MBF's Matinée Performance!

by Malcolm Petch

MBF, or Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, first blew through Streaming Café as part of the Breakout West music festival in October of 2010. He took the stage with a drummer and backing guitarist, and, along with his trademark “flower-on-the-headstock-of-his-guitar”, proceeded to play an energetic set that had the crowd literally up and dancing. By the end of the set our producer was hard-pressed to find a camera angle that could capture MBF, because the dancing hordes had surrounded the stage and were cutting off views of Fitzgerald from all sides. And the term ‘dancing hordes’ is not a fluffy non-accurate description written to spice up an otherwise dreary paragraph; the room was packed, and there were frenetic dancing bodies filling virtually every square foot of the space around MBF.

Needless to say, this type of crowd is not what we’re used to here at the generally “alternative folk” flavoured listening room we call Streaming Café. MBF had definitely left his mark on us.

Michael Bernard Fitzgerald is from Calgary. He is working on a new record, but just prior to heading back into the studio he decided to release a live album that consists mainly of material from his appearance at Calgary University’s MacEwan Ballroom in February 2011. The name of the new live record? “I'm working on a studio release but in the mean time I thought I would put out a recording of us playing live in a big room with friends”. Seriously.

But that’s what you’d expect from such a creative artist. A quick overview of his website shows his quirky and pleasantly unorthodox performance personality (say that swiftly four times) with tweets like these from May 27th: “In Calgary it is still raining. At this point the only way I will find happiness is by building a large fort with tarps”, and then: “Once this fort is built I will eat snacks and watch movies within it. You are all invited.” And during his performance at SC in October, MBF wore a red Pistons jersey and brought a pink and gold microphone to sing into. The guy knows how to be memorable, which is a key to surviving and thriving in today’s music world.

MBF's New Live Album

If you haven’t heard it, MBF’s music is engaging right from the start. Even the most dour audience members find themselves starting to bop along to the tracks when MBF is playing. It’s clear Fitzgerald has made strong progress along the journey of writing winsome songs that sound good and feel good from the first listen.

Kelowna music lovers will get a special treat at MBF’s June 25th show at the Streaming Café. Tickets are $20 each for the 3pm matinee performance, but each ticket buyer will also receive a signed copy of MBF’s new life album. Unfortunately, online viewers will have to track down their own copy of the album (but, mind you, the online show is free; it kind of evens out that way). There’s a rumour going around that the live album can be pre-ordered through Calgary’s PrimeBoxOffice.com, but you’d have to see for yourself.

Did you notice that the time for this show is 3:00 p.m.?

We’ve never done a matinee performance before. We wanted to bring MBF in, but we already had artists booked for the 25th – and that was the only day Fitzgerald was going to be in town. So, after much back-and-forth repartee between Michael Bernard Fitzgerald’s agent and our own Michael (Michael Donley, who scours the earth daily finding the best talent around for our live music shows), the show was booked and the date finalized.

There you have it. Come out and enjoy Michael Bernard Fitzgerald in person, 3:00 p.m. Saturday June 25th at Streaming Café in Kelowna BC, and take home a signed copy of his live album; tickets are $20 each (only 50 available). Or join us online (3:00 p.m. Pacific Time, 4:00 p.m. for folks in Alberta, 6:00 p.m. for all those living under Eastern Time) to enjoy what promises to be a dynamic and engaging performance.