EDGEFEST '97 in Ottawa at Frank Clair Stadium.. Monday, June 30th, 1997.
by Shawn Mullin.
I've been an Our Lady Peace fan since the first time I ever heard a song about 2 years ago, maybe a bit more, I'm not really
sure, but does it really matter? The point is I've been a fan for a while now and until this amazing day I never got to see them in
a good atmosphere.. L-I-V-E. Sure, I saw them with Alanis last summer, but no one except the 3 guys I was with (we all gave
standing ovations after each song) got into the music so it wasn't what I wanted. Since then I've been waiting for a chance, they
were doing a campus tour, but being 16 and not having my University Student card I couldn't get in. It was REALLY frustrating
because by now I'd become like an OLP ambassador at school and a huge monster fan. I had heard of Edgefest, but all I
remembered was last year watching everyone else having fun watching OLP and other amazing Canadian bands in Barrie so I
figured I'd have to go to Barrie to ever get that change... when they announced it was coming here, to Ottawa, everything
changed!
Of course when they announced the tour I had no money. I needed to be creative. So I got my cousin/friend to lend me the
money... not very creative, but hell, what else was I to do? I hate being in dept, but it was that or no OLP (not to forget the
other great acts). So for the next 2 months I waited and waited and waited like the day would never come... on Monday it did!
It was a very memorable day that's for sure.
My friends and I showed up at 12:30 and we were just a bit worried about the 34 degree temperatures and massive humidity...
I've been to concerts before and mosh pits are hot and draining in air conditioned buildings let alone boiling, humid outdoors.
Not to worry though, there were hoses! Not only a couple attached to the stands, but the security guys had some to spray
people with.
We got in at about 12:50 and just missed Moly's revenge... I'd say I didn't care, but that would be a little hasty considering I've
never heard them before... that girl is freaky looking though! I had called the day before and they said there were 10 000
tickets left, I thought the place would be empty, but it was just seats that they were talking about and we were all down on the
tarped football field.
That's where everything was BTW, in the football stadium (what else should we use that for in Ottawa?). There were some fans
in the stands while most were down on the field. It was covered in some sort of tarp with cussioning so you could jump high in
the air, land on it, and not feel any pain. Too bad we weren't at a grassy place or the hoses would have created nice mud
slides... oh well, beggers can't be chosers. Back to the action. The second stage was about 1/3 the size of the big stage and
was way at the far end of the field with the fan area behind it (CD store, magazines) I got a program and OLP was on the
cover :) Plus when some DJ from the Bear (there were 3 or 4 of them there and they were constantly introducing themselves
and their radio station) asked who everyone was there to see OLP got the big cheer. They're getting huge here folks... HUGE!
The first show we saw was Zuckerbaby... I had heard their song "Andromeda" so my hopes weren't all that high (I have
somethign against songs with like one sentance and a couple words repeated over and over again... is that just me? Maybe
that's my problem with Techno music.); but, they weren't bad, some good songs, of course the bands at the second stage only
played 4 to 5 songs (20 minutes) to keep on schedule, hell, the setup takes longer than the set. We were getting hot then so we
took a turn at the sprinker hose thing.
Up next... Sarah Craig, who took one hell of a long time to set up. If it wasn't for the water being constantly dumped on my
head by the security guard's hose and the leather pants Ms. Craig was wearing I might have fallen asleep right there! Her music
is so damn boring, and she kept dancing around like an idiot! Oh well, not everyone is OLP. Since there was no moshing
during Craig (surprise:]) we were drenched by the hose... tips for any future hose sprayers, you don't have to soak people
when there's no mosh pit or anything, all they need is a little mist.
Finger 11 was next, I have their album as 'Rainbow Butt Monkeys' and they aren't bad. I thought there new stuff kicked ass
and this was the first little mosh pit. Everyone had all their energy and it was a nice wake up call to hear really loud guitars and
heavy vocals after Sarah Craig. I hope they come here again, because I'd got see Finger 11 to see a longer set. I also noticed
Jeremy, Duncan and the lead singer of AOE watching the Finger 11 set from the side of the stage, but I pointed them out as did
others so I think they left so they wouldn't take attention away from the band. After moshing in the amazing heat we finally
realized the greatness of the hoses! We really needed that :)
So Age of Electric was next... right? OK, after a long break on comes AOE drummer guy, wait a second, why is he taking off
his drums? Now the stage is completely empty no setup or band members in site... WHAT THE HELL? I was confused, I'm
not huge AOE fan, but I did want to see them perform, they would have been better off on the main stage when there's a band
like BTK there *shudder*. When we heard something going on at the main stage (it was 3:30...we'd been there for 3 hours
already! *hey, Naveed on the radio!*) we left. I later heard something about them not being at the show on time and doing on
autograph session and no set... oh well.
At the main stage BTK was playing. I'd never heard of them and I wish I hadn't. I really did think I was paying for a rock
concert, but I guess they decided to throw in some really annoying rap. I can handle that though, out of all the bands there only
3 were below average and other people seemed to enjoy it so let them have their fun. Still, I hated it and I just couldn't mosh to
it...
It was like 4:30 afterwards and I wanted to have my super digested before I Mother Earth played so I went and waited in line
for an eternity and bought a really overpriced hamburger and coke (all together... 6 bucks, no foolin'!) and listened from my
spot sitting on the wet tarp with my friends as Glueleg (weird stuff, but pretty good) and Holly McNarland played.
The whole atmosphere of the show was really cool. A bunch of people our age walking around a big area, taking in the
different sets, sitting down for the ones they didn't want to bother with, clear sky, sun shining, all that stuff... it was just a really
cool experience. Really relazing and exciting and all that... I'd do it again in a second. Keep wearing those nice summer clothes
girls :) (don't get mad at me, I'm just having some fun with ya' :])
Anyway, food was digested and Bear DJ was on the stage... time for the last time I get to see and hear the awesome sounds of
I Mother Earth live in concert as the original band.
I'd seen IME twice before, once at Porter Hall in Carleton U, small little Hall with a few hundred folks, and once with Moist at
the Civic Centre... both shows were really energy palked and a hell of a lot of fun. Now show #3...
I think they play the same set at every concert :)
The mosh pit was totally crazy, this was the craziest damn mosh pit I've ever been in. Before, you would crowed surf and when
you were taken over the guardrail by security you could easily find your friends again.. Not Here! The damn pit was like half a
mile long! Well, the whole width of a football field anyway, that stage is massive. So when I crowd surfed (I don't like to brag,
but as long as the pit is active I always make it all the way to the rail no matter where I start from :]) I was basically lost from
my friends, it took 2 songs to find them :) Also, once when I got to the rail a security guard litterally BELLY TO BACK
SUPLEXED ME!! No kidding! He really did. After that he looked really mad and starting shuving me down the ramp. I still
don't know what the fuck his problem was. Boy was it loud too, must of been waking up the neighbours (no Bryan Adams pun
intended there). IME was good, although for some reason I've never appreciated Edwin's sense of humour ("Wow, you guys
are good singers, maybe I should quit and you can take over" whatever...). The pit really was crazy though, I was so damn
tired and dehidrated (I was too far from the hoses) that with only two songs to go I just couldn't handle it anymore, I felt ready
to fall :) I had to go to the hose station and guess what song I missed? LEVITATE! Damn it! The funnest IME song in concert
and I was near death :) I got back in for the Rain Will Fall finally and gave IME a loud good-bye.
I needed some rest after that one and found out a couple of my friends got worn out after half the set... hehe, I outlasted them :)
Collective Soul was up next and frankly I wasn't expecting much. Their music is pretty good, nothing I'd buy, but I have it taped
and I listen to it sometimes, it's pretty catchy, but I wasn't really sure what one of their concerts would be like. Like I said, I
didn't expect much and usually when I'm all negative I don't enjoy something no matter what... Boy Was I Wrong!!!
I saw someone's review from this same show and they said something along the lines of "Collective Sould sucks so I slept
through their set" big mistake man, you missed out. Collective Soul pulled out all the stops and they put on one of the best
shows I've seen. They put energy into their music, they got the crowd involved by asking certain things from us during each
some, they chose good times to get the crowd to sing along, they even covered Ozzy's Crazy Train (a hell of a job too) and
they crowd went crazy. I've never seen a crowd so won over. They had a so-so reaction when they first came on stage and
after they were done everyone gave them a huge cheer, and it was well deserved. I was even wondering if OLP could compete
with the type of show Collective Soul put on. Even my friends agreed with me, this isn't just me!
Another cool thing about that concert was the fact that there was no heavy moshing... some jumping up and down, but I had
some energy stored up for the last two shows and I would need it...
TWO QUICK THINGS... during the Collective Soul set they said we had some great bands in Canada and should be proud...
after that a big, massive, red Maple Leaf balloon with Canada written on it appeared over the festival and the crowd all looked
to it and went absolutely BESERK! It was great, I am such a huge patriot (nationalist nut if you weeeeeeelll) and I was really
proud at that moment! Another thing was that a plane carrying an ad for the Tea Party album circled during Collective Soul,
that was pretty classless if you ask me, to hawk their CD during someone else's set.
So, we all talked about how surprising Collective Soul was and out came the Tea Party. I'm sort of indifferent to them, they're
good, but once again I've never thought of them as anything special... I like Sister Awake and some of their last album stuff.
They put on a pretty good show, plus some of the crowd surfers were funny and we had fun trying to either keep them up as
they were a bit... well... Jurassic :) or toss them as far as possible 'cause they were rakes like me... that's fun. So the Tea Party
was good, no complaints. Except for teh fact that the hose guy seemed to be targetting me! I kept getting like 10 second
straight hits from the hose the entire set! I wasn't the only one who noticed either, everyone around me was laughing... I don't
think giving the guy the finger helped by cause much either :) It was getting dark...
As the Tea Party's set ended we all fought our way to as close to the stage as we could get, no sitting down and staying half
way up for Our Lady Peace! We would be front row if it killed us!!! Oh, and it did, everyone was pushing to the front and
crushing us! They gave us some water and then put down the hoses as if they wouldn't need them! Oh boy did they ever.
So by now, due to all the hose water
This is what I'd been waiting for, 2 years of waiting! Of course they had to stretch out the setup, the anticipation was amazing.
It was almost totally dark now (9:45) and everyone had been chanting Our Lady Peace for a while (every once and a while I
threw in a "We Want Raffi" or "Sharon Lois and Bram" chant only to be hit in the back of the head.) we were all gettig all
anxious... and BANG!! LIGHTS OUT!!!
You should have heard the crowd folks, unbelievable! They went nuts, not that I didn't! I loved it! As the opening bass of "Car
Crash" started (glad they kept the crowd melow and calm at the start, if they'd gone straight into like "Starseed" I think the
ground would have caved it :]).
CAR CRASH
=========
Raine just stood there at the microphone motionless with his head pointing at the floor while Duncan kept playing the bass line
over and over again... finally he started the song and man oh man was the crowd pumped. This song is great in concert because
it has so much emotion in it, I guess the credit there has to go to Raine, but it was just awesome. Right away after that they
broke into Automatic Flowers and the pushing from the back (and occasional crowd surfer landing on my head) was becoming
a bit of a problem!
AUTOMATIC FLOWERS
=================
Everyone in the crowd went "Do Do..." etc. with Raine. That was pretty cool. The crowd started to get a little pushy and I was
losing a lot of sweat, becoming dehidrated. Actually, for the first few songs it was hard to enjoy them because I was
concentrating on being squashed and worrying about my neck and crowd surfers over my neck :) Great song...
SUPERMAN's DEAD
===============
The cheer at the moment they started the opening of the song was cool and everyone sung along with this. They hit it pretty big
with this song. I wish they'd played it later when I was more able to concentrate on the song, but it was good live, especially
when everyone in the whole place was going "Doesn't anybody know the world is a subway" On that Note...
I was dissapointed to hear Raine's explanation for why the World is a Subway.. I forget it now, but I like mine better... take a
read of this and see what you think...
***No matter who gets on or off and what kind of strange people act in strange ways the subway just keeps going around and
around just like the world jus keeps going' round no matter who dies or who lives***
BIG DUMB ROCKET
================
Same deal with the non-word parts to get the song going, fans all did 'em too. I think most people there knew the words to the
songs :) Hell, I was signing along! At the end here they finally started to take out the hoses and I figured out how to relax in the
really cramped front of the pit.. it's simple.. just stand still and lean back, just plain relax and you'll be fine.
CARNIVAL
========
Raine told the story to this song (why the story to Carnival? I'm sure the other songs would have been better to talk about, but
what the hey :]). He talked about the game you'd play walking on the sidewalk when you were a kid trying not to step on the
cracks or you'd break your mother's back and he related it to some real world thing (I was not totally focused at all times).
Good song too.
SUPERSATELLITE
==============
I think the 'Naveed' songs were better live just because they seem to have a rawer energy to them that I was really able to get
into. It's hard to explain but I hope that works for ya'. Cool song, and I was finally really getting 110% into enjoying the
awesome show with all the crazy fans around me.
NAVEED
======
When Raine started to do the "Is Gone, Is Gone, Is Gone, Is Gone" part of this amazing live song I got chills down my spine!
Wow, it was just amazing. Naveed is just one of those songs that can rival anything else live. Plus everyone sung along and I
really got into it.
BIRDMAN
=======
I've always liked this song, but I'd forgotten about it for a while, now I remember :) The crowd wasn't into it as much for some
reason, but it was still a good live song.
4AM
===
Everyone was relaxing and singing along, I love it when songs like this are played at concerts and it was perfect timing for it.
Everyone had gone nuts for a period and here everyone just sort of calmed down, cooled off and sung along every word in this
really emotional performance. I knew it would be cool live... and just as it ended I happened to mention to my friends if they
burst into "Julia", my personal favorite song by Our Lady Peace that I've never heard live, and sure enough....
JULIA
=====
I didn't think they'd play it. I always thought this was the most underrated and slightly best OLP song ever recorded to this
point. 3/4 people with me that day agree that it's their best song so I can't be confused can I? When they started playing this I
went nuts and I went horse yelling and singing really loud along with the song. Hell, I even added a part of the song that the
band didn't add live (a loud "YEAH!" during the chorus) but is on the CD. Plus I found a way to jump up and down and get
others to do it during this song... in a crowded pit at the front that's something!
Wow, I'm so glad they played it, that's probably the only time I'll hear that song live.
STARSEED
========
Having Julia and Starseed Back-to-Back is a killer idea! Having it go from the type of song 4am to these 2 songs is the best 3
songs in a row I've heard at any concert I've been at. The end of Starseed was just crazy and I think I'd almost lost my voice at
that point with my cheering and loudly singing along. At that point I was litteraly having the absolute time of my life! and then
they left....
Let me point out right here that no other band had done an encore that entire day... but the lights didn't come up and they still
hadn't played "Clumsy". Chants ranging from Encore to OLP to Clumsy went up throughout the entire crowd, and they weren't
going anywhere. OLP came back out and they went beserk again!
CLUMSY
======
I don't think I've ever heard a crowd reaction to a song better or louder than they had for Clumsy. Except maybe all those
Alanis fans cheering for You Outta Know, but who cares really about that? That part where all the instruments stop playing and
Raine just sings "I'll be waving my hand, watching you drown, watching you scream" was something to behold man! Whoa!
TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS
====================
Most people didn't know what this song was, but I did and I saw it coming. 10 minute version of it too, they dragged it out and
when they finally finished everyone gave them a big cheer and slumped their way outta there.
OLP was awesome. Raine doesn't jump around the stage like some singers, but from what I've seen the real asset he has on
stage is the emotian, he's got it, I haven't seen a singer who can top that before, seriously, that was the key. He, and the rest of
the band (they were all playing together during TNK) were really into the music and that's great. Plus they had some awesome
lighting.
I'm still soar, but what a show and so worth it! Right after the show I had a really hard time mustering up the energy to walk
over to the payphone even! That takes it all out of you.. and the next day was Canada Day at the Hill... oh well... once again it
was worth it.
The festival atmosphere is really cool and the bands were great and the amazing electricity. If you can go... THEN DO IT! All
you people in the WEST get off your asses and go get tickets ASAP! That's it for me, can't wait to see more of OLP.
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