Harkening Back To The 1960s At The Center Stage Café

Feb 27, 2013

The Center Stage Café house band sparked off a lively second installment of the Centre Stage Café on February 21. The house band has made the Sharbot Legion a popular draw for their new music series, whose aim is to showcase local musical talent. Interspersed throughout the evening was an eclectic choice of classic rock and pop tunes by the polished band, Garry Giller, Terry Reynolds, Dave Limber and Jim MacPherson.

Thursday night’s event started with an inspired set by singer song-writer Brian Robertson, who sang solo while accompanying himself on guitar. He began with an original tune titled “Man, It's Good to be Alive”. He harkened back to the '60s/'70s folk days of good old Americana music with his very pretty, James Taylor-esque finger-picked version of “Oh Susanna”. He let the crowd in on his musical meanderings to Cuba and played that country's popular Che Guevara revolutionary song, demonstrating his ease in the Spanish language and Cuban guitar stylings. His French version of “La Mer” also hit the mark, as did his version of Peter, Paul and Mary's “Kisses are Sweeter Than Wine”. Brian is a natural on stage and his ease and friendly banter made for a very memorable set that ended on a high note with the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah”, which delighted the crowd.

Craig Bakay, whom many know as the other reporter in town, played next and his set also harkened back to the good old days of flat out heavy rock and blues. Backed by the Center Stage Band, Craig opened his fiery set with the boppy Downchild Blues Band classic “Flip, Flop and Fly”, which set the tone for a very inspired heavy rock/blues second half of the evening that got a few couples out onto the dance floor. His set list included numerous old classic heavy rock/blues favorites tunes like “Can't Ya See” by the Allman Brothers, Neil Young's “Down By the River”, Johnson’s “Crossroads” and “Who Do You Love”. Craig's low down, biting and guttural vocals did not miss a beat and the members of the house band seemed grateful for a chance to cut loose along with Craig, as Reynolds did in a number of inspired guitar solos that met Craig's own, lick for lick.

The series is fast becoming a highlight for music lovers in the area. The next café, which is coming up on March 21, will no doubt prove to be a more mellow, though no less entertaining evening, with special guests Rob and Nancy Moore and well known country crooner Mitch Barker, who made a name for himself at the Bedford/Piccadilly Sunday jams. I should note that the venue was greatly improved by added stage lighting.