Review: The Indigo Girls
- Shanna Comeau
- Sep 28
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 14
I am not a lifelong resident of Fredericton. I only heard of the Harvest Music Festival when I came to Fredericton to pursue my Bachelor’s and STU gave out free day passes.
The first year I attended Harvest, Trey Anastasio was headlining a very high-profile rock n’ roll artist. This headliner was still surprising to me for what I thought was a local festival, even as a non-resident. However, to me, the Indigo Girls in Fredericton is something huge.
Indeed, it does seem that Harvest is growing not only in size, but also expanding beyond New Brunswick and arguably, beyond Canada.
The Indigo Girls are an American, Southern-founded duo featuring Amy Ray and Emily Saliers.
Their sound is reminiscent of the classic folk-rock sound of the ‘60s, with a distinctive ‘90s touch – an era during which many of their greatest hits were released.
Overall, their sound is undeniably Americana.
Ray has a down-to-earth voice and a stage presence that pulls you in, while Sailers has a talent on the guitar which destroys the conventional idea of what a rockstar can look like.
Most notably, the Indigo Girls’ music is political.
During a time of continuously growing tensions between Canada and the U.S., you would think the festival would reinforce that cultural separation by only featuring Canadian artists – that was not the case.
Throughout the duration of the set, I felt an undeniable energy between myself and the performers on stage. Through their banter and songs, I felt that they also had their own taste of the struggle we are facing in Canada.
As two lesbian women from Georgia, they aren’t the evil Americans that many feel we should be worried about.
When announcing the second song of their set, Ray yelled out to the crowd something along the lines of “This song is about current politics, sorry, but we can’t help it right now.”
That made me smile.
The lyrics of the song Shame on You include, “There'll be blue lights flashin' down the long dirt road/When they ask me to step out/They say, ‘We've been looking for illegal immigrants/Can we check your car?’/ I say, ‘You know it's funny/I think we were on the same boat back in 1694.’”
The crowd immediately erupted in cheers and applause.
These amazing performers are just two people who want the same rights we all want and yet, they have to live under the constant threat of losing them.
Their talent and performance abilities are impeccable and timeless.
I think Fredericton is extremely lucky to have hosted these women.