The best things in life are free and entertaining
Kyle Benning’s experience at the many free shows during the Olympics.
By Kyle Benning [Contributor]
Even if you didn’t have tickets to a sporting event, there was still a lot to do over the magical 17 days of the 21st Winter Olympics.
The games allowed many known Canadian artists and bands to show Vancouver why they are so popular.
Like any music fan, I had planned to pack my schedule with concerts and attend as many as possible. But being a bigger sports fan, watching the sporting events changed my schedule.
The first concert I attended was Our Lady Peace at O Zone.
After standing in line for Alexisonfire for an hour and not getting in, I was a little sceptical about the rest of the concerts considering that Alexisonfire had to cancel their show.
But O Zone seemed like it would be a good venue for any concert. They had the setup on a football field which gave lots of space for lots of fans.
Our Lady Peace was welcomed with cheers and screams of approximately 20,000 fans.
One thing that really stood out at this concert was when Raine Maida told the crowd of something he encountered on his way to Richmond from Whistler.
“We were just on the outskirts of Vancouver when we saw this sign about the same size as a stop sign and it said Vancouver is free of nuclear energy. That’s pretty fucking amazing.”
For a free concert, it was worth it. But if Our Lady Peace was to have a concert here again, I wouldn’t pay more than $40 to see it.
The other concert I went to was Marianas Trench at Holland Park.
The start of the show was set back because of the Canada-Slovakia hockey game.
But the 604 band made it worth the wait. They gave the 25,000 people in the crowd one hell of a show.
Bras were being t
hrown on the stage after the first few songs and Josh Ramsay put one on the mic stand.
The concert was one of the best that I’ve ever gone to and I would pay to see them play live again.
But not all free shows are worth going to. If you can remember, the KSA paid Danny Fernendes to perform at Surrey campus at the beginning of the fall semester.
The best advice I can give is that go to the free concerts of established artists or bands because they will play more than a few good songs.
