Bridge XIII Music Festival

Walking down King St. in Welland and seeing two outdoor stages and The Bank Art House ready to put on a big rock show really made me smile. With support from The City of Welland and Niagara Region, the organizers put on a very successful Bridge XIII Festival. I was working as a stagehand for most of this festival at The Bank Art House and got to meet, support and watch many excellent local bands from side stage. The talented, keen-eared Derek Nelson was on the soundboard and did a great job of making everyone sound great. If you haven't been to The Bank Art House or even if you haven't been in a while, do yourself a favour and go see a show as their sound system is world-class. The Bank Art House is locally owned by some of the nicest venue owners I've met. They are truly invested in supporting the local music scene and I, for one, applaud them.

The diversity of the different acts and the dedication to their performances was truly inspiring. From the opener Matty C with just an acoustic guitar and a microphone to heavy metal, grunge, and some seriously legit punk too. Handwringer, Us Alike, Hebridean, Backseat Dragon, Elk Puncher, Mindswell, They Call It Chaos, and Rawls Royce each had their own unique sound and left it all on the stage. The local music scene was on full display in all its glory. It reminded me of the SCENE Festival in downtown St. Catharines back in the nineties/noughties that inspired yours truly to start a band. Support for this kind of festival that brings talent and appreciators together is vital for a thriving music scene. Well done everyone!

Many would-be fans of these talented acts don't always know when small shows are happening. This is likely because promotion costs are not always in the budget for bands starting out. Even for well-established bands, it is getting harder to fund these creative endeavours. Let's just say that this festival did a fantastic job and it was very heartening to see all the smiling faces in the crowd and onstage alike. Bands got new fans and fans found new favourites.

Once 'Rawls Royce' were set up and ready to rock, I headed to the front-of-house soundboard to take in what the community had been enjoying all day. And what a treat! These guys were high energy, they were tight and they write great songs to boot! Somewhere in the realm of pop-punk rawk but less formulaic and with melodic sophistication that made them stand above the rest in that genre. The crowd ate it up and it was such a great time for everyone, including the band and the staff. The whole day was phenomenal. Looking forward to the next one!