Although Blue Rodeo didn’t pack the seats at Affinity Place as much as anticipated, the band put on an excellent show for over 800 guests on Jan. 15, and attracted a crowd of its most ardent local fans. The band’s set entailed a variety of songs from many of the albums in their extensive discography, including several songs from their newest album, 1000 Arms.
“I’ll admit, the size of the crowd was a little disappointing. We were hoping for more people to attend, since Blue Rodeo is a storied Canadian band with 15 albums,” said leisure services manager Nathan Jesse, during Sunday night’s concert. “We thought that more fans would come out.”
Although there weren’t as many guests as anticipated, the enthusiasm in the audience was palpable and infectious. The audience showed a unanimously high level of excitement for the performances of both Blue Rodeo and the night’s opening act, Ron Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins.
A particularly robust round of applause was heard as Blue Rodeo entered the stage, and that same applause bookended each of the 25 songs on the band’s set list, from Heart at the beginning of the show, to Lost, the song that ended the band’s performance.
Jesse said he and the rest of those who worked to make the concert happen were grateful to all of those who did attend, given that it is a great deal of work to bring a band as famous and in demand as Blue Rodeo, to a city the size of Estevan.
“There was a good feeling out there, in the crowd, on the floor, and they were pretty engaged out there,” said Jesse. “I think that although there weren’t many people out there, there were a lot of true-blue fans of Blue Rodeo in the audience tonight. They all knew the catalogue, and were excited to see them.”
Earlier in the night, Ron Hawkins and The Do Good Assassins, a Toronto band, warmed up the crowd, playing songs with a similar sound to those which Blue Rodeo played; songs that blended rock, country folk and numerous other musical styles.
Jesse emphasized how impressed he was with the performance by Hawkins and his band, noting that they were chosen as the opening act only a week before performance.
He added, “The opening act was really solid. I didn’t know they’d be that good. They’ve got a lot of talent.”
