Hollerado with the Sheepdogs and Free Energy at the Sound Academy on April 15th, 2011

I was able to score a free pass for another night of Pina the inside Edge; with the Sheepdogs, Free Energy, and Hollerado last Friday April 15th, at the Sound Academy.


Saskatoon classic rock band, the Sheepdogs, have become one of my recent favourites. They surely have gained a number of new fans despite the difference in genre with other bands of the night. The band shared their nostalgic 70's classic rock tinged songs including " The one you belong to", " I don't know", and " Southern Dreaming" and certainly got the audience moving. After their performance, I dropped by at their merch table. There were a number of folks there chatting with the band and expressing how awesome their performance was. So the band had been kept plenty busy before I could finally grab copy of their new album, "Learn and Burn".

Free Energy, the second opening band;  received a surprising reaction from the audience. Their front man Paul Sprangers had been "Beiberized" since I saw him back in October 2010 with Foxy Shazam and Hollerado. He used to have a hippie 70's hairstyle just like his other band members. "Beiber, Beiber!!!" -The audience yelled, the chanting echoing throughout the venue. It seemed his appearance was the only thing that the audience talked about. The crowed gained the momentum once Hollerado jumped onto the stage to support their former tour mates.  Yet it eased very quickly right after the Toronto quartet left the stage.

At long last; Hollerado hit the stage. Not only did they blast the audience with their trademark confetti - they also threw us tons of colourful glow sticks too! Unfortunately though, the audience ended up shooting them back to the stage. The band seemed not to care about it much and continued having a blast. They entertained the audience - as anticipated - with compelling energies. They also performed Neil Young's "Rockin' in the free world" just like their show back in October.  (click here to read Kanae;s review from the night.) As it was the guitarist, Nixon Boyd's birthday, the front man Menno Versteeg asked the audience to sing the Happy Birthday song - but not in the normal way. He requested us to sing it as terribly as we possibly could - which made me burst into laughter with my friends. It reminded me of how much it is fun to go to a show with very good friends to share the moment with them. If you are planning to see the band in the future, be sure to bring lots of friends to share in the awesome atmosphere the band creates!