Blast from the past rocks out in Kelowna this weekend

LOVERBOY, STREETHEART, TROOPER HEADLINE ROCK THE LAKE FESTIVAL

KELOWNA – Fringe-top pony tails and greying mullets will be the order of the day as an all-Canadian line-up of legendary nostalgia acts take to the stage this weekend for the innaugural Rock the Lake Festival.

Preparations for the festival site in and around Prospera Place are well underway with the Kick Ax scheduled to hit the stage 6 p.m. Friday. Prism and headliner Loverboy round out Friday night.

Rock the Lake promoters have taken a more laid-back approach to the traditional frenetic all-day late-night music festival, instead opening up the entertainment in the late afternoon. The shows are over by 10 p.m.

The idea is the aging baby boomers who will largely make up the crowd can play on the beaches during the day or have a nap at home before taking in bands they first saw in the 70s and 80s.

Promoters also went against the traditional City Park or Tugboat festival location, opting instead to hold it in the parking lot of Prospera Place, where the stage is already taking shape.

Streetheart headlines Saturday while Trooper closes out the show Sunday evening.

Other acts include Doucette, Lee Aaron and Harlequin on Saturday and Sweeny Todd, Saga and Headpins on Sunday.

The show is already sold out. Gates open one hour before show time.

A worker is framed by the collapsible stage being raised, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016, for the innaugural Rock the Lake Festival in Kelowna this weekend. John McDonald


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John McDonald

John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.

It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.

But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.

If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca

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