On a cold Thursday night in Key West, Cross Canadian Ragweed reunited on stage for the first time in 15 years at Mile 0 Fest. This year, Mile 0 Festival hosted a Cross Canadian Tribute night, given the legendary Red Dirt band is slated to reunite with a massive four-night event in Stillwater, Oklahoma, later this spring.
The Boys From Oklahoma event at Boone Pickens Stadium sold over 180,000 tickets and features other Red Dirt legends like the Turnpike Troubadours, The Great Divide, Jason Boland & The Stragglers, Stoney LaRue, and more.
While the world is thrilled to see Cross Canadian Ragweed finally reunite after years of saying they would never get back together, a few fans are not as joyous seeing they hit the stage before April together, and frankly are upset that they performed at Mile 0.
Cross Canadian Ragweed did not perform an entire set at Mile 0; it was an impromptu six-song performance spurred by the emotion of seeing all of their musical colleagues perform their songs during the tribute.
Cody Canada took to social media to address the unhappy fans regarding the spur-of-the-moment performance.
“I earlier was going to post a video because I was really mad, but I’m going to say this right now. Last night, we played six songs. Six songs. We had four songs on the setlist. We weren’t going to play at all, but everyone got up and played our songs last night. Guys, Adam Hood did ‘Anywhere But Here.’
How can I not? How can I sit on the side of the stage and hear Adam Hood doing that song, Jason Eady doing ‘Jenny,’ Courtney doing ‘Alabama.’ Oh, hang on, Jamie Lin Wilson taking time out of her vacation year to come here for eighteen hours to sing ’17’ in front of people.
That’s a love fest. And I’m in love with my friends very much. I was going to get on here and be very mad about things; people are saying there could be lawsuits, people are saying blah blah blah, this is bullsh*t. But guess what? It’s not bullsh*t.
We sold 183,000 tickets for 183,000 people that want to see us play music. Last night, we stood on the side of the stage as our friends played our songs, and it got to us to the point where we said, ‘You know what? F**k this. We want to get up and give people what they want to hear. We want to play songs for people.’ And we did six songs. It’s not like we did a two-hour show.
So that’s what it was, and if you’re upset about, man, I don’t know what to tell you. But I will tell you this: I still love you no matter what you think. So, just be nice to people and quit pissing on. It was six songs, six songs, that’s it. Six songs of love.”
Canada wraps up the video, noting that he recently lost his godson and that they played his favorite song, and if anyone should be mad, it’s that a life was taken too soon.
It’s hard not to agree with Canada that this moment should be celebrated instead of hated. We have wanted to see Ragweed back on stage for over a decade, and when they do, we are mad because it’s before their scheduled “return?” C’mon…
As Canada mentioned, if it was a two-hour set, sure, that has grounds to be upset, but they were going to play on stage together at some point, so why not make it in front of an intimate crowd for the first time after their friends and colleagues showered them with love. Also, it’s pretty common for a band who hasn’t been on stage for a long time to do one or two warm up gigs at smaller venues before the big return. Shake the rust in front of a few hundred before you play for thousands… happens all the time. Just last year, Sturgill Simpson was slated to make his return at Outside Lands Festival after a vocal cord rupture had him on the shelf for a few years. The night before, he played a gig at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco… place that holds around 500 people.
All that to say, I guarantee you their performance at Mile 0 does not diminish the epic-ness of The Boys From Oklahoma event. That’s a massive stage, and their biggest fans will fill the stadium to celebrate their music.
It will still be a magical experience… everybody calm down.
While you’re here, check out their performance on Mile 0.
@the_adam_drake #RedDirt history happened tonight in #KeyWest. The legendary #CrossCanadianRagweed took the stage together for the first time in 15 years. Goosebumps were felt by everyone in attendance and not just because of the cold wind blowing. Thank you @Mile 0 Fest Key West for an unforgettable night. Again, I didn’t get video of everything, but I got as much as I could yo share with you. #Number #LonelyGirl #LighthouseKeeper #BoysFromOklahoma ♬ original sound – Drake