Canadian hard rock band Honeymoon Suite is coming to Flatbush this Saturday.
The Niagara Falls, Ont.-based group, along with AC/DC tribute band Thunderstruck, will be performing at the Flatbush Community Association Complex on July 21 in the second major concert in the community after last year’s Trooper performance.
Organizer Kandee Stadnyk said the hope is to build on the momentum created by the Trooper concert and continue to bring major acts to Flatbush.
“We want to try and make this more of an annual event,” she said.
For the uninitiated, Honeymoon Suite is a group similar to other 1980s rock and metal bands like Twisted Sister, Motley Crüe and AC/DC, Stadnyk said. The main difference is that Honeymoon Suite tended to be a bit softer than its heavy-metal cousins.
Thunderstruck comes with a ringing endorsement from Stadnyk’s sister-in-law.
“My sister-in-law actually saw them in Winnipeg and she said if she didn’t actually see them she wouldn’t have known they were a tribute band,” she said. “She would actually have thought they were AC/DC.”
In addition to the show, there will be free camping provided for people who want to come out and enjoy the surrounding area before and after the concert.
“People can come and they don’t have to worry about drinking and driving,” she said. “They can stay overnight in their camper.”
Combined with the lower ticket prices relative to shows in Edmonton, Stadnyk also emphasized the benefits to coming out to Flatbush for such a big name concert instead of heading south into the city.
“We would like to offer this as something new to people as opposed to going to Edmonton and the busy streets and worrying about paying hotel prices,” she said. “We want to offer the surrounding communities a little bit more of a relaxing environment where they can come and have a good time.”
In some ways, this year’s concert is meant to be a stepping stone towards next year, and although it’s still a year away, 2013 is shaping up to be a significant year for the community.
“Next year Flatbush will be 100 years old, so we’re going to maybe do something a little bit bigger,” Stadnyk said, adding the exact plans are still in the development stages.
As a result of the pending centennial, she said the money raised from this concert will be directed to improving the grounds and performing some renovations to the complex as a whole.
Along with raising money for the community centre, Stadnyk also said the Flatbush 4-H will run the concession and keep those proceeds, while the proceeds from the 50/50 draw will benefit the W.R. Frose hot lunch program.
Of course, for all the ways the community benefits from the concert, it is still a musical performance that is not normally seen in such a small hamlet.
“For Flatbush, with the small population that we do have, getting these bands here, I think, is pretty amazing,” Stadnyk said.
“Smaller communities are always looking for something to keep their communities alive.”
