Hey Rosetta! and Yukon Blonde at Centre In The Square

Photographs by Lee-Ann Richer.

Centre In The Square is showing off their new “On Stage” setup with Canadian acts like Danny Michel & Jeremy Fisher, Skydiggers, Steve Hill with Paul Reddick and Hey Rosetta! & Yukon Blonde. 

The new “On Stage” presentation holds 600 general admission guests as opposed to their usual almost 3000 seats. The 180 degree swing has the band facing the back of the auditorium on one of Canada’s largest indoor stages. This configuration allows for a huge dance floor, and also permits concert goers to get up close to view their favourite performers.  They have found a great way to appeal a younger demographic than the people I generally see attending shows at Centre In The Square.  

There were two bars, in addition to small selection of round tables to accommodate standing patrons.  If you didn’t feel like standing there were bleachers with chairs in the back. Even sitting in these seats, the view was exceptional.   

On Tuesday November 17^th Hey Rosetta! and opening band Yukon Blonde took advantage of this new format, much to the pleasure of their sold out crowd. 

Yukon Blonde originally from Kelowna, BC now based in Vancouver is a Canadian Indie rock quintet. They started the evening at 8 pm. Their 10 song set contained the songs “Confused”, “Make U Mine”, “Como”, “Wind Blows”, “Hanna”, “Saturday Night”, “Radio”, “I Wanna Be Your Man”, “Favourite People” and “Stairway”. Their unique soft rock style kept their fans entertained. The sound was clear and the band did their best to get the somewhat subdued crowd moving. 

Yukon Blonde collaborated with Hey Rosetta on their 2015 release of “Land You Love”. This was a protest song written by Hey Rosetta! front man Tim Baker about the federal election. The anti-Harper video of the song ends with a sign saying “Anything But Conservative”. 

After a brief intermission Hey Rosetta! started the evening with spot style laser lighting and they also had a collection of very large clear light bulbs (looked like over 20), decorating the stage. 

The seven piece Canadian band from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador lead by singer/songwriter Tim Baker has a style that crosses into several defining categories. A little bit rock, a little bit indie, a little bit pop! Their song are heavily layered and with a variety of instruments such as piano, cello, brass and violin.  Unfortunately it was hard to notice the different instruments as it was sometimes difficult to pick out any definition. However their fans happy and many were singing along with all the songs.

Their set list included songs “Promise”, “Gold Teeth”, “Young Glass”, “What Arrows”, “Soft Offering  (For the Oft Suffering)”, “Handshake the Gangster”, “Alcatraz”, “Harriet”, “Red Heart”, “Lions for Scottie”, “Carry Me Home” and “New Goodbye”. Their three song encore started with Yukon Blonde performing “Land You Love”. The final two were performed by Hey Rosetta!. The songs were “Welcome” and “Stand by Me”.

Thanks again to Aleta Wilson for her hospitality and assistance during this show!