Uko Akpanuko
Daily Herald
The Prince Albert river bank, venue of the second edition of Summer Shindig, gradually grew into life as the artists stepped on the stage and the audience started enjoying the performances.
The stage was set as early as 3 p.m. and the organizer was on hand to kick off the show as promised.
“The show is coming along now, all the artists are here and some have started performing, though we had a kind of a late start.” Kelly Ermine the Summer Shindig Organizer said. “You can see some are stage shy but they are performing good. You can see how good they are.”
The organizer gave an advance invitation to all, especially those who missed the first edition.
“We only had like 2 weeks to put this together,” Ermine said. “We will be back next year and we will be alot better. It might be a 2 day event with the special addition of comedians…. I love the River Bank, the sound is great, (and) the scenery is wonderful.”
One of the artists, Blain, was doing his first performance at the shindig on Friday. He was happy to take part.
“It was awesome,” he said. “It was my first performance but I enjoyed myself and everyone is having a good time.”
At the other end of the spectrum, singer and songwriter LILI has been performing for 15 years and has songs available on streaming services. Like Blain, she was happy to get on stage and sing at the river bank.
“I am really proud to see people coming out to support local artists,” LILI said. “(It’s) really putting a nice glow and shine to Prince Albert’s name because we deserve the best and this is the best getting out and being with people during summer.”
Also on the stage was a young female artist Miranda Ironstand-Baxter, whose father and grandfather are also singers. She lit up the stage with an assortment of rock tunes, to the delight of the audience.
“It feels good being here, being part of this edition of the Summer Shindig. I have always love performing and I have other performances lined up,” Miranda Ironstand-Baxter said. “I started performing since I was 2 years old, I performed with my Dad, Doyle Ironstand-Baxter back in 2002-2003 and ever since I have done a lot of performances with my Dad, my Aunt and on my own.”
The artists as well as the audience are looking forward to the 3rd edition of the Summer Shindig in 2025.
