Well, good folks of the Quinte area if you had a dull summer you have no one to blame but yourself.
School is back in, the leaves are starting to change and – like it or not – winter is coming.
Music fans in Quinte had plenty to cheer about during the summer of 2010
That’s the bad news. The good news? Lots of good memories from the rockingest summer this area has ever seen.
Big Music Fest kicked things off on the right foot in July at Zwick’s Park with southern rockers ZZ Top – not to mention a supporting cast that included Collective Soul, Finger Eleven, Big Sugar and Hipster Gord Downie.
A few weeks later, downtown rocked to the classic sounds of Alice Cooper and Lynyrd Skynyrd before Thornley and 3 Doors Down closed out the weekend.
Empire Square wrapped up the summer with a three-night party that included Canadian icons Blue Rodeo and Kim Mitchell as well as local favourites All You Need is Love before Slash and Myles Kennedy tore up the stage in a fitting grand finale.
Thousands of locals bought tickets for those events and thousands more came from out of town to spend some time rocking out in Quinte.
There were more than a few mumblings around the Slash show last week about why venues in neighbouring communities like Kingston aren’t drawing the same kind of star power. Their loss is definitely our gain.
Sprinkle in lots of opportunities for local bands to rock various stages at the Waterfront Festival, RibFest and a handful of other outdoor events in the area and it’s safe to say that no summer has rocked harder in Quinte than 2010.
The outdoor events may be wrapped up for the year but there is good live music happening pretty much every week in the area.
The Empire Theatre has a pair of country darlings coming up next month in Michelle Wright and Carolyn Dawn Johnson and there are a handful of bars that bring in live music regularly.
This weekend you can catch talented local bands playing at Vic’s Place, The Red Lion, Tucson Flats and The Angry Beaver among others.
Just because summer is winding down doesn’t mean you have to stop the rock.
