www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, June 30, 2010 · 20 Artscene By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Sign up now for guitar, bass, drums, and piano OAKVILLE'S MUSIC STORE Celebrate Canada Day in Bronte Village E xpect to see a sea of red and white this Thursday in Bronte Village as Oakville celebrates Canada Day 2010. The July 1 festivities will take place from morning to night at the Bronte Heritage Waterfront Park and will end with a fireworks show. There will also be live music, food, a beer garden and much more great family entertainment such as face painting, bouncy castles, BMX skate park and presentations from Canadian Olympic athletes. The entertainment begins at 11:30 a.m., but there will also be a Lions Annual Pancake Breakfast in the gazebo at 8 a. m. Pancakes will be served for a donation. The day will offer two stages of entertainment, one at the Main Stage in the park and the other at Centriller Square Stage on Lakeshore Road. The headlining act of the main stage is Ronnie and the Jets. The band will play from 9-10:10 p.m. leading right up to the fireworks. The main stage will also feature a kids' show at 11:30 a.m., Belly Up performances starting at 12:30 p.m., Powderfinger at 2:15 p.m., a dignitary address with a cupcake giveaway at 3:15 p.m., Bare Blue Sea at 3:30 p.m., Live Wire at 4:45 p.m., Groove Marmalade at 6 p.m., a presentation by Olympic athletes Gillian Apps and Karen Cockburn at 7 p.m., Ride the Tiger at 7:30 p.m. and the mayor's address at 8:30 p.m. The Centriller Stage will feature Rhythm and Bones at noon, Steve Denommee at 1:15 p.m., The Cameltones at 2:30 p.m. and MLC at 3:45 p.m. and autograph signings by the Olympians at 5 p.m. There will also be local vendors in the park. The Kinsmen Club of Oakville will serve hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, baked potatoes and nachos. There will also be a licenced beer garden. All proceeds raised will support local charities, including Habitat for Humanity, Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Kerr Street Ministries and The Salvation Army. People are asked to wear red and to either walk or take the bus if possible as there will be road restrictions. Parking is free. For more information, visit www.brontevillage.net. OAKVILLE BEAVER FILE PHOTO HAPPY BIRTHDAY: The crowd on the Bronte Harbour Pier watches as spectacular fireworks over Lake Ontario culminate the annual Canada day celebrations in Bronte Village Heritage Waterfront Park on July 1, 2009. A variety of activities -- and fireworks -- will be part of this year's celebration. For information, visit www.brontevillage.net. Bare Blue Sea to perform amid the sea of red and white By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF This Canada Day there will be no end of Canuck talent and creativity as a local group will hit the stage to perform covers exclusively of Canadian band classics. The Bare Blue Sea is one of the many bands that will perform at the Oakville Canada Day celebrations in Bronte Village on July 1. The folk-rock band will perform hit tunes from the nation's artists such as Barenaked Ladies, Blue Rodeo and Great Big Sea -- bands from which it takes its own name. But the band covers many more artists such as The Tragically Hip, Gordon Lightfoot, Joel Plaskett, The Guess Who, Spirit of the West, Carole Pope, Crash Test Dummies and many more. "It's a mix of older and newer tunes," said Robin Smith, co-lead vocalist who plays the guitar, keyboard, mandolin and harmonica for the band. Smith is also the only Oakville resident of the quartet. The others reside in Burlington. "I like doing the Blue Rodeo stuff myself," he added of his band's repertoire. "The High Robin Smith S c h o o l Confidential song by Rough Trade is a bit of a fun song. We do Bruce Cockburn's Tokyo. I enjoy doing that as well." The band has been around for about a year but as a trio. However, there was a shuffle of band members with some leaving and some coming in, including Smith as a new addition, until the band's current lineup, which formed in January. This will also be the reformed band's first public show. The band now consists of Steve Dénommée on lead vocals, guitar and harmonica; Bob Moor on drums, percussion and vocals; and Ian Murray on bass and vocals. The band is the brainchild of Dénommée, said Smith. "It was actually Steve Dénommée, when I met him he was really into CanCon Canadian Content," he said. "He's really into Canadian music and I've always been aware myself that there's a heck of a lot of Canadian talent." Smith added, "I always enjoyed music by Neil Young, we also do a Neil Young tune, and I've played a lot of Neil Young myself and also I like some Guess Who so there's a lot of great music and when I finally met him it suddenly hit me, yeah, this is a great idea, I'd like to join a band that plays music of Canadian artists." Smith said he doesn't know of any other band that does exclusively Canadian-made music. "I thought we provide an interesting angle on the entertainment end of things," he said. All the members have performed prior to joining this band, either through solo work, with other bands or both. Bare Blue Sea will perform at the Bronte Heritage Park Stage at 3:30-4:30 p.m. Performances are scheduled to run from noon until after 10 p.m. on the stage. Performances include a kids show and a Belly Up performance, Powderfinger, Live Wire, Groove Marmalade, Ride the Tiger, Ronnie and the Jets and other presentations. The Centriller Stage will also have performances from noon until early evening, including Rhythm and Bones, Dénommée, The Cameltones and MLC. For more information, visit www.barebluesea.com or www.brontevillage.net.