S’aints, Raffoul wow amphitheatre crowd

By Mark Ribble

The S’aints promised to ‘rock the hill’ and they certainly did that and then some, as the first of what is hoped to be annual free Labour Day weekend concerts hit the Sunset Amphitheatre stage at Seacliff Park Saturday.

The 10-member superband fronted by Leamington’s own Jody Raffoul delighted the crowd of over 3,000 as the sun set on Lake Erie and a swift breeze kept the heat at bay. But before The S’aints hit the stage, Leamington’s own Peter Raffoul wowed the audience with some of his original songs, showing why he is a singer/songwriter to keep an eye on.

Leamington’s Peter Raffoul opened the evening with a few of his own songs.

SUN photos

The concert was presented by St. Clair College and LiUna625 and produced by The Bank Theatre in partnership with the Municipality of Leamington. Known for their philanthropic concerts during the holiday season at Caesars Windsor, The S’Aints founders Jeff Burrows and Jody Raffoul teamed up once again to benefit the Windsor-Essex community and to also attract concert-goers throughout the southwest Ontario region to what could become an annual music fest featuring a diverse list of artists.

It was evident from the start that this group is tight-knit and likes to have fun. From the first beat, the S’aints captivated the audience and when the last note was played, the crowd cheered for more, prompting a twosong encore that finished with Santa Claus is Coming to Town. From Jody Raffoul’s electric vocals on Band On The Run to Kelly Howell’s powerful performance on Son of A Preacher Man, the band had the crowd on its feet for most of the evening.

Cellphones and lighters lit the hill at Seacliff Park.

Windsor native Burrows — who is the drummer for The Tea Party — kept the songs driving with his spot-on percussion. Even Peter Raffoul came back out and joined his father and guitarist Wes Buckley for a moving rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine, a song that lit up the Seacliff hill with cell phones and lighters.

Burrows, Raffoul and Howell were joined by seven other musicians including Buckley, Marty Bak, James O’Neil, Kelly ‘Mr. Chill’ Hoppe, David Cyrenne, and sister duo Liz Robinson and Stephanie Baker.

Labour Day weekend was chosen for a reason — and that was to honour all labourers as Jody Raffoul expressed his appreciation to the local migrant farm workers.

“We appreciate you,” he said. “It’s great to bring this to Leamington.”

The S’aints perform on the Sunset Amphitheatre stage on Saturday, September 3.

Donations were being accepted and a total of about $2,500 was raised and donated to the Windsor-Essex Food Bank Association.

The S’aints will play their annual Sleighing Hunger concert on December 23 at Caesars Windsor.