On Saturday, September 23, 2023, the Mary Webb Centre for the Arts in Highgate was honoured to have a Canadian icon, Sarah Harmer, perform on their stage. Harmer and her band were greeted by a loud round of applause as they came onto the stage, and that wild reception continued throughout the evening. Harmer mentioned in her opening remarks that they saw a bald eagle circling over the exit off Hwy 401 which she took as a good sign for the evening’s show. Her parents purchased a farm in North Burlington 53 years ago when they saw an ad in the Hamilton Spectator and Harmer has been intimately involved with the environment ever since. Several songs that she sang were focused on the environment such as “Little Frogs”. The audience certainly knew her songs and sang along. Her band, a guitar player, bass player and drummer were extremely talented and provided amazing background for her songs. The drummer, a young woman, provided backup to most of the songs while playing the drums with such finesse. At one point Harmer got a bit involved in Ontario politics, commenting on the recent Greenbelt issue and our Premier.

There was quite an interesting range of spectators in the audience, coming from as far away as Ottawa, Waterloo and North Carolina and this last gentlemen flew up from there, attended the concert at the Mary Webb Centre, and then immediately drove back to the Detroit airport to fly home. That shows the dedication of Harmer’s fans. Throughout the concert, they continued to show their appreciation for Harmer’s music, including when she switched for a few rock songs from folk and country.

She ended the concert after the loud standing ovation with her hit song “Water”. When the concert was over, Harmer came back out into the hall for a group picture with a few of the members from sponsors Gray Ridge Egg Farms and to sign merchandise audience members had purchased during intermission. It was a truly wonderful concert, well worth attending.

l-r: Zach Bines, Sarah Harmer, Dani Nash and Gord Tough
Missing: Sound Tech Jeffery Holdip