Saturday was the third and final night of Bluewater Borderfest 2024, where Our Lady Peace, Scott Stapp of Creed, Finger Eleven and I Mother Earth rocked Centennial Park.
The largest crowd of the three nights packed the park, through the rain and humidity, with the standing VIP section completely full.
I Mother Earth came on stage shortly after doors opened. With their mix of funk and prog inspired songs easing the crowd into what was yet to come with the next three bands.
Finger Eleven jumped in with a bang to much praise from festival-goers — with many Sarnians already quite familiar with the band, having played at the 2022 Borderfest alongside Our Lady Peace. The set continued with many similar funk elements to I Mother Earth but much more harsher alt-rock tones. At this point the crowd was nearly full capacity in anticipation of Scott Stapp and Our Lady Peace.
It didn’t take long for Scott Stapp of Creed fame to come on stage, jumping into several songs off his latest independent record “Higher Power.” He would play four of Creed’s best hits: “Arms Wide Open,” “Higher,” “One Last Breath,” and finally, “My Sacrifice,” as the audience sane along.
“Tonight I could feel the connection I had performing for this amazing city and its people,” Scott Stapp later said.
The crowd’s anticipation grew more with the final band of the weekend approaching, though the evening’s humidity was taking its toll. Unlike the previous two nights, the night was extremely hot — so much that you could see steam come from the huge crowd for the little bursts of rain that came intermittently throughout the night. Luckily, the security and a paramedic team were swift in assisting audience members and no one was seriously injured.
After security made sure several audience members near the front got water, Our Lady Peace finally came on stage. Cheers from the front all the way from the front to the back, the hills surrounding erupted; this was the band everyone had been waiting for since night one.
The band’s performance was epic, even from as far back as the hills you could hear the audience sing to nearly every song almost acting like a choir.
Capping off the evening, the audience begged for an encore, the first the festival had seen in the previous days. The band happily came back and performed two more songs until their final goodbye and the festival’s end. This high note perfectly ended a stellar weekend brought on by festival staff, countless volunteers, sponsors and vendors. With a much needed break for the crew, the people of Sarnia and beyond are already anticipating what next year has to bring.
Dani Duesbury is a recent Lambton College grad covering Bluewater Borderfest for The Journal.