Alberta Arts Days made their way in Lac La Biche this past weekend as the Bold Center was transformed into a plethora of arts, crafts, and entertainment for the whole family.
Art Days came to town on a high note with the first of the events showcasing musical endeavours from local musicians and performers in the form of a coffee-house in the Devon Room on Friday, September 30.
“We had hoped to get about 250 people coming out to the coffee house. We didn’t get quite there,” said Recreation and Culture Program Coordinator for the county, Lauren Koster, with regards to the turn out. “ It was the first year so it was great for the first time. It could always be better though. Maybe next year.”
The coffee house was well prepared for all those who came out to see local musicians play at the open mic. Prior to the evening’s events, Koster had five musicians, a mix of soloist and groups, signed up to perform. Many of them had known each other prior to signing up for the evening’s events.
The Devon room was transformed with a stage and mic set up at the front and with a bunch of round tables spread out around the room and low-level lighting.
“It’s all about the vibe in the room, that real Coffee-house feel,” said Koster.
The Lac La Biche County provided all the coffee, tea and treats for the evening.
Most of the performances went off without a hitch, except for one moment during the first act where Michael Wheeler dropped the mic, only to pick it and the song up right where he left off.
Wheeler was performing with a group of friends who have been jamming together for almost two years. The group went up on stage with the name Rob and Friends and consisted of Rob Derkach, Shannon Shepherd from Athabasca, and Gerrit Kirchberg from Plamondon. Gerrit also performed on stage at two other occasions with other artists.
One of the best performances of the night, by far, had to have been the closing act that consisted of Kirchberg and Mark Courtnage. The reason for was not only because both musicians have talent for sure, but also Courtnage was hilarious and brought the crowd together on a high note for the end of the evening.
At one point during his performance, Courtnage even donned an Elvis wig and glasses for two songs and he and Kirchberg walked through the audience singing to girls as they went. Courtnage then proceeded to walk up to Wheeler and proclaim that since it was the 21st Century and all, it was only fair that he sing to one of the men in the audience as well. This brought on many laughs from the crowd and not too long into the song Wheeler stood up and began singing along.
“He does this every time, he just has to sing to me,” proclaimed Wheeler while holding back a laugh.
Other performances included soulful sounds of Kirchberg and the vocal talents of Danielle and Desiree Gauthier, as well as two soloists Curtis Siebold and Ben Tredger.