Gwen Stefani, banana theft, and extreme heat among the top surprises of Country Thunder 2022

Country Thunder's entrance can be seen in this CTV News file photo. (David Prisciak / CTV News)

The 2022 running of Country Thunder Saskatchewan had its fair share of surprises, and according to Pure Country 92.7 host Brandon Hall, this year’s festival will be remembered for these five reasons.

5. THEFT OF A GIANT, PLUSH BANANA

In a Monday afternoon news release, Saskatchewan RCMP provided a comprehensive list of all police activity during the Country Thunder annual festival.

There were two incidents of theft under $5,000 according to the RCMP. One item being a chair, the other being a giant, plush banana.

“The one that stuck out was the giant plush banana, which is incredible,” Hall said with a chuckle.

“I know of the people that brought it out. They were happy to retrieve it. They got it back and they said that they will never take it out again. It was too precious to them.”

4. THE INCREDIBLE HEAT

The four-day heat stretch was the worst in recent memory for Country Thunder, with temperatures regularly exceeding 30 C. Hall explained that in his 14 years of attending the festival, he never experienced heat like this year.

“Friday is usually the heat day and then Saturday is your storm day and then Sunday's your mud day,” he explained.

“I've never experienced, and some people have gone for 30 years, but I don't think we've had a heat stretch that long and that incredible, for that sustained amount of time.”

3. NO RAIN UNTIL THE 11TH HOUR

Rainfall affecting the entertainment lineups is a mainstay of Country Thunder, according to Hall. The festival nearly went four days without rain affecting the evening shows, but on Sunday night, Mother Nature had a response.

“This was also going to be the first year, I think that we didn't have rain during the acts, but of course, in the 11th hour, it rained just before the final three acts.”

2. MAIN SHOW PERFORMANCES: LEE BRICE, MORGAN WALLEN, SURPRISE GUESTS AND MORE

Two particular performances were quite memorable according to Hall. For one, Lee Brice’s delayed set on Friday meant the artist began his show 20 minutes after midnight. However, the set was extraordinarily high energy for the time of night.

“Not a single person left. He held their attention with the energy of playing at like nine o'clock at night. It was unbelievable,” Hall explained.

“I've never seen an artist hold someone's attention when every bone in my body wanted to go to bed, leave town and go home. But he did it.”

Morgan Wallen’s Saturday night show was also note worthy for Hall. While not a record breaking audience, crowd engagement led to quite the spectacle.

“Morgan Wallen didn't hold the record of the most people … he had north of 26,000 people, but I've never seen so many camera phones light up like that at one time,” Hall said.

“It honestly looked like it was it was the afternoon, while it was night time, because it was so bright in there. It was unbelievable and I’ve never seen something like that before.”

An appearance that seemed to take many fans by surprise was that of Gwen Stefani, who performed during husband Blake Shelton’s headlining set on Sunday evening.

The Sheltons 😘❤️ @gwenstefani @blakeshelton #CountryThunderSK 7/17/2022

📸: Mike Dubois pic.twitter.com/OOqLcu9iJL

— B ♡ G (@iloveBlakexGwen) July 19, 2022

1. LOCAL TALENT: WILDFIRE AND TEAGAN LITTLECHIEF

Local talent like Wildfire and Teagan Littlechief was the number one surprise for Hall.

“What they did was pretty incredible,” he explained.

Regina based band Wildfire had several spots at the beer garden stage during the four days of Country Thunder, while Saskatchewan Indigenous artist Teagan Littlechief sang the national anthem on the main stage while also turning in a performance at the secondary stage.

“The crowds for those local guys were pretty impressive too,” Hall said.

“So there's a need and a hunger for local acts and I'm glad that they get a spotlight there.”

THE FUTURE

In comparison to previous years of Country Thunder, Hall believed that this year was pretty memorable.

“After coming back from a pandemic, we just kind of shrugged it off and had a great weekend,” he said.

When asked how next year's show could improve, Hall had two very specific recommendations.

“More local acts," he said.

"And give us Luke Combs ... please.”