Friday night was the kick-off for the third annual Revelree Music Festival, drawing hundreds of festival goers from across the country into the heart of Sarnia's Canatara Park for the two-day event. Friday started with a line-up that included Avalon Stone, Loviet, Teigen Gayse, The Trews and headliners The Goo Goo Dolls.
Doors opened at 5 p.m. to an excited crowd, greeted with Avalon Stone performing right from the jump. Stone is an up-and-coming musician hailing from Kitchener ON. After being a finalist in the 2024 “Road to Revelree” event, she was one of two artists who won her spot in the festival's line-up (the second was Sarnia’s own Strange Times who will perform on Saturday). Stone’s performance swiftly sett the tone for the rest of the evening, with many in the audience commenting on her style being reminiscent of bands such as The Cranberries, Alice in Chains, and Smashing Pumpkins.
Up next was Toronto’s Loviet, gracing the crowd with softer tones of an indie/alternative sound quite similar to Stone's. Loviet’s performance gracefully took the reins, maintaining that high energy among the growing crowd.
Contrasting the previous act’s 90s grunge influence, Teigen Gayse hit the audience with her classic Country sound. In between original songs Gayse would cover popular hits like “Old Town Road'' and “Party In The USA."
The crowd was eager for Canadian legends and Sarnia favourites The Trews. Just before their arrival the audience nearly doubled in size. The band pulled out songs from their entire catalogue spanning from their original hit album, “House of Ill Fame'' to their most recent, “Wanderer” which was released in 2021.
Currently the band is nearly halfway through their summer tour, even with the non-stop shows night-to-night they still delivered to the enthusiastic crowd. Their energy was fantastic and you could feel how the audience was influenced, although not the headliners, their performance for many concert goers was the best of the evening. With their interactions with the crowd – including jumping down and singing along at the barrier level – it's not hard to see why they were fan favourites of the night.
After much anticipation, The Goo Goo Dolls came up for what was their first performance in Sarnia. Playing a variety of hits such as “Broadway” and “Sympathy” among countless others – for what ended up being over an hour-long setlist – the band capped off with their most famous song “Iris.”
With its sombre lyrics and inspiring tone giving a nearly perfect send off to a nearly flawless opening day.
The festival concludes Saturday with Strange Times, Buck Twenty, The Castellows, Gavin Degraw, and Brett Young. Tickets can be purchased online through the Revelree website.