Calgary Stampede 2024

I guess this is kind of the opposite of a rainy day blog because it was an insufferable 34 degrees (celsius). It's always one or the other, there's no keeping me happy, even when the venue is indoors. Record breaking temps are record breaking temps.

I still remember my girlfriend running into the room a few months ago to tell me "HOLY SHIT! JAKE VAADELAND, SHAKEY GRAVES AND THE DEAD SOUTH ALL AT THE STAMPEDE ON THE SAME DAY". So we promptly got pre-sale tickets. We weren't really fans of Katie Pruitt or Sam Barber before the night of the show, but we certainly were after it. The night was worth the maggoty clusters of folks on the grounds, the extensive 6 hours of standing to see every artist and the late night headache of a drive home. Getting there early put us up front against the barricades to lean-on with lots of room and so we'd be as close as possible but we were gradually closed-in to our spot elbow-to-elbow as the night proceeded anyway.

Jake Vaadeland played like his normal astonishing self, being the greatest embodiment of a 50's rockabilly legend and 60s-70s country star combined as the Sturgeon River Boys provided him with the usual equally astonishing accompaniment. Next we had Katie Pruitt belting out pure loveliness, putting her heart and soul into every song with a voice to rival the pipes of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The crowd packed in tightly and grew especially large for Sam Barber as he and his band put on an eclectic performance that made the crowd roar. Sam Barber introduced me to "Jersey Giant" by Tyler Childers which is such a very lovely tune that's been on loop in my head since I heard his noble cover. He also played his cover of "Dancing The Sky" by Dani and Lizzy leaving me more choked-up than I am during my semi annual (I can't do it often) listen of "Three Wooden Crosses" by Randy Travis. To follow, Shakey Graves came out to offer us just what we paid to see as he played raw tunes while stomping on his foot-pedal-connected bass drum and tambourine. As a big Shakey fan it was an honour to hear a great little mix of old, new and even getting to hear "Late July" in early July. :) As I'm the biggest Dead South fan there ever was, it was great to see their own kick drum put on the stage and them finally walking out. It was so great to hear them again and witness a true Crawbaby (Caelum) replace the Crawdaddy himself on stage and adequately filling such large crustaceous footwear. It was amazing to finally hear songs from their new album (Chains and Stakes) played live. The Dead South also offered us a great mix of great old and new songs, finishing off the night with some typical good ol' foot stompin' cousin lovin' in the infamous "Banjo Odyssey".

I'd like to ask the Calgary Stampede to not have such an enticing lineup next year so we can avoid the heat, 6 hours of standing, messy parking and millions of people. Thanks!