MBF: 2 Shows - 1 Night

by Malcolm Petch

Michael Bernard Fitzgerald (MBF) blew through Streaming Café the first time as part of Breakout West, the music fest surrounding the Western Canadian Music Awards. The WCMAs were held in Kelowna in October of 2010.

The place here was packed and the atmosphere was more than electric – which was strange, because MBF only had an acoustic guitar with him. But he tore up the crowd, blazing through a high-energy set that had people literally on their feet dancing by the end of the show.

Dancing doesn’t usually happen at SC. And dancing people crowding the stage with surging motion that blocks the streaming cameras definitely never happens. But it did. We loved it.

MBF is no stranger to the road, having toured the country with Hey Ocean and playing shows with folks like k-os and Stars. And MBF usually goes onstage in a big way: herding 40 musicians and artists through an Alberta-based University Theatre tour, playing at Grand Theatre in Calgary with a 26-person backing band, returning twice more to play with 54 performers on the stage at the same time, taking a 25-member choir on tour through Lethbridge, Kelowna, Edmonton, and Vancouver, plus two sold-out shows at Knox Centre Theatre in Calgary, and generally blazing through the landscape without much regard for musical decorum.

We were happy to find that MBF’s experience at SC was as enjoyable for him as it was for us; he worked with us to stream his album-release ‘party’ gig live in June of 2011, and we brought him back again in February of this year.

Now it’s time for another show! Michael will be joining us for two mid-week shows on Thursday, September 27. We’ll be live in the café and streaming the early show at 7pm, and it’ll be in-house only for the second show at 10pm. Tickets for either show are $10 plus fees in advance, or $15 at the door. They’re available at Streaming Cafe or online at http://mbfsept27.eventbrite.com/

Join the crowd who love MBF – check out his previous performance videos, and get your tickets for September 27…
...just added to the bill is the amazing Ali Milner! - The Province praised her “powerful vocals, command of the stage and fiery red locks,” while Discorder called her “a soulful, old-fashioned jazz singer, with style and talent beyond her years.”