Something magical happened in Penticton this weekend. For two nights, the Dream Cafe expanded by its size by a factor of 10.
That wasn’t the magic, though. The magic came as the Dream Music Festival performers took to the stage and built, act by act, starting with Harry Manx lifting the 900-member audience out of the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre onto the ethereal plane with his “mysticssippi blues.”
It built as we watched Keith Picot sway around the stage, making love to his standup bass, and listened to Rick Fines chat about how he finds himself stopping to write songs at the side of the road while driving home from gigs.
It kept growing as Rita Chiarelli cried out the blues in a style that put the best of the classic blues shouters to shame.
And that was just the first half of the show.
The magic produced was talented performers indulging in their passion and taking us along for a ride, all the way to an explosive climax with some of the best local, national and international touring musicians joining together for an incredible finale.
The reason for coming together was to support the Dream Café, which they hail as one of their favourite venues, as it transitions to a new future as a co-op.
“This will never happen again. This is an epic evening,” said host Jim Byrnes, summing up the evening. Though Chiarelli perhaps put it more simply: “Whoever didn’t buy a ticket for this event is crazy.”
