Cultur re...

Must have Arts Count

JEN SWANSTON

espite warnings of rain in the forecast, the
D eighth annual Arts County Fair opened its

gates in the sunshine on April 9 at UBC's
Thunderbird Stadium. The weather held for most
of the day, and by the time a thin misting of
rain started to fall people were too drunk, stoned
or tired to really care.

The line-up for the day started with Pure
opening at 1:45, followed by the last perform-
ance of The Odds, The Planet Smashers (a ska
band from Montreal), Econoline Crush, and 54-40
to wrap it all up. At 9:30 curfew was called and
it was time for a mass exodus.

When Pure began their set, there were proba-
bly only a couple hundred people in front of the
stage and another five hundred or so milling
around claiming seating space. By the time
54-40 came on, it was next to impossible to
cross ftom one side of the stadium to the other.
Thotsands of people were in front of the stage
and a huge mosh pit had formed, with dozens of
people crowd surfing to the front lines—to be
dropped into the arms of unamused security
guards.

So too went the line for the beer and cider
gardens. At the beginning of the day there were
no lines whatsoever; by seven that evening the
lines had grown to long waits. Of course, there
were those who had the forethought to bring in
their own drinks and ‘special’ smokes and who
were more than happy to share.

What was a celebration of freedom—the end
of the school year for many—was also a farewell
to one of Vancouver's bands. Arts County Fair was
one of the last gigs The Odds will play together
as The Odds. They are taking, in singer/guitarist
Craig Northey’s words, “...an indifferent sabbati-
cal,” though they promise to be back “when the
time is right,” with a greatest hits album and a
tour to follow.

54-40 sang the praises of The Odds and dedi-
cated a set to them. Backstage, Pure shared a

Fair

few fond memories of The Odds—a band that had
both helped them and been their friends. The
Odds are not breaking up because of irreconcil-
able differences; they have just all become
involved in other things. In fact, the band could-
n't hang around to hear the other sets after their
own, because Shark Skin, an R&B band consist-
ing of Northey, bassist Dough Elliot, and drum-
mer Pat Stewart, were playing another gig later
that same night.

It was a night of endings and beginnings; The
Planet Smashers seem to have found an audience

May 1999 the Other Press

 

 

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