The Gazebo provided a music venue every Friday this summer
Another enjoyable season of the Dawson City Summer Concert Series came to an end on Aug. 15, with a final performance at the Palace Grand Theatre, on King Street, due to damp, inclement weather.
Most of the concerts were blessed with good weather and were held at the Front Street Gazebo, with people sitting on the grass. The other alternate location was the KIAC Ballroom on Second Avenue.
Those who could not make it to the live concert had the option of listening to the live broadcast on CFYT 106.9 FM in Dawson City, or at cfyt.ca, anywhere in the world.
This family-friendly series was organized by the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA) and made possible by support from the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC); the Yukon government, Arts Fund; Yukon Lotteries; City of Dawson Community Grants; and Parks Canada, Klondike National Historic Sites (KNHS).
The summer began on June 6, with local singer Alex MacNeil performing solo instead of with his band, the Revenants, offering a mix of original material and popular cover tunes.
June 13 featured Keziah, another local performer who got her public start here performing at the local Coffee House/Open Mic monthly events while she was still in high school.
June 20 offered Kevin Barr and Boyd Benjamin, a guitar local and fiddle duo with some 15 years’ experience—often in Dawson. They are highly regarded as a team and as individual performers.
The opening act for this Friday was Dawson’s Youth Fiddle group, led by their teachers Peter Menzies and Kristen Poenn (on keyboards) and featuring eight youngsters, just part of a larger group.
June 27 featured KABN, a blues/rock band from Whitehorse.
Brigitte Jardin gathered a crowd at the Gazebo on July 4, while Dawson’s Calhoun offered songs with social commentary on July 11.
Sadly, I had to miss Ross River’s Dena Zagi on July 25, but I heard good things about the concert and I have heard them before.
Yukon musician Hendrika had a fine day to gather an audience on Aug. 1.
As we move towards the middle of the month, the weather here becomes more unpredictable and the mornings are often damp, which is not good for the sound equipment.
On Aug. 8, the Ottawa-based duo C.A. & Sonny had to relocate to the ballroom at Dënäkär Zho (KIAC Ballroom), to offer their traditional folk concert to an audience seated in chairs instead of on the grass.
Whitehorse-based Caleb Tomlinson and The Perseids closed out the summer season at the Palace on a damp and chilly Aug. 15, a week when there was a lot of other music being heard all over town, as part of the Discovery Days week.
