MIKE REDFERN
The 2018 Kimberley Kaleidoscope arts festival kicks off this Saturday, August 18, with an outdoor concert and dance at Centre 64. Headline band Buckman Coe will bring its lively funk/reggae/soul/electronic sounds to the outdoor stage starting at 7.30 p.m. They will be preceded at 6 p.m. by local rock ‘n’ rollers, Riff, featuring Marty Musser, Barry Pasiechnyk, Robin Douglas, and vocalist Cindy Lou Muise.
The Buckman Coe band will feature Coe on guitar/vocals and Adam Shaikh on keyboard and synthesizer, with a backing band featuring trombone and saxophone. Coe and Shaikh appeared the previous weekend at Shambala in their alternate persona of Monkeydragon. Over the past three or four years Buckman Coe has performed all over the world, including Australia, Taiwan, and Hawaii, and has appeared at many festivals around BC and the Pacific Northwest, including Kaslo Jazz Etc. and the Vancouver Jazz Festival.
Admission to this outdoor concert is by donation at the gates, which open at 5 p.m. While a limited amount of picnic table seating is available, it is advised to bring your own lawn chair for comfort. Starting at 5.30 p.m., food service will be available with hamburgers and hot dogs from the Elks Club grill and pies and other goodies from the Bears Eatery food booth. The bar will be open for beer, wine, soft drinks and water.
Two more concerts follow during the Kaleidoscope festival. Kimberley’s Don Davies Quintet will be featured Wednesday night for Jazz Night at Studio 64. This upbeat local band will be providing jazz favourites to dance and listen to, starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are just $15 in advance from Centre 64 (info@kimberleyarts.com/250-427-4919) or at the door. Doors open at 7.30 p.m. for cabaret-style seating and a no-host bar.
Closing the festival on Saturday night, August 25, will be a concert in the theatre at Centre 64 featuring Edmonton’s popular bluegrass quartet, the Bix Mix Boys. Darcy Whiteside, banjo, Logan Sarchfield, guitar, Jim Storey, upright bass, and Terry Nadasdi, mandolin, bring an Albertan and Canadian interpretation to the bluegrass genre. Their self-titled album, The Bix Mix Boys, was released in 2013 and has been played on radio stations across BC, Alberta, Manitoba, the NWT, and Ontario. Tickets for this show are $25, available at Centre 64 (info@kimberleyarts.com/250-427-4919) or at the door. There will be a wine and beer bar open in the gallery before the show and during the intermission.
For more information about events at the Kimberley Kaleidoscope festival, pick up a brochure at Centre 64.