RBC Rock the Park, formerly known as Start.ca Rocks the Park and Hawk Rocks the Park, is an annual music concert held at Harris Park in London, Ontario, Canada. From 2004 to 2008, it was primarily a classic rock concert sponsored by radio station 103.9 The Hawk. In 2010, the three-day concert was sponsored by three radio stations: 98.1 Free FM, FM96, and country music station BX93.
| Rock the Park | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | 2004 to 2008: Classic rock 2009 to present: Classic rock, rock, modern rock, country, hip hop |
| Dates | 2024: July 10–13 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location(s) | Harris Park, London, Ontario |
| Years active | 2004 – present |
| Website | www |
For the first 12 years, the purpose of the event was to raise money for Bethany's Hope Foundation for MLD Research, which raised over $2.2 million.[1]
Since 2016, Rock the Park has teamed up with the following charities: Big Brothers Big Sisters of London and Area, Make-A-Wish Southwestern Ontario and Children's Health Foundation, while also supporting Western Mustangs Football.[1] In 2019, they rebranded the name to Start.ca Rocks the Park with their partnership with Start.ca. In 2023, they again rebranded to RBC Rock the Park to reflect their partnership with Royal Bank of Canada.[1]
Rock the Park I
editThe first Rock the Park was held July 22–24 in 2004. Its main function was to raise money for Bethany's Hope Foundation and it raised more than $110,000. It featured several musical groups:
Thursday, July 22
Friday, July 23
Saturday, July 24
Hawk Rocks the Park... Again
edit
The second edition of Rock the Park was held over four days during July 21–24, 2005. Due to the success of the first concert, this second one was expanded to four days, during which over 40,000 Rock fans attended. It featured:
Thursday, July 21
- ZZ Top
- Randy Bachman
- Brian Howe
- Trooper
- Jimmy Bowskillz Band
Friday, July 22
- Lou Gramm (Former singer of Foreigner)
- April Wine
- Sass Jordan
- Chilliwack
Saturday, July 23
Sunday, July 24
- George Thorogood & The Destroyers
- David Wilcox
- Thundermug (Playing in their last concert for a long time)
Rock the Park III
editHeld July 20–22, 2006, the groups that took part were:[2]
Thursday, July 20
Friday, July 21
Saturday, July 22
Rock the Park III managed to raise $180,021 for the Bethany's Hope Foundation.
Hawk Rocks the Park: Back 4 More
editRock the Park IV was run July 26–28, 2007.
Thursday, July 26
Friday, July 27
Saturday, July 28
One of the announced bands was supposed to be Boston. The announcement was postponed after the death of Brad Delp. Subsequently, all of Boston's plans for touring, including Hawk Rocks the Park, were cancelled.
Hawk Rocks the Park 5
editRock the Park 5 ran from July 23 to July 26, 2008.
Wednesday, July 23
- Ted Nugent
- Great White
- Diamond Dust (Winner of Rockstar Fantasy)
Thursday, July 24
Friday July 25
Saturday July 26
Rock the Park 2009
editRock the Park 2009 was held July 23–25, 2009. This marked the first time Rock the Park was not fully put on by The Hawk. Instead it was put on by two other major London radio stations as well. July 23 was presented by FM96, July 24 by BX93, and July 25 by The Hawk.
Thursday, July 23
Friday, July 24
Saturday, July 25
- The Doobie Brothers
- Creedence Clearwater Revisited
- Dennis DeYoung (Former singer of Styx)
- Lighthouse
Rock the Park 2010
editRock the Park 2010 was held from July 22–24, 2010. It was presented by Bob FM. Approximately $1 million was raised for the Bethany's Hope Foundation.
Thursday, July 22
Friday, July 23
Saturday, July 24
Rock the Park 2011
editThe 2011 edition of Rock the Park took place over three days in July 2011. That year's sponsors included FM 96, 103.1 Fresh FM, 103.9 Greatest Hits FM and AM980, among others.
Thursday, July 21
Friday, July 22
Saturday, July 23
Rock the Park 2012
editThursday July 26, 2012 (Modern Rock Night)
Friday July 27, 2012 (Classic Rock Night 1)
Saturday July 28, 2012 (Classic Rock Night 2)
Rock the Park 2013, 10th Anniversary
editThursday July 25, 2013 (Modern Rock Night)
Friday July 26, 2013 (Classic Rock Night 1)
Saturday July 27, 2013 (Classic Rock Night 2)
Rock the Park 2014
editRock the Park XI took place July 24–26, 2014. A new event, the Gone Country Music Festival, sponsored by radio station BX93, was held at Harris Park on Wednesday, July 23, 2014.
Wednesday July 23, 2014 – Gone Country Music Festival
Thursday July 24, 2014
Friday July 25, 2014
Saturday July 26, 2014
- Burton Cummings[4]
- Huey Lewis and the News[4]
- 38 Special[5][6]
- Headpins[7]
- FREE FM Under the Covers Winner
Rock the Park 2015
editRock the Park XII took place July 14–18, 2015.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 – Gone Country
Thursday, July 16, 2015 – Gone Country
Friday, July 17, 2015
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Rock the Park 2016
editRock the Park 2016 took place July 13–16, 2016
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 – Gone Country
Thursday, July 14, 2016 – Gone Country
Friday, July 15, 2016
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Rock the Park 2017
editRock the Park 2017 took place July 12–16, 2017. On April 10, 2017, it was announced that another night, Sunday, July 16, was added to the festival.
Wednesday, July 12, 2017 – BX93’s Gone Country Presents:
Thursday, July 13, 2017 – Virgin Radio Presents:
- Wiz Khalifa
- Fetty Wap ft. Monty
- DJ Mustard
- Casper the Ghost
Friday, July 14, 2017 – Virgin Radio Presents: I Love the '90s Tour
- Vanilla Ice
- Salt-N-Pepa
- Naughty by Nature
- Rob Base
- All-4-One
- Color Me Badd
- Young MC
- C+C Music Factory
Saturday, July 15, 2017 – FM96 Presents:
Sunday, July 16, 2017 – Virgin Radio Presents:
Rock the Park 2018
editRock the Park 2018 takes place July 11–14, 2018.[8]
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 – FM96 Presents:
- Shinedown
- Chevelle
- Machine Gun Kelly
- The Lazys
- Bobnoxious
Thursday, July 12, 2018:
- Cyndi Lauper
- Bret Michaels
- Howard Jones
- Kim Mitchell
- Richard Page of Mr. Mister
- Platinum Blonde
- A Flock of Seagulls
Friday, July 13, 2018 – Virgin Radio Presents:
Saturday, July 14, 2018 – FM96 Presents:
- Rise Against
- Three Days Grace
- Theory
- Pop Evil
- Texas King
Start.ca Rocks the Park 2019
editStart.ca Rocks the Park 2019 took place July 10–13, 2019.[8]
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 – Pure Country 93 Presents:
Thursday, July 11, 2019 – FM96 Presents:
Friday, July 12, 2019: 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents:
Saturday, July 13, 2019: 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents:
On Monday July 8, 2019, due to travel situations, the set order was changed. As a result, the headline act, Pitbull, opened the show, followed by T-Pain and finally Flo Rida.
Start.ca Rocks the Park 2020
editStart.ca Rocks the Park 2020 was to have taken place July 15–18, 2020.[8]
On April 27, 2020, festival organizers announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival had been postponed for one year until 2021. Due to scheduling conflicts, various artists could not be reconfirmed for two of the postponed dates. As a result, the artists who were to perform on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, and Saturday, July 18th, 2020 had been cancelled.[9]
Wednesday, July 15, 2020 – FM96 and 103.1 Fresh FM Present: CANCELLED
Thursday, July 16, 2020 – FM96 Presents: POSTPONED To Thursday July 15, 2021
Friday, July 17, 2020: 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents: POSTPONED To Friday July 16, 2021
Saturday, July 18, 2020 Pure Country 93 Presents: CANCELLED
Start.ca Rocks the Park 2021
editStart.ca Rocks the Park 2021 was to have taken place July 14–17, 2021.[8]
On May 17, 2021, festival organizers announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival once again had been postponed for another year until 2022. The organizers said that they were working with the artists to play on the rescheduled dates.[9]
Wednesday, July 14, 2021:
- TBA
Thursday, July 15, 2021 – FM96 Presents: POSTPONED To Thursday July 14, 2022
Friday, July 16, 2021: 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents: POSTPONED To Friday July 15, 2022
On April 27, 2020, Aqua was added to the line up.
Saturday, July 17, 2021:
- TBA
Start.ca Rocks the Park 2022
editStart.ca Rocks the Park 2022 took place July 13–17, 2022.[8]
Wednesday, July 13, 2022 – FM96 & fresh103.1 Present:
Thursday, July 14, 2022 – FM96 Presents:
Friday, July 15, 2022 – 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents:
- TLC
- Aqua
- Ja Rule
- DMC (of Run-DMC) and the Hellraisers
- Jenny Berggren of Ace of Base
- 112
- 2 Live Crew
Saturday, July 16, 2022 – FizzFest:
Sunday, July 17, 2022 – Pure Country 93 Presents:
RBC Rock the Park 2023
editRBC Rock the Park 2023 took place July 12–15, 2023.[8]
Wednesday, July 12, 2023 – FM96 Presents:
Thursday, July 13, 2023:
Friday, July 14, 2023 – 97.5 Virgin Radio Presents:
Saturday, July 15, 2023 – FM96 Presents:
RBC Rock the Park 2024
editRBC Rock the Park 2024 takes place July 10–13, 2024.[8] On June 26, 2024, organizers announced that Bryan Adams would be replacing Neil Young with Crazy Horse, due to the latter's cancellation of the remaining dates in their concert tour.[10]
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Friday, July 12, 2024
Saturday, July 13, 2024
References
edit- ^ a b c "History of Rock the Park". Retrieved 2017-02-10.
- ^ "London Free Press article about Rock the Park III". Lfpress.ca. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ "AM980 News (CFPL AM)". 980 CFPL. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Welcome to the Official Huey Lewis and the News Website". Hueylewisandthenews.com. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ Reaney, James (2014-01-24). "38 Special, country bands join 11th Rock the Park". London Free Press. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
- ^ "Tour Dates – 38 Special". Retrieved 2014-02-05.
- ^ "TURN IT LOUD – Headpins.net". Canadianclassicrock.com. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Rock the Park 2018 Lineup".
- ^ a b "Start.ca Rocks the Park 2020". Retrieved 2021-05-17.
- ^ Brennan, Noah (June 26, 2024). "Neil Young out, Bryan Adams in at Rock The Park finale". The London free Press. Retrieved June 27, 2024.