Crashing Guitars At Centre Stage Season Opener

Jeff Green | Sep 25, 2013

Tom Revell, of Little Betty and Bauder Road infamy, has a penchant for playing heavy rock and blues, guitar-based music.

When he teamed up last week with the Centre Stage band, which has just added Denis Larocque, a second electric guitarist along with stalwart Terry Reynolds, there was no shortage of likely suspects whenever it was time for a guitar solo or three to creep into a song.

In the second half of last Thursday’s (September 18) show at the Sharbot Lake Legion, Tom Revell started out with the Neil Young standard Powderfinger, but before he started he nodded to Terry Reynolds, saying, “You take the first lead, then Denis, then me.” That set the tone for the set, and since all three of the guitarists have their own styles, the leads were distinctive, tuneful and relatively short.

In addition to all those electric guitars, Jim MacPherson kept pounding away on his acoustic guitar and took some of the lead vocals, which included belting out a memorable version of the Robert Johnson classic, Crossroads, near the end of the show. Gary Giller, bass and vocals, and Dave Limber, hidden behind the wall of guitars on the drum kit, kept up the bottom end.

Once again a feature of the Centre Stage Band concert series at the Legion is the enthusiasm that the house band and their guests bring to the performances. They play for the sheer joy of it, and the audience finds it infectious.

Next month, the show will feature Cajun fiddler and accordionist Jim Keith, which will bring a totally different sound to the Legion, stretching the Centre Stage Band in an entirely new way. The show is set for October 17 at 7 pm. Admission is a modest $4