Mavricks Music Hall was the scene for loud country music, a great cause and even the Grey Cup made an appearance.
The Radio 4 Cardiology event at the 46 Dunlop Street bar and event centre was hosted by KICX 106 and Impact LIVE and aimed to raise money for the Royal Victoria Hospital’s advanced cardiac care.
One of the acts on hand last night was local rising star Rob Watts and his band who have been grinding in the bar scene for two years and are starting to see their musical dreams come to fruition.
"This is absolutely a dream come true for me and the band,” said Watts. "To be playing in my hometown and for the great tradition of KICX 106's Radio 4 Cardiology is an honour. As a musician you love playing tunes in front of a crowd but then to raise money for a wonderful local cause just tops it off."
Watts has not only been a part of the Barrie music scene but has been watching it grow for the last few years too and is very excited about where it is headed
"Barrie is so hot right now," said Watts. "We have a lot of big names coming in and mixing that with the local talent only helps the whole thing thrive. We've opened for River Town Saints a few times now and at Kempenfest for the Road Hammers; it's really blowing up here."
The packed house saw another local sensation Dani Strong entertain and hot Ontario band the River Town Saints hit the stage with Road Hammers lead man Jason McCoy.
But it was another guest that made the crowd erupt when it hit the stage; the Grey Cup was brought to Barrie by members of the 2017 Canadian Football League Champion Toronto Argonauts. Many of the Argos are friends with Mavricks management and decided to hold one of their victory parties in town. Lead singer of the River Town Saints (a band from the Ottawa area where the latest Grey Cup was held) Chris Labelle was ecstatic that he got to hold and drink from Canada’s prized trophy.
“Can you believe this?” said Labelle. “This is the coolest thing ever, to party with the Grey Cup. Everybody loves hockey obviously, but you can always go down to the Hockey Hall Fame in Toronto and pose with the Stanley Cup; how many times do you get to drink from the Grey Cup? I will never forget this night, it really is something special.”
KICX 106 radio personality Neil Anthony was excited to also be a part of such a fun night and said that night’s like this are vital to helping his station’s cause for the community.
“I love attending these events because you get to see everybody having a great time and they’re doing it to help the RVH,” said Anthony. “It’s great to sometimes catch people as they’re socializing and you pass by them and they’re also discussing Radio 4 Cardiology, it’s a great reminder that we have concerts and events for this cause but people here really care about our local hospital.”
Upcoming events for Mavricks Music Hall can be found at their Facebook page @MavricksMusicHall or here
Impact LIVE! events can be found here
