One of Canada’s most acclaimed alt-rock musicians will make his Peterborough Musicfest debut this summer, with festival organizers expecting a large crowd when Matthew Good and his band perform a free-admission concert at Del Crary Park in downtown Peterborough on Wednesday, July 22.
With Good’s enduring popularity and a catalogue of radio staples that helped define Canadian rock music in the late 1990s and early 2000s, organizers are encouraging concertgoers to arrive early to secure a good vantage point.
The 55-year-old B.C. native first rose to national prominence as the lead singer and principal songwriter of the Matthew Good Band, which became one of Canada’s most successful alt-rock acts of the 1990s. The band’s breakthrough releases included Underdogs in 1997 and Beautiful Midnight in 1999, the latter featuring hit singles including “Hello Time Bomb,” “Load Me Up,” “Strange Days,” and “The Future is X-Rated.”
Beautiful Midnight became the Matthew Good Band’s best-known album and earned the group two Juno Awards in 2000, for Best Group and Best Rock Album. Other Matthew Good Band songs that became fixtures of Canadian rock radio include “Everything Is Automatic,” “Apparitions,” “Indestructible,” and “Rico.”
After the Matthew Good Band disbanded in 2002, Good launched his solo career with 2003’s Avalanche, a more expansive and orchestral album that included the singles “Weapon” and “In a World Called Catastrophe.” Good won a Juno Award for Video of the Year for “Weapon,” while the album helped establish his solo success.
Since then, Good’s solo catalogue has included the records White Light Rock & Roll Review, Hospital Music, Vancouver (a 2009 effort that won the Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year), Lights of Endangered Species, Arrows of Desire, Chaotic Neutral, Something Like a Storm, and Moving Walls. His latest release is the 2025 EP Zero Hours.
VIDEO: “Hello Time Bomb” – Matthew Good Band (1999)
VIDEO: “Load Me Up” – Matthew Good Band (1999)
During both phases of his career, Good has earned 21 Juno Award nominations and four wins, while building a reputation as a songwriter whose work combines melodic rock with political commentary, social observation, and deeply personal writing.
With Good’s interest in history and politics and his own personal struggles, his songs have often addressed alienation, mental health, civic decay, war, media culture, and the uneasy balance between public and private life. In 2025, he cancelled his tour dates in the United States due to Donald Trump’s presidency, fearing that his visa could be rejected or he could be stopped at the border if he said negative things about Trump.
Good is also a mental health advocate, having experienced his own mental health issues during his career, including a brief stay in a psychiatric ward followed by a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
Before Good and his band take to the Fred Anderson Stage at 8 p.m., audiences can catch Graeme Jonez at 6:30 p.m. on the side stage as part of the Future Sound Series presented by Cogeco. An Anishinaabe-English indie roots-rock performer and songwriter from Toronto, Jonez’s appearance is supported by The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, which helps amplify Indigenous voices and stories through music and the arts.
Food vendors at Del Crary Park will open at 5 p.m., and Peterborough Musicfest volunteers will be selling tickets for the festival’s 50/50 fundraising raffle throughout the evening.
Admission to all Peterborough Musicfest concerts remains free thanks to the support of sponsors including kawarthaNOW., donors, government funders, and community partners.
VIDEO: “Weapon” – Matthew Good (2002)
VIDEO: “Lost and Found Kids” – Matthew Good (2025)
Below is the festival’s full lineup so far, with headliners for two more concert dates — Saturday, July 25 and Saturday, August 8 — still to be announced.
- Saturday, June 27 – Gowan (Pop)
- Wednesday, July 1 – Neon Nostalgic (Retro Rock Tribute)
- Saturday, July 4 – Good Lovelies (Folk/Country)
- Wednesday, July 8 – Sass Jordan (Rock)
- Saturday, July 11 – Lighthouse (Rock)
- Wednesday, July 15 – Tyler Joe Miller (Country)
- Saturday, July 18 – Julian Taylor (Soul/Roots/Blues)
- Wednesday, July 22 – Matthew Good and His Band (Rock)
- Saturday, July 25 – To be announced
- Wednesday, July 29 – Dwayne Gretzky (Canada’s Greatest Party Band)
- Saturday, August 1 – Garth Brooks + Shania Twain (Tribute)
- Wednesday, August 5 – Crash Test Dummies (Alt Rock/Folk)
- Saturday, August 8 – To be announced
- Wednesday, August 12 – Trans-Canada Highwaymen (Canadian Supergroup)
- Saturday, August 15 – Crystal Faith (Bon Jovi/Styx Tribute)
- Wednesday, August 19 – The Dreamboats (’50s & ’60s Rock N Roll)
Here’s the complete lineup of performers for the Future Sound Series:
- Saturday, June 27 – Irish Millie (Celtic/Folk)
- Saturday, July 4 – Ty Wilson (Alt-Country)
- Wednesday, July 8 – Lotsy (aka Sarah Jayne Riley) (Rock N Roll)
- Saturday, July 11 – Carling Stephen (R&B/Alt-Rock/Reggae)
- Wednesday, July 15 – Joanna Bronson (Country)
- Wednesday, July 22 – Graeme Jonez (Alt-Folk)
- Saturday, July 25 – Alycia Hebert (Country)
- Wednesday, July 29 – JJ Thompson (Folk-Rock)
- Saturday, August 1 – Georgia Rose (Indie-Pop)
- Wednesday, August 5 – Jeff Biggar (Soft-Rock)
- Saturday, August 8 – James N. Wilson (Singer-Songwriter)
- Wednesday, August 12 – Vancamp (Indie-Folk)
- Saturday, August 15 – The Colton Sisters (Folk)
- Wednesday, August 19 – Jeanne Truax (Rockabilly)
For more information about Peterborough Musicfest, visit www.ptbomusicfest.ca.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a headline sponsor of Peterborough Musicfest’s 2026 season.
