Back to the Garden

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Back to the Garden is a summer music festival event near Dorchester/Ingersol hosted by Brent Jones and his parents on their farm. It's an opportunity for local bands to get together and share their music -- peformers are donating their time. On a sunny summer day it's a lot of fun. We went for the free Sunday event, there is an opportunity to donate, but there was also a Saturday concert in the barn (we missed that).

This is the second time we've been here but apparently this has been an ongoing event since 2001. Since our last visit things have changed a bit. The barn is now a great concert space and there are very nice well equipped outdoor rest/washrooms with flush toilets in an outbuilding rather than porta-potties.

Today there's music on a well equipped out door stage (it's not sheltered so thankfully we had sunny weather) as well as events in the barn -- you can skip back and forth to find the music you're interested in. There's a nest of barn swallows hungrily called for food that accompany music in the barn.

There are some vendors outside and some food wagons but we've brought sandwiches, drinks and our portable sun shade. We recall working on our sun burn years past. It's an all ages thing so there are kids there as well. Lots of dancers, some even in time with the music.

It's a bit of a "secret party" and does not attract huge crowds. There's good attendance, but they have room to host many more.

We were impressed by the music we heard and grateful to Brent and his family for hosting.

River Rock

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River Rock is an annual music festival organized by Sean Camp. We've been a few times and like it. Not too big, not too crowded, not too far and if the weather is right it's a good outing right here in St Marys.

Sean has had this event in his yard for the last three years or so on the River Road north of St Marys but this year he's got support (or at least approval) from the town of St Marys to have the event in Lion's Park in a large green space by the old rail way bridge along Rice Lake (the river and dam in town). It's in town, with some local talent as well as some impressive bands from around Ontario and it's a lovely weekend. So of course we go.

There are some impressive bands. Two that blew me away were "Dead Flowers" and the "Lemon Bucket Orkestra".

Dead Flowers is a cover band that does Rolling Stones tunes. Sean tells me he didn't want to bring a cover band but these guys are really good. And they are. They play tunes from what I would call the "Golden Age" of the Rolling Stones -- my youth.

For a bit of the Pogues meets the Balkans frenzy the Lemon Bucket Orkestra, from Toronto, bring a good measure of crazy infectious tunes (cf. Gogol Bordello) to the closing night. We didn't stay until the end, Sean tells me they got the entire audience involved.

The event wasn't well attended, really unfortunate. But those who were there had a good time. We hope Sean can continue organizing this event in years to come.

McMichael Collection

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Our niece Paula, in the photo at left, was visiting family in Toronto on her way west. We met her at the north end of the subway line and spent the day at the McMichael Collection in Kleinburg. Lots of really beautiful Canadian art.

Mind you the collection on the second floor of the AGO is pretty impressive as well.

One ought to see both.