Wednesday nights are sacred night due to my punk show on CKXU 8-10 p.m., so any shows happening on Wednesdays only get covered after 10 p.m.
As a result I was so glad to have caught the tail end of Barney Bentall and the Cariboo Express, Nov. 2 at the Southminster United Church.
If music heals the psyche and soothes the soul, this Geomatic Attic show exemplified it.
It is so amazing to see a dozen plus cats from all over the country on stage strumming, smiling and singing together in one blissful mass of positivity. Barney Bentall, cohost Matt Masters wearing a turquoise cowboy hat and poppy, Ridley Bent, Dustin Bentall, Angela Harris, Wendy Bird, Kendel Carson, backed by a hot band of drummer Geoff Hicks; bassist Rob Becker; acoustic/electric guitar, mandolin, banjo player Eric Reed; pedal steel, electric guitarist Scott Smith and fiddle player Kendel Carson.
I arrived in the middle of apparently one of many finger bleeding fiddle solos from Kendel Carson, who has been touring with The Great Big Sea’s Alan Doyle.
Just as she finished, Ridley Bent had a quick discussion with the band about who was going to solo and in what order as he launched into one of my favourite,Ridley Bent songs, “Suicidewinder.”
Most of the special guests were in the audience including Lethbridge’s own Leeroy Stagger, but returned to the stage for a massive jam on the last few songs of the show. Barney Bentall took a seat behind the grand piano on the Southminster United Church to complement Deep Dark Woods’ Geoff Hilhorst’s keyboards.
They group’s rendition of Dustin Bentall’s 2009 song “Three Thousand Miles” was a thing of beauty which featured everybody either soloing or singing a verse.
That attracted a standing ovation from the captivated crowd, who watched the stage clear before they returned for one last song.
Everybody returned to support Barney Bentall winding down the show with one of his biggest hits “Something to Live For,” which featured Bentall trading lead vocals with his son Dustin Bentall and co-host Matt Masters, and everybody soloed on a gorgeous version of the ’80s hit.
