Walk Off The Earth - A Trip to Heaven!!!

Walk Off The Earth - A Trip to Heaven!!!

September 12th - up early and excited!! because we were traveling to Huntsville to attend the first Muskoka Sound Music Festival. More to the point, one of our favourite bands were going to be top of the bill that night! 

We had watched the leap into stardom of WOTE (Walk Off The Earth) after their brilliant 5-people-playing-one-guitar interpretation of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" exploded on YouTube garnering well over 35 million views in under 2 weeks. Following an appearance on 'Ellen', the group have been on a global tour playing to packed out audiences that have been thrilled by the experience. 

Now, we are biased - Marshall (Ryan) happens to be the nephew of Mark's sister-in-law - but we also happen to think that this is one of the most innovative bands that have emerged of late. At last, we were going to see them live, and the performance on Friday night far exceeded our already-high expectations.

Being top of the bill, they were going to be the fourth band performing that evening, starting at 9:30 p.m. Mark had us firmly in place, front row - centre about 5 hours prior to that. In fact, we were the only ones who had planted our lawn chairs in place. 

We were determined to get the best seats in the open-air venue. We were rewarded for our early arrival because we bumped into the "bearded guy" and Mark got his pic taken with him. Yes - he does talk and has a great smile. We watched as he thrilled a little girl with whom he spoke after the pic was taken. Kids just love him! 

The preceding bands were really good, though the heavy metal group, Monster Truck, was a little crazy loud and we couldn't hear any of the lyrics. Nevertheless, the instrumental genius of the lead guitarist was totally awesome. 

Watching the staging being prepared was fascinating - there must have been nearly 100 different instruments - some conventional, some not! When we saw two wine glasses being filled, and some powdered substance being poured onto the cymbals, our curiosity fed our excitement. Our lawn chairs were now folded and nestled closely against the fence to which we were firmly pressed, standing in anticipation of what was to come. Front row, centre - and we were not giving up that space! Talk about a couple of 'groupies'! 

With bated breath, we awaited the entrance of the band we had traveled 6 hours to see. From the moment they came on stage, it was an action packed experience! From the amazing songs to the incredible timing and co-ordination, we were treated to 90 minutes of pure joyful, fun-filled entertainment at its best. 

As this was the last performance of their tour, they announced that they were going to create an opening for their Christmas Video - and we were there at the front - so we're looking forward to seeing if we are going to be 'stars'! 

We particularly liked the way that they involved their crew in some of the numbers, as well as in the finale. Such talent, fun, and comraderie.... and the mutual respect between band and crew was obvious. 

We also appreciated that they performed 'Somebody That I Used To Know' which rocketed them to stardom on YouTube. It was good that they had not forgotten their roots and the crowd went absolutely wild. 

Seeing them live was well-worth the long trip and the long wait - and we didn't even mind the field of near-mud that had developed by the end of the evening. So much fun!  

Thank you, WOTE!!  You are awesome!

See our slide show of the event. Some of the pics are blurry, but you'll capture the pure energy!