Busking For Change (Guelph)

Yesterday afternoon a really neat endeavor rolled into Guelph. Busking for Change brought a bunch of talented bands to St.George's Square under the scorching sun to play acoustic sets while raising money for War Child. It can't be said that it went off without a hitch, as the hosting band had car troubles, a few others dropped out at the last minute and the fervor of buses and World Cup rowdies all played their parts but regardless of all that the show must, and did, go on. A show including the Bass Lions, Craft Economy and more...

Members of Still Avenue hurried to the square to get things started with a meager setup, an acoustic guitar and some covers while The Balconies were broke down on the 401 with all the War Child signage. A female member eventually arrived and tried to make herself heard in the busy square. When I checked back later Sandman Viper Command were playing with a handful of musicians and a drum.

The Craft Economy with four of six members present reworked their tunes from their synthesizer base into acoustic jams. This was done really well, and the male/female singers played off of each other especially on songs like Big Dawg, Lil Purse.

Most of the Bass Lions couldn't make it but singer Nathan (I believe) did and accompanied by a tambourine-ist (tambouriner?) played a really entertaining handful of songs. It got intimate as he closed in on the small gathering and played a great acoustic version of Ransom the Sunset. Following a storied musical tale of the relationship between Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson the soccer game concluded. Taking the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach to the whooping and hollering, Nathan waved over a group of Spanish high schoolers who took over the guitar and serenaded us with what I take to be either soccer chants or Spanish folk songs. Unfortunately they didn't relent the guitar until after his allotted time was over.

From what I caught of it Busking for Change was a fun time, and hopefully it raised a couple of bucks for War Child while they were at it!