The Sheepdogs and that epic traffic jam
YOU MAY REMEMBER the last time the Sheepdogs played a free concert in Hamilton. It was Friday, Aug. 5, 2011 — the night of the epic traffic jam.
The Festival of Friends had the remarkable good fortune of booking the shaggyhaired rockers from Saskatoon to play on the opening night of its grand relocation to the Ancaster Fairgrounds.
When the booking was made that spring, the band was barely known, playing tiny clubs like The Casbah to only 50 people. By the summer, however, the Sheepdogs’ retro brand of guitar rock had caught fire.
On that same August day, the Sheepdogs had made the cover of prestigious U.S. rock magazine Rolling Stone. And, it seemed, everyone in Hamilton decided to drop their dinner dishes, hop in the car and drive up to Ancaster to see them.
The resulting conflagration brought the 403 to a standstill for hours. More than 20,000 people made it inside the fairgrounds for the Sheepdogs. Thousands more were forced to turn their cars around and go back to those dishes they left soakter, in the sink.
“I remember it well,” says Sheepdogs lead singer Ewan Currie. “We were caught in it just like everyone else. We had to get people to let our car through. We almost didn’t make it to our own show.”
Six years, three Junos and a few gold records later, the Sheepdogs are returning to Hamilton for another free concert, this time headlining the opening night (Friday) of Supercrawl, the ninth annual version of the three-day music, art, theatre and fashion bash on James Street North. They’ll be on the main stage at King and James at 10:45 p.m.
HERE’S SOME ADVICE — leave early and don’t drive. Take the bus, GO train, bicycle or just walk. Take anything but your car.
The band, long a favourite in the Hamilton area, is promising a potent Friday night show. Expect a huge crowd.
“The Sheepdogs is a very powerful show,” says Currie, 33, from his current home in Toronto. “We’re a band that has logged thousands of hours together.”
If for some reason, local fans can’t make it to the Friday night show, they shouldn’t fret. They can still catch the Sheepdogs spinoff band BROS on the main stage Saturday night at 9:45 p.m.
BROS IS THE CREATION of Currie and his younger brother Shamus, principle keyboard player and multi-instrumentalist for the Sheepdogs. The two moved from Saskatchewan to Toronto a couple of years ago after completing the last Sheepdogs album, “Future Nostalgia.”
The two brothers found they had time on their hands before the album release and started, for the first time, writing songs together.
Shamus, a late addition to the Sheepdogs lineup, had a different musical background than older brother Ewan, studying at the prestigious music faculty of Toronto’s Humber College. As well as his proficiency on the keyboards and guitar, he is a capable trombone player.
So the BROS have a much funkier, less guitar-oriented sound than the Sheepdogs. They will appear at Supercrawl as a ninepiece band, complete with three horns and a percussionist.
As can be heard on the BROS’ lead-off single ,“Tell Me,” the band also has a lighing pop-oriented sound. Some may call it yacht rock.
It shows a side to Sheepdog Ewan that some may find surprising.
“I enjoy the yacht rock genre,” Ewan says. “I don’t like it when people over-intellectualize rock music. It’s like a nice cold lager beer. You don’t have to put much thought into it. Rock ’n’ roll is not that complicated.
“I’m like the least metal guy in the world,” Ewan continues. “I like Elton John, Burt Bacharach and Henry Mancini. I love soft music and orchestration. That’s a big part of my record collection.
Don’t worry, Sheepdog fans. All is not lost. Ewan draws the line at Barry Manilow. You will not find a copy of “At the COPA” in his collection.