What a weekend! I started my journey to the Boots and Hearts country music festival on the friday of the August long weekend. Armed with my grandmothers car, several umbrellas and a hastily thrown together wardrobe for that inclement weather, David and I set off for Bomanville. Dodging the traffic riddled 401 we found ourselves weaving in and out of micro towns and enjoying the ploughed hills of the country. Sounds pretty idillic and relaxing, it was up until we rounded the bend of the now dreaded concession road 20. We were so close I could hear faint guitar rifts riding on gusts of wind and then it happened. Snaking around the hill were cars, trucks and mini-vans stretched out for kilometres. Nothing had prepared us for the stop and go traffic that went on for the next two and a half hours. The already overcast weather did nothing to help raise our spirits and we spent the hours tantalizingly close to the action with no way to get there fast besides the sole entrance that was being used for both day parking and camping entry. As rain drenched cowboys and cowgirls passed us by on their way to the festival, I was grateful for the shelter of the car. There is nothing worse than being wet and cold during a concert. We finally made it through the gates only to be redirected into a field with hundreds of tents, shirtless guys and partially dressed girls decked out in cowboy boots- stumbling along with Coors in hand. Crushed beer cans littered the once grassy fields. Looks like we were in a good time. I grew increasingly anxious as cars passed by us within inches, Dodge Rams and beaters carrying truck loads of drunk youth drove around spewing exhaust high into the air. We found ourselves a parking spot out of the way that we hoped would prevent any possible side swiping or accidental hit and runs. We trudged through the mud in our haste to get to the concert in the hopes we would at least make one artist before it ended. The rain had just started to spit so we grabbed an umbrella. Seems like a fairly innocent object that was until we got to entrance and security denied us entry because no umbrellas were allowed. No umbrellas? What is this? We couldn't really do a whole lot besides leave it there and pray no one took it before we came back or walk all the way back to the car. Some nice ladies at the Lost and Found tent agreed to look after our umbrella which was nice. However we didn't know what to do with the extra beer we had brought with us. We ended it up leaving it off to the side of the entrance in the hope that people would think it was empty and leave it. Later on when we left we went to check if they were still there and David's two coors were gone but what do you know my Stella was still there? Apparently cowboys prefer Coors to Stella. We finally made it into the festival! At this point we were both hungry and upon looking at the available options all of which were either deep fried or greasy we chose the over priced deep fried onion for $12. It was pretty good. We went to the main stage to catch the last bit of Cassadee Pope only to arrive as she was saying 'have a good night everybody.' As if our luck couldn't get any worse David accidentally hit the onion right out of my hand. After an hour and half we decided the weather just wasn't worth it and grudgingly left without seeing Dean Brody and Jason Aldean who I heard later were amazing... The first day may not have been the best but it sure prepared us for what to expect the next day. This time we didn't plan in getting caught in a large line up. I woke up early on the Saturday only to see a bulletin on the Boots and Hearts facebook page that the parking and tent parking had become unusable due to the severe weather conditions the night before. Some campers I heard had waited over 9 hours to return to their campsite only to be turned away and told to go home. All I can say is thank god I wasn't camping. Fortunately Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day. The weather dried out the mud and left a distinct combination of beer, puke and heat in the air. However this didn't faze us, we were ready. We left early and got in without a hitch, securing an even better parking spot. We made it just in time for Kira Isabella to take the stage. Our fold up chairs made it even better, not having to stand for every artist and fight to see over cowboy hats. After Kira Isabella, Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy made an appearance on the back of a flat bed truck, ironically 20 feet away from where we were sitting. After his performance David went to go get us food before Chad Brownlee came on. We were excited to see Brownlee as I had interviewed him earlier in the year and said I would see him there. Part way through Brownlee's set David shows up with one pulled pork sandwich and a pop, and an unimpressed look. Apparently a drunk guy had thrown the other pulled pork on the ground. This didn't dampen the spirits though, we enjoyed a nice rendition of Wagon Wheel by Brownlee. After his set we decided to walk around and check out the entertainment. Smaller performance kiosks were set up around the venue showcasing emerging artists and local talent. Rockstar had set up a motocross jump, handing out free hats and land yards to whoever was yelling the loudest. Well known French freestyle motocross jumper Ben Milot performed several jumps much to the crowds pleasure. The last day we decided to leave Miranda Lambert's set early to avoid the mess of traffic trying to get out of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Unfortunately leaving half an hour early did nothing to help our cause we ended up waiting two hours in a line of cars that did not move. Tempers were high and many people were trying to force their way into the line's barely missing hitting others cars. There was no one to direct traffic out of the venue and many drivers were frustrated with the poor planning. We ended up getting out at around 1 after having left at 9. Despite the ups and downs of the weekend it was well worth the price to see artists like Rascal Flatts, The Band Perry, Miranda Lambert, X-Factor winner Tate Stevens and Dierks Bentley who all gave energetic shows. Dierks Bentley stood out amongst the others for his casual attitude and nonchalance towards a fan who went up on stage and played his guitar while he sat down and cracked a beer. Bentley then signed and gave the same girl his guitar.
1 Comment
Dorothy Willis
10/31/2013 09:14:54 am
Thanx for letting Ken and me attend a festival, we were right there with you the whole weekend:)
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MeganMulti-media journalist with an unstoppable curiosity. Archives
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