The auditorium of Canora Composite School was recently turned into a literal stomping ground when Lion Bear Fox performed its first concert in Canora and the second concert in the Stars for Saskatchewan series.
The band’s concert on November 15, which was organized by the Canora Arts Council, was attended by about 85 people, according to Dorothy Korol, a spokesperson for the organization. The concert was part of the council’s Stars for Saskatchewan concert series, and while Lisa Brokop performed the first concert, Lion Bear Fox showed that it had quite a different style and demeanour.
“We’ve got a lively one,” Ken Rolheiser said of the band during the intermission, which compared to Brokop’s soft-spoken kindness was far louder, but no less friendly.
“This audience is already way more fun than Yorkton,” said Ryan McMahon, who performed with Cory Woodward and Christopher Arruda. “Better looking, too.”
The band performed music described by Lion Bear Fox’s website as “one part folk, one part rock, a pinch of gospel and a dash of growl,” and the songs that resulted were certainly loud and boisterous.
“(Woodward) doesn’t even need a microphone,” one of the concertgoers said. The songs also often featured band members providing a beat by clapping their hands or stomping their feet.
Though loud, the songs were certainly enjoyed by the audience, who often gasped or cheered at the band’s harmonies. The band also enjoyed performing for the audience, and Arruda said that though they were performing 18 shows across Saskatchewan in 21 days, “everywhere we go, we see smiling faces.”
The band certainly tried to keep a humourous and fun tone while performing, and in between songs the three would often interact with the audience, ask questions, and tell jokes. Before the intermission, the band members mentioned that they would be returning to its makeshift dressing room, which was one of the gym changerooms. Excited, McMahon said, “We’ve waited until our mid-30s to get into the girls’ locker room!”
The band played a variety of songs with stories that were often relayed to the audience before a song was performed. Had a Dream was written by Arruda, who had tried to write a song similar to the music Paul McCartney would perform, and described the resulting song as “Paul on acid.”
Mountains was written because “Canada is the most beautiful place on Earth,” while a love song was created after a concert in British Columbia where Woodward had “shotskis,” or shots of alcohol glued to a ski, with locals. The song was named Devil “…probably because of the shotskis,” Woodward admits.
Go Your Own Way was a song dedicated to the beauty of making choices, because as Woodward put it, “Even if you choose not to choose, you still made a choice.” The band often showed a softer side with some passionate songs, and Woodward dedicated a song Hold My Love to his daughter and wife, as he missed them and hoped he could send the song out to find them.
Both band members and audience members enjoyed the concert performed by Lion Bear Fox, and the Canora Composite School auditorium was filled with the band’s music. Showing how deeply he and his friends enjoyed the evening, McMahon mentioned that his fortune cookie from supper that evening said that he was to look forward to a ‘lucrative evening.’
After playing the last song before the intermission, McMahon said, “My fortune cookie was right!”
