I stopped by the Owl first to see the Magnificent 7s, Dec. 3 but ended up being really impressed with the opening act Shred 
Kelly.
The Fernie based bluegrass/ roots sextet tore the roof off the place with some lightning, fast fleet fingered banjo picking reminiscent of the Dühks, some marvelous mandolin, a little bit of ukulele, upbeat bass grooves and unstoppable, hypnotic drums which when combined, would feel at home around a drum circle at a summer folk festival.
Sage McBride added some excellent harmony and lead vocals and keyboards.
They had pretty much the whole room singing along with crowd favouite “I Hate Work” and lot of dancers in front of the stage before they ended their set with “Tornado Alley.” Wh
ich made them a tough act to follow.
But Winnipeg’s Magnificent 7, rather the magnificent four, were up to the challenge, launching into an upbeat set of more pure bluegrass music rather than the rock influenced folk of Shred Kelly.
The Magnificent 7’s two guitarist, banjo and stand-up bassist kept the tempo rolling, clustered around one old ’50s microphone singing Appalachian harmonies straight from the Manitoba prairies, then slowed down for a couple numbers.
The stand-up bassist, dressed in short jean shorts and leggings, dug in and kept the uptempo groove going. steady for a fun filled set which had the joint jumping.
