American rock band LIVE will headline the 2023 Crew Fest on July 29 at Lions Park in Brantford.
Jamie Stephens, president of JSE Events, on Friday announced the lineup of bands for the daylong event. Also on the bill are Bif Naked, the Headstones and Our Lady Peace.
“When we finished this lineup, I think we all kind of thought this was our best move for a show,” Stephens said.
LIVE has sold more than 22 million albums worldwide and earned two No. 1 albums: Throwing Copper and Secret Samadhi.
Originally called WTFest when launched in 2015, Stephens said a rebrand was already in the works for this year’s festival.
“The acronym unfortunately caused us some issues over the years with potential sponsorship opportunities,” he admitted. “We had larger corporations with a footprint in Brantford wanting to support us, but because of the acronym they were afraid of offending people.”
Stephens said The Crew Real Estate sponsored the 2022 event and wanted to take on a bigger role. He and Ryan Campbell, founder of The Crew Real Estate, worked out a three-year title sponsorship deal, resulting in the new name for the outdoor music festival.
“I am really excited,” said Campbell, who has attended all but one of the WTFest concerts. “I loved all of them.”
He said is “over the moon” about sponsoring the festival.
“We love the city and love to see people like Jamie trying to bring enormous bands to it.”
Last year’s WTFest featured a lineup of MuchMusic VJs and popular DJs in a dance-party format.
“The goal was we wanted to throw a party,” Stephens explained. “We also read the temperature of the COVID landscape and were watching festivals around us (either) not come out with anything or come out with million-dollar lineups while Omicron was still happening” and only getting half the attendance expected.
“A lot of festivals did not survive COVID.”
He said that this year’s Crew Fest – considered a small-market festival — is a $500,000 investment.
Lance Calbeck, one of the festival’s founding partners, said this year’s lineup features bands that were big in the 1990s.
“The tough part for us … is that it comes down to price and availability. We’re a small festival and can only afford so much,” he said.
“You try to pick the best of the best.”
Calbeck said 90s-era performers tend to draw good crowds.
“Our Lady Peace was here in 2017 as our headliner and we’re happy to have them back. They were one of the most requested acts to come back.”
Calbeck said a crowd of 7,500 is a reasonable goal for the event.
For tickets and more information, go to crewfest.ca.