Hey Rosetta! Did you see us?

Before us nuts froze our little behinds off in the pounding Bluesfest rain last Friday, we wandered over to see Hey Rosetta! come together at The Hard Rock Stage for Kate’s birthday celebrations– a band that we’ve shown our allegiance to on In A Nutshell before. The huge Hey Rosetta! following packed the grassy hills of the waterside stage, eagerly standing in the slow beginning of the spitting rain, waiting for the Newfoundlanders to hit the stage.

Now, I’m usually one to preach about thoughtful concert etiquette (not bumping or swearing at strangers, wearing the better portion of your clothes and only getting sick on your good friends if you must) – but I have to say, the four other nuts and I broke a cardinal concert rule. In order to show our devotion to Hey Rosetta! before we wandered over to catch The Keys, we felt it was necessary to attempt to get their (and lead singer Tim Baker’s) attention by congratulating them on their recent short-listing for the Polaris music prize. So, what better way than to hold up gaudy, ragged sign saying it ourselves? Sharpy markers and dollar store Bristol board were the ticket in this scenario, as well as a few cutie fans behind the sign to pounce and sway with the hopes of getting a single fleeting look (or maybe get invited backstage for a high-five and/or wedding to one of the band members). We held up the board that said “Congrats on Polaris …inanutshell.ca” (put together in four minutes or less, as you can guess), which received a number of puzzled looks from unfriendly onlookers. Yes, yes – we realize it was far-fetched and absolutely in everyone’s way. But, in correspondence with the band’s publicist – I told her she could tell the band to expect a sign if they make it onto the seven-band shortlist, which they did, so it was deserved and remarkably fun to peeve the confused people behind us with this congratulatory message.

 Normally I understand the idea of “down in front” at a concert, but this was necessary – and believe it or not, it got a sweet little reaction. Upon holding it up at the right moment(s), they looked into the crowd and saw the sign – before exchanging big smiles with us, and then each other. Standing in the rain with a ridiculous sign pays off when you can support your favourite band members – and when you’re in it together with your best friends. This hopefully won’t be the last interaction with Rosetta!, so stay tuned for more news as it comes; we hope to speak to them soon about their Polaris success. And, in the end, who cares that we made no new friends at this particular concert and were “those” girls, squealing and waving a sign wildly to the dismay of hundreds of others. Because, it was totally worth it…in a nutshell.