|
Country-rock, blues, country and Cajun. They were all available in SUB auditorium Wednesday in the form of Blue Northern.
The six man band is one of the more versatile of Vancouver's local talents, and they put on a tight, well rounded show for about 175 people.
The band opened their set with a hot instrumental featuring Gary Comeau on fiddle. The first half hour of the show consisted of their more rocky tunes, such as Down the Line and a fun blues number called Boogie Real Slow with the Lights Way Down Home Blues.
Unfortunately the first half of the show was plagued by sound trouble. The band took a break to fix their sound problems and came back for another half hour. The second half of the show was a mixture of Cajun, such as I Live To Have Fun on a Saturday Night, and country songs like Take Me or Leave Me, Just Think About Why and My Gal.
The band is fun on stage and relates well to the audience. Band members Jimmy Clyde Wilson, Brady Gustafson, Leroy Stephens, Ray O'Toole, Billy Cowsill and Gary Comeau play the usual array of country instruments and most of them contribute on vocals, making for impressive harmonies.
Most of the band's material lies in the realm of country. It is unfortunate that the word country brings to mind such names as Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash. Blue Northern's music is more along the line of such great talents as Waylon Jennings and Charlie Daniels.
It is a pleasure to see country music at least occasionally, even if not a fan. It is not contrived and there are no overwhelming or oppressive significance. There was no mention of death to the sickoids or braineaters, which is a great relief from most of the local music scene. Blue Northern plays their music just for the fun of it, and succeeds in transmitting their enjoyment to their audience.
The Wednesday non-hour concert series, co-sponsored by the Alma Mater Society, C-FOX radio and Gary Taylor's Rock Room, will continue Sept. 26 with the Powder Blues Band. Other shows will feature Highstreet, Molly Oliver, the Wives and Bob Segarini.
|
