On Saturday, September 2nd at 7:30 p.m., Peterborough LIVE invites you to The Historic Red Dog Tavern (189 Hunter St. W, Peterborough, 705-750-1710) to dance away the final days of summer as they revive the Red Dog’s dance hall tradition with four acts calculated to get you on the dance floor.
Peterborough LIVE’s dance party is a unique smorgasbord of music including swing, funk, R&B, rock n’ roll, soul and blues. Performers include Oshawa-based funk/soul band Something Extra, local favourite Bridget Foley, the 16-piece swing band Knightshift and Peterborough’s newest musical sensation — 12-year-old rockabilly prodigy Nicholas Campbell.
The event is a fundraiser for Peterborough LIVE, a music festival held every spring in downtown Peterborough (this year’s festival, held over five days in May, featured more than 100 acts performing at more than 20 venues).
“My Mom is 75 and my dad is 76,” says Peterborough LIVE founder Wendy Fischer, who has been working hard to put together this unique show.
“Mom told me that she always came to the Red Dog when they were young for dances. I asked ‘Was it a weekly dance?’ She said ‘No, I think it was every night. There was a band and there was the dance floor and that’s what we did. We went to dances at the Red Dog.'”
Taking inspirations from When the Night is Young, a series of dances organized by Laurie Davis a number of years ago, Wendy realized that the tradition of going to the Red Dog to dance has somewhat become lost on the community. By bringing together four dynamic acts that perform in different genres highly associated with dance music, Wendy hopes to revive the tradition with this show.
VIDEO: Vance McKenzie and Something Extra
Playing for their first time ever in the Kawarthas is Something Extra, featuring frontman Vance McKenzie, first established in 1972. Vance relocated to Oshawa in 1981 where he transformed his band into a high-octane six-piece hybrid of funk, blues, soul and R&B. Touring throughout the world and nominated for a Juno, Vance and Something Extra will be doing a set combining covers with original material.
Looking at an 18-minute video of Something Extra on YouTube, I was impressed by their unrelenting energy and power as they plow through a medley of hits by a diverse cross-section of performers including Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind and Fire and The Doobie Brothers.
“You need to play to the pulse of the room and the atmosphere and you’ve got to play exactly what the audience wants,” says Vance of Something Extra’s set. “Once you’ve got them on the dance floor, you’ve got to keep them there. You can’t take any pauses in between songs. You got to keep the beat. You’ve got to be like a live DJ. You’ve also got to know a lot of songs. That’s the key to keep the audience involved. If the song isn’t working, you’ve got to get rid of it and get into another one.”
However, as Vance points out, it’s important to him that Something Extra is far more than a cover band. Although they do perform cover material, it’s all about giving the audience something new to listen to.
“Let me tell you about cover songs,” Vance says. “We don’t try to play cover songs like you’d hear it on the record. We make it ours. No matter what it is, we’ll put a reggae funk vibe to it. We hit the rock, and we hit the ska, and we hit the rap and we make it totally different.”
On the other side of the spectrum is Peterborough’s Knightshift. Formed five years ago, Knightshift is made up of 16 primarily retired musicians who get together to perform the great hits of yesteryear. From Glen Miller to Frank Sinatra, Knightshift brings back the dance hall days of the 1940s and 1950s.
“We’re all mature musicians,” Knightshift’s spokesperson Tim Roway observes with a chuckle. “We’ve been playing music longer than most of the other performers have been alive.”
However, while Knightshift is made up of older musicians, Tim acknowledges that swing music is even a throwback for the band itself.
“For most of us, swing music isn’t what we grew up with,” Tim says. “It’s the music that we learned while we were in high school, when we were playing in concert bands and many dance bands. That music was the stuff that was written for those kinds of bands. We grew up on Elvis and folk music like The Kingston Trio. But that’s not the music that was written for the instruments that we were listening to in high school.
“But swing has a melody and the music has stood the test of time. It has classic melodies and you can’t just help yourself to move to it. It’s coming back with guys like Michael Bublé. They’re either writing songs in that style, or giving new life to the old tunes.”
Usually playing gigs at weddings and private parties, this will be Knightshift’s first show at The Red Dog for what will prove to be a busy weekend for the band, who perform the next day at the Riverview Park and Zoo.
The night also features the music of Nicholas Campbell who, at the age of 12,, gained his own following this summer when he and his group held court every Wednesday evening at The Blackhorse Pub.
A regular at the popular night spot’s open mic night, Nicholas was offered a regular night after catching the attention of owner Ray Kapoor.
“I was doing July on Wednesdays, and then the owner asked me if I wanted to August too,” says Nicholas. “I only have one more gig there though because of school, which sucks.”
When asked to describe his sound Nicholas says “It’s raw acoustic and it’s like almost swing, but at the same time it’s not. It has a swing beat to, but more of rock n’ roll mixed with country.”
Performing hits by many of rock n’ roll early legends like Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, and Carl Perkins, Nicholas found early musical inspiration while listening to Elvis Presley.
“My dad started playing guitar and I wanted to play too,” Nicholas explains. “Then I was listening to some Elvis, and what Elvis did in his earlier years was rockabilly. I liked the sound and the style, and I started playing all that. I used to play acoustic, but I started playing electric and that helps a lot.”
VIDEO: “That’ll Be The Day” performed by Nick Campbell with Dean James Band
While Bridget Foley is a well-respected local musician, it’s difficult to imagine her in this quartet of performers. But, as she says, people who attend this event are going to see a very different side of her come out in the music.
“I’m really excited because I’ll be performing the kind of music that I don’t get to perform much of,” says Bridget. “I want to be able to bridge the gap between Knightshift being a swing band and Something Extra being a funk one. It’s going to be mostly R and B funk, but hopefully something danceable.”
A favourite at the Black Horse’s Thursday night Jazz Jam, Bridget is a popular vocal coach and has worked with a number of local musicians, most notably Beau Dixon. A gifted vocalist, Bridget is ready to put on a brand new musical hat and show the audience how much soul she has.
“If I’m playing the Black Horse, the crowd that comes out is not necessarily a funk crowd,” Bridget explains. “This is an opportunity to narrow down a niche. Funk is a bit of a guilty pleasure, because it’s the one thing that can get me up to dance every time. So I’m happy to be part of this dance party.”
VIDEO: “Chain of Fools” and “It Must be Love” performed by Bridget Foley and the Gospel Girls
By presenting something a little bit different, Wendy hopes an early crowd will show up and be joined by more people later as the night goes on. She also notes the support of Mike Stone at The Historic Red Dog and Dave Searle at guerrillaSTUDIOS for sponsoring this event and helping to make it possible.
Tickets are $10, available at the door or in advance online. Limited reserved table seating is also available for $15 per person, in advance and at the door (if still available).
All proceeds from the show will go towards the next Peterborough LIVE music festival in 2018.
“Peterborough LIVE is more than just an annual festival,” Wendy says. “We want to support all genres and an inter-generational fusion of music and dance.”
All photos supplied except where noted.
