Beau’s Oktoberfest 2013: lederhosens, craft brews and rocking tunes
Funny hat, check. Free Pretzel token, check. Beer tokens, check. Bus ride up to Vankleek Hill for Beau’s Oktoberfest, check. Let the fun begin. With an abundance of delicious beer on tap as far as the eye could see and the Canadian king of polka, Walter Ostanek, delighting us on stage, Oktoberfest was in full swing.
I grabbed myself a pint and made my way to the keg toss event. The event, which had more rules than I thought, was won with Beau’s Oktoberfest record-breaking 38 foot throw. Afterwards, as the exploring continued, my friends and I found a large group of people holding steins on a stage. Turned out to be a contest to see who could hold a full stein without bending their arm for the longest. We all started picking favourites to win. My friends opted for the more muscular and fit people, I looked for the best form. In the end we were all wrong, but it was fun to watch. We also came across another keg toss, but this time height was now the goal not distance. Later on, I failed to convince my buddy’s girlfriend to let me carry her in the spouse carrying obstacle course race. We could have been contenders! All that to say, there was a lot of fun to be had beyond the delicious drinks, food and music. How about that music… With the smell of suds in the air, and on most patrons breaths, it was time for some local tunes. The Balconies delivered a kick ass set. Lead singer and guitarist Jacquie’s stage presence, a combination of Holy McNarland meets Joan Jett, commands attention. They rocked out with a ton of energy and the crowd that gathered was really into it. I absolutely loved their song, The Slo. Great riffs combined with eerie “woo hoo ooos.”
Young Rival where up next. They had a beautiful sound and great jamming tunes. The trio from Hamilton had the crowd swaying side to side and bobbing their heads. I really got into their song Better Things To Do. The highlight of their set for me was their pretty rad cover of The Deadly Snakes‘s ”I Can’t Sleep at Night.” I discovered The Deadly Snakes about a decade ago at Bluesfest with my dad, when the event was still around city hall. I love seeing a band that I’m starting to get into cover a more obscure band I have liked for years.
I was exploring and catching up with friends, and sadly missed out on most of the Juno Award winners’ The Sadies set. What I heard was good as always. Anyone else check them out? What did you think? While I was missing The Sadies, I was checking out some pretty sweet mini-pipe skateboarding going on in the back thanks to Antique Skate Shop. Kathleen Edwards closed out the night. The Ottawa sweetheart was funny, lively and interacting with the crowd as always. Her and her band played an excellent set to cap off a night that full of delicious beer, grub and tunes. I truly enjoyed ”Change the Sheets,” off her new album Voyageur. As the band played the song we were blasted with warm greens and purple lights. Another awesome track she played off her new album, an album that made it to #2 on Canadian Billboard charts and #3 on American Folk Billboard charts, was ”Chameleon/Comedian” which had an absolutely epic finale. I was blown away by the musicianship and power of the ending. Later on in the set as the night drew closer and closer to its conclusion, Kathleen sent us off into the crisp October night with the haunting ”Goodnight California.” After a night of sampling various pallet tickling brews, I must say that my favourite was Dr. Hyde, a 7% Roggenbier which is a Bavarian rye beer. It was very tasty and did not taste as strong as it was, then again I’m a sucker for a rye beer. The most surprisingly tasty beer was Smokin’ Banana Peels. The official description is an intense banana aroma, a classic characteristic of a Weissbier, that has been matched with a bacon-like smokiness of a Rauchbier. Let me tell you I found it quite good, and it triggered my childhood memories of amoxicillin. Yum yum.