When we heard that the Tragically Hip were coming to the Island with the Sam Roberts Band, Kyle and I didn't even need to discuss it - We were going no matter what. The icing on the cake was that it was to be an outdoor concert with two awesome local bands.
Since moving to Vancouver Island, one of the things we really miss are the frequency of concerts and shows that were available to us in Toronto.
From what we heard there were 10,000 - 12,000 tickets sold for the event. In hindsight, we should have realized that gates opening at 4 and the first band starting at 5 wasn't the greatest plan, and we should have arrived earlier than we did.
By the time we arrived the line up was already twice as long as the switch-back fenced area they had set up, and we (along with thousands of other people) lined up along a small road for almost an hour waiting to get in.
Finally about halfway through the line...
We can see the main entrance gate!
The first band, Jets Overhead, started right on time so we listened to the majority of their set from outside in line.
We made it in to see them play the last song of their set.
Kyle and I were a little ambitious and thought we would brave yet another line to get into the beer tent. After 40 minutes in that line, we got our ID's checked, were issued wristbands, and promptly left to find our friends outside the drinking area. We weren't about to wait in more lines to get drink tickets and then more lines for the actual drinks themselves.
Wristbands... but no beer.
We found Cara, Jordan, Kim and Todd as Current Swell took the stage for their set.
Tria seemed to enjoy her first concert experience - She was cheerful, laughing and dancing the whole time. Kim took her home to bed after Current Swell finished their set.
The weather started to look a little sketchy as Sam Roberts took the stage.
Despite the wind, sprinkling rain and fast-moving clouds, Sam and his band played their hearts out.... Until the concert management put the show on hold due to lightning. Sam had to leave the stage and they took down some of the equipment, all the while telling people it was "temporary."
Not surprisingly, a lot of people left. Lightning is really not a common occurrence on the island and many people decided not to take their chances and went home.
We were not those people.
We, along with the rest of the hopeful crowd, stayed to ooh and ahh over the dark clouds, thunder and lightning.
There wasn't much rain though, thank goodness.
Todd and I took pictures and videos of the lightning while we waited to see if the show would resume.
Cara and Jordan snuggled up in the blanket as it got chilly.
These stills are from a video I took of the lightning above the stage. It was pretty amazing.
An hour later, the remaining crowd began to cheer when roadies emerged to set up for the final group - The Tragically Hip were going to play after all!
Even though the lightning had mostly subsided, there were still a few bursts here and there. Unfortunately, this is not one of my photos, but it was taken during the Hip's last few songs. It was incredible to watch the sky light up and we listened to my favourite band play!
We left during the last song of their encore and made our way through the crowd to our car surprisingly easily. Exhausted, cold and running on adrenaline, we made our way home to bed. :)
