Two Rockin' Festivals - Cutting Edge Music Festival
~ Rod Nicholson
Where/Who: Grand Bend Motorplex. Over 50 performances by top acts will rock the holiday weekend of August 1-4 at the Cutting Edge Music Festival. Call (416) 870-8000 for tickets.
LONDON, ON. -- The 2008 summer festival season is well underway and music fans everywhere are taking the opportunity to see both their favourite bands and bands they’ve wanted to check out while enjoying the musical performances in a relaxed outdoor setting.
London area folks who are looking for outdoor concerts with more of a rock or hip-hop spin than Sunfest or Home County can now add the Cutting Edge Music Festival, located this year at the Grand Bend Motorplex and running through the holiday weekend of August 1-4, to their entertainment menu.
The musical entertainment will be presented during Saturday and Sunday of the long weekend, with acts performing on two outdoor stages that will provide uninterrupted and seamless live music with the proceedings being hosted by on-air personalities Josie Dye and Barry Taylor of The Edge 102.1 radio station. Mixmaster Mike of The Beastie Boys will headline the Saturday roster and Alexisonfire (in their only performance in Ontario this summer) are the main attraction on Sunday.
Although the two headliners will doubtless draw large crowds, fans of performers such as illScarlett, Shotgun Rules, Shad, Staylefish, Guns N’FN’ Rosez, Ten Second Epic, USS, Poison The Well, Hello Beautiful, Hostage Life, Down With Webster, Keepin 6, Fear Before The March Of Flames, Let’s Go To War, The Johnstones, Arkells, Dead And Divine, The Flatliners and Machete Avenue can enjoy their favourite bands, as well as more acts still to be announced.
Billed as ‘the biggest party weekend of the summer,’ the Cutting Edge Festival offers its participants not only musical entertainment that includes a rain-or-shine dance tent that runs all day and into the night but the opportunity to race your own car or watch professional drag racing at the Motorplex. Extensive camping facilities are available, with campfires permitted at campsites, paid parking for cars and RV’s as well as being the only area campground to allow BYOB on the long weekend.
The event’s many amenities include a free daytime shuttle to the beach and Grand Bend shops, licensed areas at all music stages with water and juice bars throughout the site, full meal menus served by a variety of food vendors, 24-hour security patrols and first-aid centers, as well as onsite showers, running water and flush toilets for all campers.
Festival-goers can choose from a variety of admission packages such as 4-day weekend passes that include entry to concerts and camping facilities, VIP packages that feature express entry line, camping facilities, private concert-viewing area with bar and BBQ lunch with the bands or concert-only passes that allow entry to concerts without the use of camping facilities.
Prospective festival-goers should note that Cutting Edge Festival is an all-ages event, and those attending must be 16 years of age or older to camp and 19+ with valid government-issued ID to bring or consume alcoholic beverages. Glass bottles and containers are not permitted. Garbage and recycling bins throughout the site reflect the festival’s motto to ‘respect yourself, respect the environment.’
Local music fans are sure to make the most of this entertainment opportunity as the festival’s proximity, beach-front setting and a line-up of performers that are sure to please make it a strong contender for music event of the year.
