By Mike Redfern
What promises to be an outstanding concert for lovers of rock and roll, and in particular fans of the Rolling Stones, is coming to Studio 64 this Saturday, May 25, when the band Dead Flowers performs. In a concert titled “Rolling Through Stones Country”, this tribute to the Rolling Stones will include some country music, blues and R & B. The Dead Flowers’s focus is on the Stones’ country-blues infused rock and roll period from 1969 to ’72, epitomized in their three recordings, Let It Be, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street. The song Dead Flowers, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, appears on the Sticky Fingers album.
Tribute bands named Dead Flowers exist in Dallas, Toronto, Buffalo, New York, Pennsylvania, New Brunswick, New Zealand, Melbourne, and probably quite a few other locations that I couldn’t identify in a quick Internet search. Most of them, but not all, are Rolling Stones tribute bands, a testament to the enduring popularity of the original Stones. The band entertaining in Kimberley this Saturday mainly derives from Calgary but is led by Boston-based music professor, guitarist, lutist, and vocalist Victor Cuelho, a name that will be familiar to many Live at Studio 64 patrons as the phenomenal lead guitarist who performed at Studio 64 with the Rooster Blues Band in November 2017.
Several other members of the Dead Flowers will also be familiar from their previous appearances with the Rooster Blues Band. Guitarist and vocalist David Morton, bass player Tommy Knowles, and drummer Kenton McDonald all thrilled the audience at the November 2017 concert. Making up the quintet for this appearance is Dan Beller McKenna, a newcomer to the Kimberley music scene. Not only are several of these guys great musicians, they are also recognized academics with a background in classical music, teaching at universities and writing academic treatises on various aspects of music. It will be great to see them let their hair down with some heavy rock n’ roll on Saturday.
This is the third and final concert in the Live at Studio 64 spring series for 2019. The concert starts at 8 p.m. with doors open for seating and bar service at 7.30. Tickets are available at Centre 64 or online at eastkootenay.snapd.com.
Already lined up for the fall Live at Studio 64 series are a funk/jazz concert in September with the Dirk Quinn Band from Pennsylvania, a blues concert in October by popular Kootenay singer/guitarist Holly Hyatt, no doubt backed by her guitarist father Jon, and a return concert by Vancouver jazz singer, Andrea Superstein in November.