Fans of Joel Plaskett Emergency don’t have to wait for Paul McCartney’s July 11 show at the Common to see the Halifax indie rockers perform outdoors – they’ll also be playing on Canada Day at Alderney Landing.

But while much smaller in scale, Plaskett doesn’t consider his performance tomorrow night as a warmup for Sir Paul.

“I love playing that stage at Alderney Landing, so we usually try and make it a yearly event if we can, and so Canada Day seemed like the best opportunity to do that,” Plaskett told Metro Halifax yesterday.

Plaskett said the Alderney Landing audience is quite different than those places his band normally performs at - like bars or venues such as the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax.

“The crowd includes everybody, which is what can be really fun about it,” he said.

The Halifax-Dartmouth Canada Day Committee is also excited about the band’s concert. The outdoor show begins at 3 p.m. and includes other acts such as Asia and NuGruv, Under The Sun and Blueberry Grunt. Plaskett is the headliner.

“We’re pumped for him,” said Jeff Wall, chair of the Halifax-Dartmouth Canada Day Committee. “We’re expecting that he’s going to bring out a big crowd.”

Plaskett is excited to open for McCartney too, especially because he heard it was the ex-Beatle himself who chose the opening bands.

“I gather that the request came straight from his management company, which was really nice,” Plaskett said. “They must have heard the CD. and really liked it, which is cool.”

“It’s pretty cool to get to share the stage with somebody which such international recognition. It is sort of a very rare opportunity for a band like us,” he added.

Their opening slot for McCartney could last up to an hour.

“We’ll play for five minutes if that’s what they want,” Plaskett admitted. “We’ll play one song or we’ll play 10.”