OUR LADY PEACE

THE SASKATOON EXHIBITION
AT PRARIELAND PARK
AUGUST 6, 2002

Saskatoon, Saskachewan

Alas, I've waited long enough to do a review of this show! Rumble (that's me!) and Bumble (that's Erika!) braved the wicked province known as Saskabush to see OLP. We took a Greyhound from Edmonton to Saskatoon the day before the concert (why do we subject ourselves to Greyhound over and over again!), and stayed with my cous.

The night before the concert was a sleep-deprived one, as there was a massive thunderstorm and Erika is a blanket hogger. The day of, we went to the circle square mall or something, for brekky, but I couldn't sit still, so at about 10.30am we decided to just go to the Ex grounds. OLP was playing the opening night at the Ex, so we wandered around the grounds unnoticed by the carnies, who were trying to set up the Ex. We found a picnic bench and sat down, about a half hour after we got there, we saw two girls going to the gates, and thought fuck it if we're going to be last in line just cause we sat down! So we walked up to them, and struck a conversation.

A little while after standing there, a guitar tech came up to us (who else could it be, he was wearing a Gibson T-Shirt), and we pestered him with questions. He was pretty nice, but he went and got a security lady who kicked us off the grounds. Whatever. So we waited, and listened to the soundcheck from the gates. Gates were at 4, and we finally got in and scored front row. Another problem? T'was a hot day, matey! We had been waiting for five hours already, and then we had another 4 hour wait until the show started. To make it worse, the security guys came up to the front row and said: "Everyone back up." We all gave them a look like: Yeah, sure, fuckers! Then they pushed the barrier back a good five feet. It royally blowed!

Danko Jones came on, and was...interesting. I entertained myself by watching backstage, and was rewarded when I saw Duncan doing some crazy ass dancing to Danko! I'm talking arm flailing here, people. So OLP finally came on, after close to 10 hours of waiting, and was great! The only thing that wasn't good about the show was that the crowd was fucking BRUTAL. The closest I've ever come to hurting that bad was the Nov 13 '99 Tea Party show, where I recieved two bruised ribs. The setlist was great, but writing this a month after the fact, I don't remember all the songs, just some. They did play Whatever, 4am, Somewhere Out There, Automatic Flowers (which Steve BUTCHERED) and Story About A Girl. I got kicked, punched, and elbowed so much that I ceased enjoying the show and had to get pulled out.

At one point in the show, Raine commented on the size of the crowd and their intensity, saying "Wow guys, this is too much! We didn't expect all this!" To which I may reply, you would if you came to Western Canada more! That's allright...Raine did climb the scaffolding holding up the stage and did come down to front row during the show, and all in all, it was an enjoyable experience. By far not the best OLP show I've been to, but bang-up.


Pictures to come shortly.


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