Being the conscientious music fans that we are, our first priority once inside the grounds was a visit to the beer tent. We walked right up to the beer ticket sales tent and got our maximum 5 tickets each for the respectable price of $30, but the salesman neglected to tell us that the beer tent didn't even open until 1:00 pm, 1 hour after the show actually started. So, we walked toward the stage to claim a small square of grass for our own.

Like most other outdoor concerts, the sound quality was very dependant on your location, and in this respect, we chose poorly. We ended up between a speaker facing us about 100 meters away, and a speaker facing away from us about 15 meters away, so the majority of our sound was coming from the back of the speaker. The only thing I can say for certain is that all of the bass players of the day were fantastic.

After introductions from radio personalities and Mike Bullard, Jann Arden got things started by singing the National Anthem. Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi were next up to front their "Have Love, Will Travel" blues revue. It was kind of fun, but not as cool as the Blues Brothers were in their heyday with Jim's brother John still running the show.

Finally, Sam Roberts took the stage. With only three songs to work with, most of the bands just played the hits, and Sam was no exception. All three of his picks, "Brother Down", "Where have all the Good People Gone", and "Don't Walk Away Eileen" have gotten a lot of radio airplay (and deservedly so). He played with a lot of energy, and was a good pick for the first act, getting the crowd into things pretty quickly.

Unfortunately, the energy didn't really keep up with the next two acts, Kathleen Edwards and La Chicane, who were both decent bands, but seemed out of their element in such a huge setting.

The Tea Party followed and seemed to be having a good time on stage, but the sound for them was atrocious. I could barely make out the beat, let alone the melody for most of the songs. I did catch their cover of "Paint It Black", a bit cheeky, considering the headliners. I spent the entire Flaming Lips set and half of the Sass Jordan set going to and from my place to get some water, as the dehydration was beginning to set in. The actual line for the water was reasonable, only about 15 minutes or so, but it took a half hour each way to pick our way through the monstrous crowd that had built up behind us. After that, we decided that the beer tent really wasn't in our future, and sold our tickets to some unsuspecting Scottish tourists.

The Isley Brothers were up next, and I feel badly now about not paying more attention to them. My attention span was wearing down, and I was looking ahead to Blue Rodeo. I caught a bit of their set on a CBC rebroadcast, and it sounded really good. They are definitely on my list of bands to check out the next time they are in town. Blue Rodeo closed out the first set with the best sound of the day up to that point. I was really happy to hear "Hasn't Hit Me Yet," one of my favourites.

We resisted the temptation to try and get some food during the break, as about 300, 000 people all decided that the time was right to go get a burger or beer at the same time. The rest of us stayed put, and tried to avoid being trampled. Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi came out again, and then the treat of the night, the one and only Justin Timberlake. I actually felt bad for him. I don't like his music at all, but no performer deserves to be pelted by water bottles while he is trying to play a show. He handled it well, telling the crowd after the first song, "I'm here for the same reason you are, to hear The Rolling Stones!"

The Guess Who were next, and I tried to slip away to grab some food at that point. However, the lines were still unbelievably long on my side of the grounds, and all the Alberta Beef stuff was on the far side of the crowd, which would have taken even longer to get through. I did enjoy "Takin' Care of Business."

Rush came on after and played about five tunes. Most memorable was "Closer To the Heart" as they stuck an instrumental version of "Paint It Black" in the middle of it. I guess they hadn't talked to The Tea Party before the show.

With the two most popular bands due up (judging solely from the T-shirt representation) the crowd grew restless with anticipation. Despite Dan Aykroyd's pleas, people kept moving toward the stage, trying to get a better view. AC/DC came on and instantly had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands. Say what you want about their music, these guys have energy. They played many old classics, "Hell's Bells," "Highway to Hell," and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," as well as some perplexing choices, such as "The Jack." They played far longer than I expected (almost an hour) and the funny thing about their set was that they had such long, drawn out endings for each song. I kept thinking that the set was over, only to have them start up a new tune.

Finally, it was time for The Stones. Opening with the requisite "Start Me Up," they also made some bizarre set choices. Notably two nineties tunes ("You Got Me Rockin" and "Don't Stop") not to mention bringing Justin Timberlake out for "Miss You."

"Satisfaction," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and "Honky Tonk Woman" all were AMAZING. Well worth the money and effort!

It was fun seeing Angus and Malcolm from AC/DC join them for a BB King tune as well. We left thoroughly satisfied with the music, although ravenously hungry, and actually made it downtown minutes after last call. Fortunately, Sneaky Dee's kitchen is open late.