Fredericton Rocks With The Trews, Wintersleep And Others

FREDERICTON — Venues across New Brunswick's capital filled to capacity on Thursday night as the East Coast Music Awards festivities marked their first appearance in the city.

The event kicked off its 20th anniversary in style at the University Of New Brunswick's student union building, where the "Rock the Hill" concert series drew people of all ages to two stages operated on separate floors, providing attendees with an opportunity to hear a wide variety of music throughout the evening.

The upstairs venue kicked things off with an exciting set from Newfoundland's Hey Rosetta!. Their use of cello and violin mixed with Tim Baker's passionate vocal delivery have made them a must-see act to go along with their reputation as one of the hardest working groups on the east coast scene.

Next up was the Tom Fun Orchestra, who can only be defined as eclectically hectic. The group members play banjo, accordion, keyboards, bass, drums and horns, which are combined with driving guitar riffs and catchy tunes that charged up the crowd to welcome the headline act, The Trews.

The Trews have been delivering solid rock shows around these parts and the rest of Canada for some time now, and Thursday night was no exception. The band played with complete confidence and style, working the capacity crowd (which included Big Sugar/Grady guitar god Gordie Johnson standing at the side of the stage) into a frenzy.

Cape Breton darlings Slowcoaster got the evening underway downstairs with an extended set of catchy hooks and songs before welcoming New Brunswick's Grand Theft Bus for a flawless set of new music from their new Made Upwards album. Although the band have cut back their touring in recent years, their music has continued to evolve. They could do no wrong as far as the audience was concerned.

P.E.I.'s Two Hours Traffic followed. This young band first caught the attention of Halifax rocker Joel Plaskett, who produced the band's two albums. They played a great set to an overheated room before the main act of the night, Wintersleep, took the stage and capped off a great night of music with their ear-shattering delivery.

Between the bands' sets, Halifax turntable master Skratch Bastid entertained the masses by mixing beats and genres that most people would never think of.

"We couldn't be happier with the numbers," said one conference organizer. "Fredericton has always got behind events like this and really given their full support."

For the few who didn't make it out last night, there will be three more nights of exciting music to come. Come back to ChartAttack on Monday to read about them.