Whoop Up Stage began on Tuesday with a big country night and the Whoop Up  Days parade, Allee opened the Ex Stage at 7 p.m. followed by Aaron Goodvin at 8 p.m. And Corb Lund plays his first Whoop Up Days show at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $38 at the gate and $31 in advance. Medicine Hat duo Mahoney put their own stamp on classic covers in the Let ’Er buck saloon
Wednesday features something for everyone beginning with country music from with Calgary country/roots band the Mariel Buckley Band kicking things off at  7 p.m. They will be followed by the soulful pop stylings of Nuela Charles’ at 8 p.m.. Sam Roberts Band will rock the night away beginning at 9:30 p.m playing a plethora of their hits.
Country musician Ryan Lindsay plays the Let ’Er Buck Saloon. Tickets are $43 at the gate, $36 in advance.
 Thursday will be another eclectic night on the Ex stage as Mohawk/ African Canadian soul/ R and b/Rock and roll and blues band the Julian Taylor band begin the night at 7 p.m.
 Edmonton based indie rock band Scenic Route To Alaska are on the Ex stage at 8 p.m. And Whoop Up Days welcomes Burlington, Ontario based indie rock/pop/ folk band Walk Off The Earth at 9:30 p.m.

The Justin Hogg Band play the Let Er Buck Saloon. Tickets are $38 at the gate, $31 in advance.
 Friday night is the night to rock pop style with Hamilton alternative rock trio the Dirty Nil playing at 7 p.m followed by Vancouver pop duo Dear Rouge at 8 p.m. The Arkells rock the night away at 9:30 p.m.. Several country bands , the Abrams, Garrett Gregory and the Justin Hogg Band are in the Let ’er Buck Saloon. Tickets are $43 at the gate $36 in advance.

Whoop up Days ends Saturday, Aug. 24 with a whole lot of hip hop and rap with Harman B beginning at 7 p.m., the Notorious YEG following at 8 p.m. and Atlanta rapper  Lil Jon closing things off at 9:30 p.m.
 For a contrast to that rising country star the Chris Buck band play the Let Er Buck Saloon with Karac Hendriks. Tickets are $43 at the gate and $36 in advance.

 If that wasn’t enough Whoop Up Days, popular classic rock band the Chevelles play a Whoop up Days wind down party at Average Joes, Aug. 23 at 9 p.m. Admission is $15 in advance, $20 on the day of the show. The show begins at 9 p.m.

With bigger bands booked to play Whoop up Days, it means more stringent security procedures this year.
 Everybody will be subject to a bag search and a pat down and will go through a metal detector before entering the grounds at the South and north gates.

There is  a long list of prohibited items which  Exhibition Park staff are encouraging people to leave at home. Prohibited items include  air horns/artificial noisemakers; alcohol;  any item deemed a danger/threat to public order or safety 
; articles of clothing with offensive language/images ;  Banners/signs/voice amplification devices ; Bicycles/scooters ; Compressed and/or liquid gas/aerosol sprays (except personal care products, insect 
repellant) ; conducted energy weapons (i.e. Taser) ; corrosive chemicals/flammable substances; drones/radio controlled devices ; Illegal drugs/drug paraphernalia/ substances ;  explosives/flammable items/ignition devises ; firearms/slingshots/ammunition ; fireworks; flyers/samples/promotional items/giveaways ; glass containers /other containers in which their contents cannot be easily identified ;Hand tools/electric tools ; Knives/scissors/bladed items of all forms ; light emitting devices (lasers); mace/pepper spray/bear spray ;  masks ; materials of an extremist/offensive /discriminatory nature ; padlocks/chains/cables/zip ties/handcuffs ; paint/markers ; pets /other animals except animals with a service dog Identification card ; replica firearms/weapons including items that appear to be firearms skateboards/segway’s/wheelies/shoes with wheels/ hover boards ; sporting goods (baseball bats, hockey sticks, golf clubs, bows and arrows) ; Professional audio or video recording devices ; Unknown liquids/powders ; noise makers (i.e. bullhorns, sirens, air horns, etc) or confetti poppers; Hard sided coolers ;Selfie sticks/monopods/tripods, etc ;Glass bottles or unsealed outside beverages ; High back lawn chairs, large hats that obstruct views, or large umbrellas; Large banners or signs, banners or signs with objectionable language, or banners or 
signs on a pole of any kind  and  any objects deemed unacceptable by security or in their opinion may be used as a 
weapon of any kind . All such items will be confiscated by security and not returned.

 “ It brings us in line with other major festivals,” said Whoop up Days Exhibition Park Chief Operating Officer Mike Warkentin, noting he doesn’t anticipate any negative feedback from festival attendees.

“ It’s the same sort of security they have for events at the Enmax Centre,” he said.

 It was  a night full of pop music and flashing lights at the Slice, Wednesday, Aug 7.

 I arrived in the middle of a keyboard driven set of perky pop music from Vancouver band Royal Oak, but couldn’t really see them as I was being blinded by flashing strobes, flashing everywhere except on the band members.

 They sounded great with catchy keyboard hooks and had a lot of energy as frontman  Austin Ledyard leaped all over the stage  from behind his keyboard while wielding his guitar.

 They also had outstanding multi-part vocal harmonies which shone through.

 They welcomed fellow Vancouverite Chersea on stage to sing an upbeat duet.
 A little later, she took the stage on her own, borrowing Royal Oak drummer /vocalist Myles Philpott.

I wasn’t expecting her to have a band as she is know for  creating her own personal symphonies through a whole lot of looping. But she added another keyboardist as well as a keyboardist /bassist to flush out her sound.

They played upbeat, catchy , keyboard powered pop music, but with darker undertones, as Chersea introduced one of her songs by saying it was about living with manic depression.

That was one of the songs she used her “Britney Spears mic” to loop a few extra layers of vocals and some irritating  vocoder effects, which were totally unnecessary as she easily sang at least three octaves on her own, hitting ear piercingly high notes with ease.

 She thanked the 20 or so people in the audience for coming out on a Wednesday night.

 Unfortunately I missed Tyler Vandendool and Toronto pop duo Goodnight, Sunrise who were on earlier ad Fawns, who closed the show.

Lethbridge gave a musical send off to talented couple Victoria Madge and Cole Dempsey who are traveling to Peru for six months.

 Several musicians got up to play at the Slice, Saturday, Aug. 3 including the duo, who haven’t played live here very often.

 Victoria Madge showed off her big, beautiful voice by singing songs they had been performing at weddings including Queen’s “You’re my Best Friend.” Cole Dempsey played some pretty acoustic guitar to accompany her.

 He stood out with some nimble picking on a David Francey song.