FFWD Weekly
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Music by FFWD Staff Those people who have grown accustomed to spending a lazy sunny Folk Festival afternoon sippin’ suds and enjoying the sounds of Blue Rodeo need not lament the band’s omission from this year’s lineup. You’ll still get your dose of the Canadian alt country act when they bring their Stardust Picnic to Calgary on Friday, July 2 at Canada Olympic Park. The touring event, which began as a merger between The Stardust Ball – an annual Blue Rodeo show at Historic Fort York in Toronto – and The Great Big Picnic – an annual event in the Maritimes featuring Great Big Sea – will be making its way across Canada and stopping in seven cities. The lineup for the Calgary show features Blue Rodeo, Great Big Sea, Ron Sexsmith, Neko Case, and Guster. Like Lilith Fair and Edgefest, there will also be a second stage for local and smaller acts with performers being announced closer to the date of the show. According to Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keelor, besides being an opportunity to tour the band’s forthcoming double live CD, Just Like A Vacation (scheduled for release June 8), this year’s cross-Canada Stardust Picnic is also an opportunity to hold their own mini folk festival. "The last few years we’ve been doing the Calgary Folk Festival and I’m actually going to miss it because I love going to it," he says, also acknowledging the positive experiences of the Winnipeg and Edmonton festivals. "I love doing the workshops and meeting all the musicians and just hanging out.... We always made a point of going for a couple of days. "Learning from those sort of events and just how nice it is to have a place where people can get together, have a couple of pints and listen to some music – it’s not much more than that." Ensuring that the pints are flowing freely is the inclusion of co-headliners, East Coast troublemakers Great Big Sea, who will also be celebrating the release of a new album (due in stores June 22). "They’re a little messy – it’s hard to keep ’em clean," Keelor jokes. "Actually, they’re more fun after the show, that’s why we like to play with them.... They like to sit around the hotel room and drink the rum and pass the guitar around, and that’s always a good education." Tickets for the one-day event will go on sale Saturday, April 24 at all TicketMaster locations.

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