Arts notes: Great Lake Swimmers connect with the Revelstoke audience

The Great Lake Swimmers performed to a nearly sold-out theatre at the Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre on Saturday night, performing many of their earlier works from albums such as Great Lake Swimmers, Bodies and Minds and Ongiara.

The Swimmers performed as a stripped back trio of vocalist and guitarist Tony Dekker, guitarist, and banjo player Erik Arnesen and Bret Higgins on upright bass. Without drums, it was an intimate show that connected with an audience that included a very broad demographic from Revelstoke.

Megan Bonnell opened the show and formed a bond with the crowd right away with songs from her 2016 album Magnolia that could be described as haunting, emotional, raw and vulnerable. She later joined the Swimmers for a few songs.

In a short interlude, Tony Dekker reached out to the audience in opposition to pipeline development in the Great Bear Rainforest, and the Swimmers then shared a song composed while doing advocacy work on the West Coast.

In the end, the RPAC proved again to be a great venue to see bigger-name acts in an intimate setting, and to get the opportunity to meet them in person after the show.

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