54-40, Sloan look ahead to Clinton Spring Fair concert
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
This year, Clinton is holding its 170th Spring Fair, and its slogan, “Way More in 2024”, already feels like a particularly perfect description of the concert that will be happening at the Eastlink Arena on June 1. The fair has scored three truly excellent Canadian musical acts: 54-40 and Sloan with Mildmay’s own Owen Riegling as the opener. It’s a nation-spanning Spring Fair line-up, with Sloan representing the east coast, 54-40 hailing from the west coast, and Owen Riegling coming from right down the road, representing the middle.
Clinton rocks one of the only spring fairs in Huron County - the tremendous bounty of the fall harvest tends to get all the attention. But spring fairs are a bit more of a celebration of survival - we all made it through the winter together, so let’s eat radishes! It just goes to show that if you put on a really good spring fair for 170 years, it will eventually attract a couple of Canada’s best rock bands and one heck of an up-and-comer.
The people of Clinton and the surrounding area are obviously excited to see Sloan and 54-40, but The Citizen did a quick check-in with a few members of the bands to see how excited they are to come out to Clinton, blow some minds and experience a Huron County agricultural fair.
Brad Merritt is the man responsible for 54-40’s dopest basslines. He’s a little low on agricultural experience, but he hopes to make rural connections. “Music is a great way to bring people together. The sense of community that the arts can build, I think, is in short supply. We’re all in this together, and bringing music to a community that doesn’t always have an opportunity on a regular basis is a rare and important opportunity.”
Chris Murphy is lead singer of Sloan, and while he knows that he doesn’t need to make any new music, he’s going to anyway. “I don’t know if I’m on a crusade to bring music anywhere, but growing up in Halifax, if [Canadian hardcore punk band] SNFU came, or any band came, you would just love them forever. We didn’t really get a lot of people coming through, so we know what it’s like to wish people would come to your town.”
Jay Ferguson plays guitar and other instruments for Sloan, and while his backyard tomatoes failed due to a squirrel attack, he still thinks agriculture is important. “I grew up in Halifax, it’s not a rural area, but it is at the end of the road and when a band would come through, everybody would go.”
Gregory Macdonald plays keyboard for Sloan, and he might not be entering the Homecraft Competition, but he is looking forward to the gig. “It’s important to play everywhere, but shows in fields are my favourite. We’ll play anywhere that will have us, I guess.”
So check out to the Clinton Spring Fair on June 1, listen to some great bands play cool music, and if you see any of the band members after the show, feel free to give them some gardening tips.