Concert Review: Hey Rosetta!

September 19th, 2009. Bridge Street, Sackville, New Brunswick

Fellow Concert goers: David Briggins, David Marsh

Headliner: Hey Rosetta!

Supporting: Boxer The Horse, The Novaks

This show was part of Sackville Fair, an annual festival of various activities that happens in the town of Sackville, N.B. The show featured three Canadian bands, Boxer the Horse (Charlottetown, PEI), the Novaks (St. John's, NL), and Hey Rosetta! (St. John's, NL). Not bad for a town of 5 400 people. The combination of a Friday night, a university town, a beer tent, and a free concert led to an energetic and rowdy crowd. The stage, or rather the back of something that you hook up to a trunk, was small and easy to access. The lack of security meant concert goers were basically on the stage giving it an intimate feel. Boxer the Horse were the first band to play an alternative rock/folk type of set. They were followed by the Novaks who played a more traditional upbeat rock set featuring a number of snippets of other bands songs mixed in with their original set. After these two bands finished up, Hey Rosetta! came on. They wasted no time getting down to business, opening the set with I've Been Asleep For A Long, Long Time. This set the tone for what would be night full of jumping, moshing, and crowd-surfing. This was followed by Lions For Scottie from their Plan Your Escape EP, the first of many songs from the EP which would be played during the course of the night. These were followed by two slower songs, a new one as well as Death Is Quick. While the performances were great, the crowd clearly wasn't in the mood for piano based ballads. They then played Seeds, a new song that will be on their upcoming album. This song is turning into my favourite live songs, following the proven Hey Rosetta! formula of a song that builds up and by the end erupts into full band rock and roll. By the end of the song, everyone is going off playing a drum of some sort, or clanging and banging whatever they can find. Holy Shit (What A Relief) featured Romesh dancing around the stage wildly at the end of the song banging a tambourine, and trying unsuccessfully to keep his glasses from falling off. The main set finished with New Goodbye, the perfect ending to a show. The whole crowd singing in unison as things come to a close. But there was too much energy in the tent to end the show here. People were still body surfing, heads were still thrashing, and people were still having a good time. The band returned to play a pair from their EP; Swing The Cellar Doors and Another Pilot, as well as A Thousand Suns. During the final song, Adam chucked a tambourine to the fans to clap with. This was followed by another tambourine, and then another, until nine of them were passed out. Once again the band put on an amazing show, displaying why they were shortlisted for the Polaris music prize. While the stage wasn't the biggest thing in the world, and the sound system wasn't the best, they still put on an interactive and energetic performance that even someone who didn't know a single Hey Rosetta! song would still enjoy.

Setlist:

I've Been Asleep for a Long, Long Time
Lions for Scottie
Death is Quick
Glass
Seeds
Yes! Yes! Yes!
We Made a Pact
There's an Arc
Black Heart
Handshake the Gangster
Holy Shit (What a Relief)
Red Heart
Simplest Thing
New Goodbye

Encore:
Swing the cellar doors
Thousand suns
Another pilot