This week’s What's On centers around the city’s Canada Day celebrations at Lakeview Park on Saturday, July 1. Celebrations of place are the perfect opportunity to see what that place has to offer, and while it's hard to contain all of what Oshawa has on a single stage (this city is so diverse and not just in terms of people, but in geography and history), and the staff at City Hall do a bang up job of this event.
We have just gotten off the Fiesta caravan, where the diversity of people and history are so well celebrated. Of course, Pride Month and National Indigenous Month are coming to a close, so now is the perfect time for all to converge by the water and celebrate those voices which make Oshawa such a unique place. Along with the fireworks, booths, activities, and food, there will, of course, be the music. And, of course, you already know my thoughts on how song is the best way to convey the story of a place.
The music begins at 2 p.m. and goes until close to 10 p.m., bringing us all to fireworks time. The last band is the explosive Excuses Excuses, a three-piece act of rock ‘n rollers who met in Kingston attending school; Kyle Wilton on vox/guitar, Trevor Brown on bass, and Jason Nicoll on drums. Their debut album ‘Listen Up’ is out, and they’ve been touring. I know this group of punk ne'er-do-wells, well worth sticking around for.
The entertainment begins with Whitby’s 21-year-old pop rocker Matt Doran who already has two albums out, ‘Can You Hear Me’ from 2019 and this year’s release ‘Bloom.’
Next up is Wolves on Tape. By their socials, it looks like they are primarily a cover band doing some modern alt-pop hits. They have one single out, ‘Violet,’ a nice rocker, and the singer has a Dallas Green-y timbre. One to watch.
Tunes start again at 5 p.m. with local supergroup Penalty Box running through their vast repertoire of songs. These pros can cover anyone, and of course, bassist and singer Rob Laidlaw has played with a bunch of bands, including Platinum Blonde. Penalty Box has also locked down Ted Davidson on guitar/vocals and Craig Stacey on drums/vocals—lots of talent between these kats.
New Moon Junction is a three-piece Country band billed as a combo of Little Big Town and Fleetwood Mac. They are on at six.
The party gears up at 7 p.m. with Midnight Council, a five-piece covering all the classic rock favourites, from the Monkees to the Doobies, guaranteed to get you up on the grass.
Morningside leads into the night at 8 p.m. A four-piece of all-out alt-rockers, these kats have been around in different bands and bring it all together for catchy sing-a-longs, big tracks here.
And thus, we close on Canada Day in Oshawa with the aforementioned Excuses Excuses and the boom boom bang of celebratory fireworks.
Elsewhere the theatres are quiet, pubs will have their roster, and of course, the Atria will have its own stamp on the weekend with the Haileys, Circle the City, and Goddess on June 29 and Dammit Goldie on June 30.
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