People were in a mellow mood for a Boxing Day show featuring a variety of local acts including Ben Mahoney, visiting from the Yukon, as well as Tod Robinson and the Gleu and a strange band called Phillip Saucer.
Ben Mahoney, who lived here several years ago opened the show with a solo set featuring him singing accompanying himself on a 12 string guitar.
He sang a variety of songs, including one written in Lethbridge about a blond haired girl.
he wrote another, unusual one while living in Vancouver about the city of Nelson.
He also played a spooky song called ‘Long Winter.’
he switched to Tod Robinson’s keyboard for a quirky cover of the Police’s ‘Wrapped Around Your Finger.’
Tod Robinson and the Gleu aka Brad Brouwer on drums, Tyson Wiebe on background vocals and guitar and bassist Jason Schultchen played an addictive set of catchy rock/pop and folk along the lines of Matchbox 20 and Ben Folds, when Robinson got behind the keyboards for the second half of the set.
Wiebe and Robinson played a sweet harmonized guitar solo on one song.
Robinson blew everybody away when he played piano. He played some older songs and some newer ones from his most recent CD.
I didn’t catch the titles, as he didn’t say them, but they sounded very familiar.
He played some slick piano licks on one impressive song.
Philip Saucer, a group including Tyson Wiebe on guitar, Quint Viskup on bass, Brad Brouwer on drums and Ben Mahoney on 12 string guitar and trading vocals with guitarist Tod Robinson.
They played weird experimental country/ psychedelic Weenish jams on a variety of songs like Snoop Dogg’s ‘Gin and Juice.’
Their jams included all sorts of other songs including some Pet Shop Boys’ ‘West End Girls.’