Three concerts, postponed at the start of the COVID pandemic two years ago, are finally set to hit the Red Deer stage this spring.
Mike Bradford, of the Central Music Festival Society, looks forward to seeing crowds dancing again at the Elks Lodge. “I get real joy out of seeing people together, having a good time and leaving their everyday troubles behind,” he said.
Concerts have been a rare phenomenon these past two years when live music was often pre-empted by pandemic restrictions and curtailed by vaccine passports.
For the first time since early 2020, the Society has three concerts in a row planned for March and April — and all three are re-bookings from postponements two years ago because of the virus.
Bradford hopes to get bigger audiences out this spring than the 40-50 people who were entertained by the handful of concerts that could be presented under previous pandemic restrictions.
Three-time Juno-award-winning folk duo Pharis and Jason Romero will bring warm harmonies to the city on March 24. People across North America and Europe have been embracing this couple’s original tunes, rhythmic playing and vocal interplay.
The Romeros, who have added eight Canadian Folk Music Awards to their three Junos, “are great entertainers. I like to book performers that can also tell stories and jokes as well as sing a song,” said Bradford.
Canadian calypso-reggae band Kobo Town will perform at the Elks Lodge on April 7. Fronted by Trinidadian emigre Drew Gonsalves, who now lives in Toronto, the five-piece band produces “an intoxicating blend of lilting calypsonian wit, dance-hall reggae and trombone-heavy bass.”
The Juno-nominated group that’s performed from Port-of-Spain to Paris is guaranteed to get people dancing, said Bradford.
The third Elks Lodge concert, on April 22, will be by Roy Forbes, who’s returned to Red Deer countless times since 1984 and has a loyal fan following.
Forbes “has so much soul, he could give half of it away,” said Bradford.
The singer/songwriter, also known for hosting Roy’s Record Room on CKUA Radio, started out as a young folk musician known as Bim. Forbes was also part of the folk “super group” UHF (With Shari Ulrich and Bill Henderson) and music lovers might recall his rendition of Roy Orbison’s I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry, his original Talk Around Town, Christmas anthem Mince Meat Tart.
The Juno-nominated singer/songwriter, who was blinded by a 2015 accident, released his 11th solo album, Edge of Blue in 202o and received a 2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards’ Producer of the Year nomination for it.
Bradford acknowledged there could be hesitancy, among some people, about returning to the live music scene, given the uncertainly of the past two years. Although no more proof of vaccinations will be required, he said patrons can still wear masks, if they feel more comfortable doing so.
The Society hopes to sell at least 100 tickets per show, which is the break-even point. “We will have to re-evaluate,” this spring, to see how to move forward, said Bradford.
Meanwhile, he’s planning to bring back the ever-popular Matt Minglewood and band to the Elk’s Lodge this fall.
For more information about these shows, please visit centralmusicfest.com.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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