New Year's Eve 2008

What a night – I was some seriously glad to be at the Red Tree Lodge (Fernie BC) on New Years Eve 2008!

According to the staff, there were nearly 200 people there to see the boys bring in the New Year. The audience filled the lodge to the rafters – rafters hidden behind silver, helium-filled balloons and silver streamers. There were a lot of people from England, and a few from Ireland (they were staying in the lodge, so it was an easy night for them) as well as the growing number of regular Fernie fans like me there.

Bubba Tres walked through the crowd just before 10 PM dressed as Batman, Captain America, ‘Evil’ Santa, and of course Troy in his usual "bigger-than-life” self.

They quickly fired up with one of their newer tunes – ‘Peanut Butter Tongue’, which they followed up with ‘Mud Bound In The Prairie’, ‘Frontline of the Dead’, and more original tunes.

Granted, it was clear that the crowd didn’t get it – at first – but then after 4 or 5 songs, the groove worked its magic, and the crowd warmed up and started dancing. I’m sure that the frequent explosions of high-powered confetti didn’t hurt either.

Yep, for sure this was no 1980’s rock cover show… alternative music with a beat – a driving hard beat - was what this night was about.

The boys used a few covers to keep the crowd energy up – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (Boy George), Like A Virgin (Madonna), War Pigs (Black Sabbath), Houses of the Holy (Led Zeppelin), and a new one – Baba O’Riley (The Who) which brought the house down amidst a huge crowd roar of approval!

Loud? You bet! Rockin? Yessirree Bob.

The New Year was brought in with U2’s ‘New Year’s Day’ and ‘What A
Wonderful World’.

Down In The Boonies was back in the set list – and as it is one of my favourites, I was pleased to hear it played again – and as a special treat, Troy took on one of the guitar solos!!!!

Other Bubba Tres tunes played at the show included Zombie On A Chain, George Foreman Grill, Fall From My Back, Weasel Mountain, Painted The Clown’s Cell, Suit of Bugs, and a bunch more I hadn’t heard before.

By the end of the night, with costume changes (including silver sports jackets) confetti storms, flashing lights, inflatable aliens, the crowd found themselves in 2009.

I gotta say that even though the lodge had plumbing issues, that did not dampen the crowd, or the band – this was one of the best shows I’ve managed to get to in the last few years. I hope to see more of the same high energy from the guys in the future.