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It was a full house in the P.W Enns Centennial Concert Hall for the Back Forty Festival fundraising concert, the 70s Show.
Festival Board Chair Scott Bell said the crowd was funny and interacted with those on stage adding to the energy on stage by clapping, laughing, and singing along.
"It was such a great crowd. They were responsive, and as a performer, if you're up on stage and you look out at a big audience like that, it's a boost. There's a tendency amongst performers to be a little nervous or anxious before taking the stage. I think that's their bodies and nervous systems preparing them to do something extraordinary. And then when they look out on the crowd, it just gives them a lift and allows them to really perform as best they can."
Bill Dowling and the Evenbreaks presented music by Van Morrison, Link and the Moustaches gave a gritty rendition of George Thorogood, a soulful performance of Leonard Cohen tunes came from Jenessa Kehler followed by The Monochromatics encored performance of The Clash. After intermission, Duane Hiebert and his band rocked the stage in full costume as David Bowie, Robbie G gave a taste of the Eagles and Eric Clapton, followed by the Committee banging out AC/DC. The night wrapped up with BK and the Bad Habits with guest lead singer, Steve Keys giving the audience more than they could handle with the Rolling Stones.
Bell said the energy backstage was electric with musicians singing and cheering in the wings.
"I think this was a record number of musicians we had involved with the show. Just a larger number of bands and the bands themselves. There were some big ensembles, we had little string sections, little horn sections, and that just added to the evening as well. Some new people that hadn't been a part of one of these shows before, and that we're always looking to spread the opportunities around and then involve as many local musicians as we can, so it just was a wonderful evening."
Partway through the show, the headliner act coming to the Back Forty Festival on June 4th was announced.
"So, we made a decision that we'd hire one headliner that will hopefully grab people's attention, and then the rest of the day is all excellent, local musicians. And so that's what it's going to be, whether it's individual singer/songwriters or bands or whatever. But the entire day's lineup will be people from this area. And then our headliner. I'm very excited to say it is Joey Landreth and his band."
Bell noted they are very lucky to have such a notable band coming to the show as the Brothers Landreth has recently received some big-time recognition.
"Joey is riding a pretty amazing wave right now. He and his brother and their band the Brothers Landreth have just announced they're participating in Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in Los Angeles in the fall. Like, all the best guitar players in the world are all there at the same time on the same weekend. Plus, he just wrote another song, he and his brother Dave wrote, that Bonnie Raitt recorded. She won a Grammy for it and thanked him from the stage at the Grammys. They we've just won a Juno for Best (Contemporary) Roots Album."
Tickets for the festival will go on sale in the coming weeks and people looking to volunteer can go to the Back Forty Festival website to sign up for the day long music festival.
