Riegling, Sloan, 54-40 rock the Clinton Spring Fair

BY SCOTT STEPHENSON

The Clinton Spring Fair has been unofficially kicking off Huron County’s agricultural fair season for 170 years now, and it’s safe to say it’s mastered the art of bringing people together to celebrate everything that makes Clinton, and the surrounding area, special. Its annual demolition derby is one of the season’s best smash-ups, its livestock display shows off some of the county’s best edible animals, and its homecraft exhibition is home to some truly competitive pies.

 

There’s always a ton of great entertainment at the Clinton Spring Fair, but this year, organizers went big by booking three fantastic musical acts for Saturday night that were certain to appeal to a wide swath of fair-goers - Owen Riegling, Sloan, and 54-40. Concert organizer Peter Meades, of The Run Room in Clinton, was surely pleased to see what a tremendous turn-out there was for the show. The crowds came out in force, lining up early outside the Eastlink Arena, and lingered at the end, shouting for a second encore - both signs of a successful event.

 

First up was the pride of Mildmay - up-and-coming country star Owen Riegling, who had recently returned to the area following his first big tour. Concert-goers like high school student Tanner Brooks had come just to see Riegling’s act, and there were more than a few fans in the audience who felt the same way - you could tell from all the people wearing t-shirts with Riegling’s name on them. His crowd may have skewed to the younger demographic, but folks of all ages got into his country-rock vibe. The young singer-songwriter opened with his newest song, “Moonshines”, which is already on its way to becoming a big hit, and went on to play all the tunes he’s become known for, including “Old Dirt Roads”, his biggest song to date. At the end of his performance, Riegling finished off with one of his trademark moves - asking anybody and everybody over to his merch table so he could meet them.

 

Iconic Canadian rock band Sloan came on next, delivering one hit after another with the polish and stage presence one would expect from the band that concert-goer Connor Brooks described as “the Canadian Beatles”. Sloan is based out of Toronto, but several of its members, including frontman Chris Murphy, originally hail from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Halifax wasn’t a huge draw for musical acts back in the day - both Murphy and band member Jay Ferguson remember how much it mattered to them when there was a big show to attend. “Everybody would go,” Ferguson recalled. Murphy confirmed how much a great band’s presence in town meant to him as a young person in Halifax. “You’d just love them forever.” Sloan’s longtime tour manager, Mike Nelson, has traveled with the band to gigs all over the country, and has always found that there’s something special about taking the rural route. “Sometimes, the most memorable shows are often kind of on the periphery of things.” And a memorable show it was! Sloan has released so many incredible songs since the early 1990s, and it seemed like they played all of them on Saturday. From “Coax Me” to “The Good in Everyone” to “The Rest of My Life” to “Money City Maniacs” and so many more, it’s impossible to deny the infectious rock-and-roll excellence of one of Canada’s best bands. They certainly made more than a few young people into fans with their performance.

 

54-40 got their start in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, and has been rocking the airwaves since the 1980s. Over the years, they’ve had four albums go platinum, and been nominated for eight Juno Awards. A lot of Huron County’s 54-40 fans came out to Clinton dressed in well-worn t-shirts they’d acquired at one concert or another over the years - a clear indication they were ready to party. Founding member and bassist Brad Merritt explained before the show why the band still gets excited to bring music to the people. “We’re grateful for the experience,” he said. “I still approach what we do from a fan’s perspective. You look for community, you look for your tribe. You look for like-minded people. We’re all in this together.” 54-40’s tribe certainly came out to Clinton on Saturday. After their encore, which included mega-hit “I Go Blind”, people were still shouting for more, only leaving the arena after the house lights had come up and the bar had begun shutting down.