CLUXEWE RESORT—A year after musician Todd Butler dubbed the Triport Music Fest "The Port McNeill Rain Festival", the only use for an umbrella at the second annual festival Saturday was to provide some shade.
With the sun beaming down — and the occasional horsefly pestering the performers onstage — music fans were treated to music ranging from high-energy to hilarious at the picturesque seaside resort.
While children played on Bounce-a-Rama games or watched shows by magician Kevin Ogren beyond the fence, festival-goers were treated to original blues sets from Victoria groups Michigan Curve and The Roper Show; the musical comedy of Kenny Shaw and Brian Temple; and vigorous dance music spanning a range of styles and eras from a pair of Vancouver-based big bands, Souled Out and the headliners, Ten Souljers.
With the local rock band Jam Shack Araknids forced to withdraw due to the recent move of one of its members, Ten Souljers stepped in with a pair of sets, one in the afternoon and another to close the show Saturday night.
A pair of local performers had a hand in the entertainment. Deborah Emery of Alert Bay was a guest vocalist for Ten Souljers for a pair of Stevie Wonder tunes, Sir Duke and Superstition. Former Port Hardy musician Andre Kaufman, who played for Swing Shift in the inaugural festival a year ago, returned to play lead guitar and saxophone for Michigan Curve. After the band's set, he also stepped in to help run the sound board for Centerpiece Productions, which hosted the fesitval.