Rock the River Tickets

This year's event was just ok. The opening acts for the 2 days (Friday and Saturday) were much better than the "headliners. The energy was up with The Stampeders, Trooper, The Box and Harlequin but was quickly delfated by Nazareth and Foghat. Our group left during both of the closing acts. Food and liquor sales were extremely lined up on Friday with people in the walkways blocking many peoples view. This was remedied halfway through the evening and appeared to be better on Saturday. We did appreciate the event staff who did their best to remedy deficiencies!👍👍 Given the overall cost of attending the event, we are seriously considering not going next year unless some things change.

Touque was the highlight, super engaging and should've headlined. Prism and Aldo Nova were terrible, time to call it a day and retire. The Box were also great, as was Trooper. Nazareth didn't engage the crowd with good old tunes until the end, too much riffing and screaming, most of the crowd bailed. All in all, good value for the money and we enjoyed ourselves. Security was very overzealous with one of our party on Saturday causing them to skip Sunday's show - no power tripping please. We're responsible, professional folk in our 50's. Please make sure Toque is back next year!

We enjoyed the Stampeders. Trooper put on an AMAZING Performance. We can’t say enough about their sound, energy and all around great music.. We have been to many of Trooper’s concerts over the years but they outdid themselves at Rock the River 2024!!! We have also been to many of Nazareth’s concerts in the past years and loved their harder rock genre. This time however their entire performance was TERRIBLE!! We came to hear some of the good old tunes from their lengthy career but we hardly recognized them from the new ones that they played. Their energy was high but that’s all the positive words that we can say about their concert. We realize that their lead singer has passed but his replacement does not give the band the quality that it once had. People were steadily leaving the venue after the first few songs and we soon followed suit. We were very sadly disappointed as we were so looking forward seeing Nazareth It’s the last time for us.

Prism and Toque were my favourites! Please please change up the beverages they’re terrible!! At $9 a drink I'm sure a profit will be still made having better brands and more selections! Every year it’s the same complaint from everybody, please do better! Thank you!

Awesome sound. Good seating. Perfect venue. Beautiful evening. Pretty long lineups but that’s unavoidable

Toque rocked it! Best band of the whole weekend! Trooper came in second! Nazareth and Aldo Nova had a hard time engaging the crowd. Overzealous woman at the bag check ruined the weekend for one of our party! Targeted them even if they came in the other gate- watched crowd and chased them through the crowd!

Line ups for food & beverages were very slow & long Nazereth were awful:( Tropper were awesome Stampeders were good

We had such a great time. Everything is set up so well. We enjoyed sitting on a blanket at the side of the bowl and we enjoyed sitting on our lawn chairs in the crowd! Both ways we had a great view. The ticket lines were quick. The bathroom lines went quick. The drink lines got long but we expected that😂. We were fortunate to get a river view room at the Delta Bessborough so we ended each evening watching from our window and loved that view too. It was so fun reminiscing to all our favourite songs from our teens🥰. Overall awesome experience!!

Festival was better organized than last year. Lineups were managed well. Some bands were pulling songs out of the vault that I'd never heard before. Wish they'd stick to the hits we came to hear.

Great bands and the venue is amazing. The water bottle filling station was a very good addition.

fun time can't wait to go again next year hopefully weather be as nice

It was a good idea to pre-sell drink and food tickets in the hotel. The lineups did not seem quite as long as last year. If this is done again in future years, the pre-sale of tickets should be more frequently publicized a week or two prior to the event. The idea of including a drink with a meal item may have made things more efficient, but someone did not want water or a soft drink with their food, this might not have been the best idea. I think the Bessborough Gardens were filled beyond capacity. I noticed many people who could not find places to place their chairs. I realize the event organizers probably try to budget the event to provide a balance of good quality entertainment with a good overall concert experience, but I think that the number of people in the gardens was too great - this could create a serious problem in the event of an emergency. The Stampeders were a bit too loud near the start of their set, but the volume was more acceptable later. This band has a lot of good songs in its repertoire, and it was good to hear many of them. On Friday night, they did not seem quite as "tight"with their performance as on other occasions that I've heard them. With various personnel changes that have occurred for various reasons, the acts called "Trooper"and "Nazareth"have almost become tribute bands for the original bands. Nonetheless, the current versions of these bands put on great performances, and old songs sounded almost the same as when the original bands performed them years ago. Nazareth is an underrated hard rock band, but their newer material did not seem to be as deeply appreciated by the crowd, which was likely waiting for "Love Hurts", "Hair of the Dog", and "This Flight Tonight". I would have liked to have heard Nazareth give an acknowledgement to Joni Mitchell, a former resident of our city, for writing This Flight Tonight (unless Joni has specifically said she doesn't want them to do it). Overall, a great evening of classic rock music.

The concert Rock the River we attended was fantastic. The organization was great. Ticketmaster does a great job of making sure your tickets get added to your wallet and are easy and fast to use for entrance. Great job.

This was my second year attending RTR via the VIP ticket route and staying at the Bessborough hotel. It’s the only way to go IMO! Early entry to get chair set up on hill, grab food/drink tickets and hit the merchandise stand before everyone else! Bands were great all weekend. Personal favorites were 80’s Men without Hats & Flock of Seagulls! Much more crowded than last year. Noticed the line ups to get food tickets were really slow on north side. One day, only one booth was open with a long line with a security guard standing by the booth which was new from last year. (Not sure how south side lines looked!) Limited, expensive food options which is really surprising considering it’s provided by the hotel. Hamburger tasted like it was microwaved! Barely edible! Nachos were delicious! Didn’t see hot dogs, popcorn nor lemonade this year? Only got bottled water as my drink preference (Corona) isn’t available. Went to my room for the restroom, but I fully understand others concern with only South lot porta potty placement due to the city road construction right out front during the festival! Obviously, more ticket/drink staff needed to accommodate the large crowds.

Fantastic venue. FANTASTIC ARTISTS!! WHY WHY WHY....did i have to stand in line for 45min to get drink tickets?? Watched Streetheart from the line up. This is NOT your 1st year doing this- but it may as well have been - then it would be understandable & FORGIVEABLE. Not enough ticket booths. Not enough drink booths. A LOT OF THIRSTY PEOPLE. If you're going to insist i buy your ridiculously priced drinks- make them more AVAILABLE- & perhaps more variety. Next year I will just drink at home & come for the show.

Street Heart and Tom Cochran were great. Food ticket sales a mess. Booze tickets are too expensive

Pros: - good lineup - very good sound - nice people - good venue Areas for improvement: - the event is oversold, not enough room or sightlines for the number of attendees - long line to get in, need to add more entrances and streamline the process - single food vendor (the hotel) reduced selection and variety

The 2023 lineup was excellent. Streetheart stole the show - invite those boys back every year!!!! Gowan was a great show. The best surprise was Men w/o Hats - their show was entertaining and hugely enjoyable. April Wine and Chilliwack were a great time. Keep bringing back the classic groups and we will be happy. I want to see Streetheart/Trooper/Chiliwack/April Wine every year. Lets party while we still can - baby!

Again the organizers did a great job of the 3 day event held at a smaller venue. The sound was great, the bands put on a great crowd pleasing show and the weather held up too.

The venue was awesome! Found the drinks and food far too pricey for what you get. We left the venue as did many others to grab food. Took us away from the shows, so not the best use of our time. The Bessborough may want to try something a bit different? Bathrooms on both sides would be far better than just on the one side. Love the bands and look forward to next year.