Waking up early Saturday morning was a bit more difficult than usual for Innisfil resident Lianne Hudon and her friends, after a late night enjoying live music at Barrie’s Kempenfest.
“This morning I was like, ‘Ow. Why do my feet hurt?’” she joked, telling BarrieToday a friend purchased tickets to see Canadian rock band The Sheepdogs, who headlined the OLG stage on Friday night.
Hudon has attended the popular three-day outdoor festival in the past, but this was the first time she attended the music part of the event. It was the first concert she’d been to since seeing Pink in 2019.
"I knew (the band) mostly from the radio, but I knew pretty well all of their songs. The show was awesome. It was so nice to be at a concert after COVID and to feel a sense of normalcy,” she said. “I was looking forward to the atmosphere of hearing people laughing and enjoying a concert together.”
At one point during the show, a concert goer in a wheelchair got the chance to crowd surf, which Hudon said was fun to witness.
“The singer said he’s done a lot of shows and had never seen a wheelchair get crowd surfed. There were so many people holding him and I thought that was pretty cool. They were just having a great time,” she said.
Vanessa Partridge, who purchased the ticket for Hudon, said the group had a great time at the show.
“The vibe was amazing and everyone was so polite,” she said. “(I was) just glad to be out at a concert, I guess. I love that these concerts are in Barrie as opposed to travelling to Toronto. I would like to see more of them at the waterfront.”
Hudon and her friends weren’t ready to go home after the concert, so they headed to a local restaurant to enjoy even more live music, she noted.
“It was just great to be able to continue to (enjoy) live music and to get to dance,” she said. “It was a really good experience.”
