COUNTRY THUNDER
Festival recovers after bumpy start
CALGARY Kim Blevins understands the tried, trite but true statement that you get only one chance to make a first impression.
But she thinks that by the time the final note would have been played on Sunday night during the inaugural and sold-out Country Thunder Alberta that Calgarians would be left with a lasting impression that would make them ready to return for a second helping.
That’s why the director of marketing for the music festival, which took place this past weekend in the city’s northeast Prairie Winds Park and wasn’t without its birthing issues, confirmed that the event would return next year for an Aug. 18 to Aug. 20 repeat showing.
“Absolutely,” said Blevins early into Sunday’s festivities, when asked about a repeat appearance of the festival. The event is part of the festival conglomeration that includes Country Thunder Arizona, Country Thunder Wisconsin and the Craven Country Jamboree.
In fact, tickets are now on sale from the website, (www.countrythunder.com) and were available on-site before this year’s show had even come to a close.
And before Sunday headliner Luke Bryan had even played his first, highly anticipated tune, it was already announced that Blake Shelton had been booked for the sophomore Country Thunder Alberta. Again, it might be a surprise to those who were put off by the rocky start to the weekend, with Friday’s show marred by long lineups for everything from age-verification bracelets to purchasing the tickets for all of the food and beverage vendors on-site to actually acquiring those refreshments.
Blevins blames such factors as being tasked with putting on an inner-city festival as opposed to a camping event, such as Craven, as well as factors out of their control including the construction “that they’re doing to this beautiful park.”
Things had improved greatly on Saturday, with added beer vendors spread throughout the site to alleviate some of those lines, allowing people to enjoy the music.
On Sunday, things seemed to be running even smoother, with the 17,500 country music fans at the northeast park having an almost uniformly positive experience — helped in part by the one thing organizers couldn’t control, the amazing weather.
Everything else, well, Blevins, chalks that up to a learning experience.
“Any time you do something new, you think you know what you’re doing and sometimes you just have to learn on the go,” she said.
“And that’s what we had to do this weekend. But I’ve gotta say the people who have come to the show have been incredibly patient and incredibly welcoming to us, and we’ve just tried to improve day after day and I think we’ve done that.
“And it’s turned out to be a fantastic weekend.” Angela Kernaghan agreed. The 32-year-old mother of three from Revelstoke, who was attending with some girlfriends, admits she was put off by Friday’s staging but wound up being impressed with the reaction to those first night complaints.
“I will come back,” she said simply, while waiting for poutine from one of the food trucks on-site. “It will be better next year ... they’re going to learn.”
And ultimately Kernaghan and most everyone else in attendance weren’t about to complain about the musical lineup, itself, with such rising and established stars as Lindsay Ell, Big Rich, Chris Young, Tim McGraw, Bobby Wills and Jess Moskaluke.
Sunday was no exception, the B.C. native admitting headliner Bryan was the reason she’d made the trip and ditched her family for the weekend. Which brings us to that man. Bryan was the reason most were there, and his Sunday, closing slot was all that organizers hoped it would be. The Georgiaborn superstar was, well, a superstar and a perfect show-closer.
It was nice. Very much like the man, himself, and the mood he managed to create in a park that had seen its fair share of something else on this weekend.
It was a wonderful last impression.
And, Country Thunder hopes, a lasting impression.
Any time you do something new, you think you know what you’re doing and sometimes you just have to learn on the go.