CKUA to Simulcast the High Level Bridge on Canada Day

[jon]

High Level Bridge will light up to the sounds of Edmonton music history for Canada Day
By Paige Parsons, Edmonton Journal
June 29, 2015 5:08 PM

Edmonton has seen lights on the High Level Bridge before. But nothing like what’s planned for the Canada Day 2015 celebrations.

On Wednesday night at 11 p.m., music and light will combine in a multicoloured showcase of Edmonton’s music history.

Light designer Scott Peters and musician Jason Kodie combined forces to create the show. Responding to a call by the Edmonton Arts Council for temporary public art projects, they proposed a display that sets lights to Edmonton music from 1958 to 2015.

“I’ll give them 55 to 60 years of Edmonton music slammed together in a seven-minute medley,” Kodie said, describing what he proposed.

He said it was hard to narrow down which local artists to include and said he could have made the medley many times over with other performers.

He came up with his final track list after poring over CKUA Radio’s archives.

CKUA will “simulcast” the music with the light show. Kodie and Peters said they hope people with smartphones will go on CKUA’s website, click on the livestream link and turn the volume up as high as it will go.

Meanwhile, Peters’ light design will push the limits of the High Level’s high-tech lighting program.

Previous light shows on the bridge, including last year’s Canada Day display that combined red and white lighting with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s rendition of O Canada, have used static light. The bridge is lit 365 days a year with static light. Peters’ design is the first application of the program’s dynamic light capabilities.

“I’ve definitely used the program in a way that it has never ever been used in Edmonton up to this point,” Peters said.

One new way Peters is applying the program is using source video that gets translated into light. Though people probably won’t be able to tell what the original video was, Peters said it is going to be cool.

“It looks great and it reads very well, but it’s not very literal,” Peters said.

In addition to flashing a rainbow of colour combinations, the lights will match the music with a variety of movements, from fades to strobes.

According to the City of Edmonton’s website, the best places for viewing the light show and fireworks include the Legislature grounds, Victoria Park and other areas in view of the river valley.

Peters and Kodie don’t know where they’ll be watching the display from. The two men play in the band Captain Tractor and will be headlining at Fort Saskatchewan’s Canada Day celebrations until 10 p.m.

Peters said they’ve arranged for someone to have a car waiting so they can quickly jump in and be driven as close as possible in hopes of catching a glimpse of their creation.

After Kodie’s seven-minute medley, the lights will continue to accompany a recording of O Canada by ASANI, a local aboriginal women’s trio. Fireworks will follow the anthem.

And if you can’t make it to the river valley for the fireworks and light show, we will be live streaming the spectacle at edmontonjournal.com.

[jon]

Hopefully, they have included something written and performed by Tommy Banks. The late Big Miller would also get my vote.

Got me wondering what the biggest "Edmonton" song was as measured by the Billboard Hot 100. Though it probably does not meet the definition for this event, the live version of "Conquistador" by Procol Harum, with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, gets my vote.