Colin MacDonald, guitarist and lead singer for The Trews, had nothing but praise for the audience at Crewfest on Saturday, July 20, 2024.
“Brantford, you should let the rest of the world know how to act at a rock show,” MacDonald told the roaring crowd.
The Canadian rockers performed on the main stage on the second and final day of the annual festival, which received a name drop by McDonald in the lyrics while the band was performing the song ‘I Wanna Play’. McDonald added the tune, which was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, was written “wishing for nights like tonight.”
A staple at a Trews concert, the band came off the stage midway through their Brantford set to perform a stripped down version of ‘Ishmael & Maggie’ amongst the crowd.
While the band arrived back on stage, MacDonald sang a few lines of lyrics from Sloan’s ‘The Rest of My Life’ and ‘Out Of My Head’ by Junkhouse.
“It’s an honour to share the stage with Canadian rock royalty,” he said, as both bands performed at Crewfest earlier in the day.
Another trademark for a Trews show, John-Angus MacDonald was his typical rock star self.
The lead guitarist, jumped off stage for an extended solo, after climbing on top of a platform near the sound board, much to the delight of the fans.
In a touching moment, the band performed their iconic ballad and tribute for the troops, ‘Highway of Heroes’.
The entirety of Lions Parks was lit up with cigarette lighters and cell phone cameras, thanks to the encouragement from MacDonald.
The singer told the crowd the band had the chance to sing the song on D-Day, right on Juno Beach, earlier this year.
“It’ll probably be the most important thing we ever do,” he said.
“We’re grateful for that opportunity.”
Here are SWOMP’s photos from their performance:
The Trews have become a staple in SWOMP’s coverage in the past year and a half.
Most recently, we coverage their performance at Caesars Windsor. Check out our review and photos, here: The Trews rocked their headlining set at Caesars Windsor, with special guests Wide Mouth Mason & ‘Mr. Chill’
We also took in their show at Rock The Park in London last summer: The Trews open up Rock The Park 2023
The Trews were also the first band we covered LIVE after SWOMP’s reformation In January of 2023. Here is our coverage from The Shelter in Detroit in February of 2023: The Trews rock out at The Shelter in downtown Detroit (Photos)
Prior to show at The Shelter, we caught up with guitarist John-Angus MacDonald for an interview. Listen, below:
The Trews have a number of shows scheduled throughout the summer of 2024.
Follow the band on their official website https://www.thetrewsmusic.com/.