music was incredible, and the weather cooperated even though it was threatening to rain. Tomorrow is going to be another big one with Pat Travers, Sass Jordan, SAGA, and Tom Cochrane with Red Rider on the schedule, I can’t wait to see them all.
Check out the festival website for more information.
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