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Day-long 'Timmins Parties!' concert draws crowd of 100

Organizers disappointed by turnout

Posted By KEITH LACEY THE DAILY PRESS

For those who were in attendance, the Timmins Parties! concert Saturday night was roaring rock and roll success. The problem was, only about 100 people showed up to the Saturday evening event.

The 12-hour concert was supposed to be held in the parking lot of the Shania Twain Centre parking lot, but organizers decided Friday to switch it to the McIntyre Curling Club as the forecast called for an 80-per-cent chance of rain.

The forecast proved accurate as it was cold and miserable all day Saturday.

Despite the small crowds, those in attendance appeared to have a good time with 12 bands performing from noon until midnight.

By the time Toronto-area rapper and DJ JDiggz took the stage around 11:30 p. m. there were only a handful of people in attendance.

"We certainly anticipated a larger turnout," said Jack Watson, a member of the organizing committee for Timmins Parties! "We think we provided excellent value for a $10 ticket and it's unfortunate we didn't draw more people.

"But the good news is those who did show up were having a really good time and got to listen to a lot of really good music."

The fact the weather was so lousy isn't an acceptable excuse for the small crowd, Watson said.

"We've held concert events in this city in beautiful weather and still very few people show up," he said. "I don't know what to do any more. But we are going to look at what went wrong with this event and try and do things better if we do it again."

The Timmins Parties! event was put on by the 100th- Anniversary special events committee to kick off four years of celebrations coming to Timmins beginning next year.

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the first gold discovery in the Porcupine Camp, followed by centennial celebrations for the opening of the three major mines in this region, the Great Fire in Porcupine and the formation of Timmins as a mining camp and city.

Watson said he often hears people complain about a lack of things to do in Timmins and area during the summer months.

That's in large part why this concert was put on and why he's disappointed more people didn't show up to support the event, Watson said.

"We're going to sit down and see what we can do better for the next time," he said.

The city picked up half of the costs of running the event and the low turnout means it will lose some money, but it won't be a significant amount, Watson said.

The promoter of the event is on the hook for most of the losses that will be incurred, he said.

On a personal note, Watson said he would like to hold a similar event again next summer and hopes organizers can learn from their mistakes, promote the event better and hopefully get a much better crowd if the event returns.

John Emms, the guitar player with the Timmins blues-rock band The Shaftmen, said all the musicians he talked to throughout the day had a very good time, but agreed the lack of fans who showed up for Timmins Parties! was disappointing. "The numbers were disappointing, but it was a lousy day of weather and this was a first-time event, so I think there's a lot of room for improvement," he said

"I know a lot of volunteers put in an awful lot of work and effort in putting this thing together and I'm disappointed for them that there wasn't better support and larger crowds."

When he heard about the calibre of bands being brought to Timmins for the event, Emms was hoping between 500 and 600 fans would show up.

His personal belief is the event should be held again, but next time with a recognizable headliner music fans would flock to, he said.

"I think if they would have brought in someone like Trooper or The Roadhammers ... a band or name that music fans instantly recognize, would do the trick and bring in some big crowds."

Emms said his band had a great time and so did all the other musicians he chatted with.

"The artists had a really good time and that's important," he said. "I don't think any of the bands would refuse to come back, despite the small crowd."

Danny Howard, a drummer with Sudbury hard rock band Trixx, who drew the loudest applause of the evening, said he thought the event "was a blast" and didn't notice the crowd size.

"Our band's philosophy is we don't care if there's five people or 5,000 because we're going to put everything we have into every song we play," he said.

"We played in Timmins about a month ago at the South Porcupine Summerfest in front of 4,000 people, so we really enjoy playing in Timmins and I thought this was an excellent event and one I hope will continue with better crowd support next year."

Damien St. Jean of Timmins said the crowds were smaller than he anticipated, but that didn't damper he and his friends having a good time.

"I spent about three hours here and I had a good time," he said.

"The tickets were only $10 and you're not going to get much entertainment in Timmins for that price.

"I hope they bring this back next year and more people come out and support it. Twelve bands for 10 bucks. That's pretty hard to beat."

Danielle Moreau agreed. She spent the early afternoon at Timmins Parties! with her daughter and niece and had such a good time, she returned for the evening performances.

"There were a lot of good bands here and I enjoyed myself," she said. "There was a decent crowd here around noon when things got going, but it's disappointing there aren't more people here tonight.

"I think if they promote the event better next year and maybe bring in a big-name act to headline, this could become a really big deal in the summertime."

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