{"id":38844,"date":"2026-09-03T12:30:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=38844"},"modified":"2026-09-03T12:31:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:31:07","slug":"machell-park-is-blown-wide-open-by-ian-thornleys-performances-of-that-song-and-so-far-so-good-from-his-career-as-front-man-for-big-wreck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/machell-park-is-blown-wide-open-by-ian-thornleys-performances-of-that-song-and-so-far-so-good-from-his-career-as-front-man-for-big-wreck\/","title":{"rendered":"Machell Park is \u201cBlown Wide Open\u201d by Ian Thornley\u2019s performances of \u201cThat Song\u201d and \u201cSo Far, So Good\u201d from his career as front man for Big Wreck and Thornley"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Amid the aroma of barbecued ribs, Beaver Tails, popcorn and cotton candy, Canadian rock legend Ian Thornley took the stage on Saturday night and wowed over 2,000 fans at Machell Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bathed in lilac and yellow lighting on the Magna-Desjardins Stage, Thornley led the appreciative assembly through a brisk 14-song set list that encapsulated his career as a front man for both hard-driving rock band Big Wreck and post-grunge alternative metal band Thornley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both groups\u2019 biggest hits were delivered by the ageless front man Thornley and his talented trio of bandmates \u2013 much to the delight of the \u201crib and rollers\u201d that gathered for Ribfest\u2019s Day 2 crescendo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Big Wreck played the opening chords of 1997\u2019s \u201cThe Oaf (My Luck is Wasted)\u201d, the talented quartet peered out into a sea of fans that stretched all the way to Aurora Heights Drive\u2014filling the baseball infields and soccer pitches at the North Aurora park in perfect late-summer conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thornley was in fine form as he impelled the FM-Radio favorite forward\u2014his voice soaring with the lyrics \u201cMy luck is wasted \/ I\u2019m on the run somewhere\u201d \u2013 and he rolled in seamlessly to \u201cLocomotive\u201d with its throbbing, hard-edged, guitar work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four songs into the concert, Thornley sought refuge in one of his namesake band\u2019s best pieces, \u201cCome Again,\u201d with its edgy, grunge sound and perfect synchronization of all three guitarists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the concert\u2019s midway point, Big Wreck performed Thornley\u2019s biggest hit: \u201cSo Far, So Good.\u201d  The quartet\u2019s super tight, efficient version was one of the highlights of the night. Thornley, the front man, delivered its ferocious chorus with clarity and flare: \u201cWhen you\u2019re right, you\u2019re right \/ Everything else in my life just might be wrong \/ You\u2019re wrong — all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Ian Thornley hurdled towards the brilliant song\u2019s measured delivery of lyrics in its closing stanza\u2014\u201cSo far, so good, \u2018cause no one knows I\u2019m faking\/ I wish I could show you the toll it\u2019s taking \/ Sometimes I feel as if there\u2019s no tomorrow \/ So far so good\u201d\u2014the lead singer and talented guitarist moved back to the Big Wreck song catalogue and fell into the mournful guitar work that characterizes \u201cAlbatross.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An appreciative audience recognized the distinctive introduction to one of Big Wreck\u2019s most popular songs and Thornley\u2019s booming vocals were backed by the pulsating drum work of Sekou Lumumba. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to closing the concert with \u201cThat Song\u201d \u2013 which still enjoys regular rotation on FM stations like Q-107 \u2013 Big Wreck injected a wee bit of whimsy into the show by breaking into a jaunty version of \u201cLong Train Runnin\u2019\u201d by the Doobie Brothers. Newly-arrived lead guitarist Chris Caddell took over the vocals and covered Tom Johnston\u2019s distinctive southern-fried rock voice while Thornley and long-time bassist Dave McMillan delivered the legendary riffs from the 50-year-old classic tune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout love \/ Where would you be now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fair question on a Saturday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the spot-on Doobies diversion, Big Wreck\u2019s delivery of \u201cThat Song\u201d was the most joyous segment of the concert with the engaged audience \u201cScreaming [back] at the top of [their] lungs\u201d much to Ian Thornley\u2019s delight.  Thousands chanted \u201cSo you crank that song \/ And it might sound doom \/ So just leave the room \/ While I stop and stare \/ Cause this is rare \/ I really love that tune \/ Man, I love that song \/ I really like that song \/ I love that song.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The audience\u2019s sing-a-long was cut short by the cascading, dynamic guitar work of Caddell, Thornley, and McMillan in Big Wreck\u2019s signature song. It was evident that 2,000 folks \u201creally loved that song\u201d and yelled for more after the climactic tune reached its triumphant ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big Wreck obliged by pounding out \u201cBlown Wide Open\u201d as its encore and attendees exited Machell Park quite satiated with a bellyful of ribs and ears echoing with the distinctive sounds of Ian Thornley and his Big Wreck bandmates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five songs into the concert, Thornley had warmed up his Ribfest audience by asking \u201cHow many people ate the ribs?\u201d  A boisterous response filled the park and the front man confessed \u201cWe ate the ribs with a knife and fork to stay clean and neat for tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The front man\u2019s fastidious habits during the pre-concert meal translated seamlessly on stage as Big Wreck delivered a clean and neat performance of great turn-of-the-century Canadian rock standards on Saturday night at Ribfest 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jim Stewart<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid the aroma of barbecued ribs, Beaver Tails, popcorn and cotton candy, Canadian rock legend Ian Thornley took the stage on Saturday night and wowed over 2,000 fans at Machell Park. Bathed in lilac and yellow lighting on the Magna-Desjardins Stage, Thornley led the appreciative assembly through a brisk 14-song set list that encapsulated his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-a6w","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-11 03:04:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38844"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38845,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38844\/revisions\/38845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}