Sarah McLachlan opens Vancouver Island MusicFest in fine form

By Keith and Heather Nicol

Friday, July 14 offered a perfect night for enjoying a wide range of music at the Vancouver Island MusicFest. Temperatures were ideal and wispy clouds streaked the sky. My brother and his wife from Victoria joined us again this year and by the time they arrived and we had a quick bite to eat we were just in time to see STORRY who was nominated for a 2021 Juno Award in the Adult Contemporary Album alongside the likes of Celine Dion and Alanis Morrissette.

        Grammy and Juno award winner Sarah McLachlan put on a performance the MusicFest crowd won't soon forget

Next up was Nikki D and the Sisters of Thunder who hail from Toledo, Ohio and Nikki D wowed the crowd last year as part of HER MAJESTY. It is not often that artists return 2 years in a row to MusicFest but she was invited back this year with her band, The Sisters of Thunder. She had the crowd up and dancing with their brand of gospel /blues and they even incorporated the name of street that runs along side MusicFest – Headquarters Road-- into one of their songs.

                                    There was a huge crowd for the opening night in front of the Concert Bowl stage

They were followed by the legendary Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan from Vancouver. She has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has won 3 Grammy Awards and 12 Juno Awards!! She gave an amazing heartfelt performance and returned to do a couple of encores to an appreciative crowd for which she received a well deserved standing ovation. Blackburn , an R and B band from Toronto, rounded out the type of highly varied Concert Bowl Evening Performances that MusicFest fans have come to expect.

                                                            Nikki D energized the crowd with her band on opening night

And this was just the first night. There are 2 more days of music to come, so if you haven’t got your ticket come on down and listen to some of the best music the Comox Valley will feature this summer. With the weekend forecast to be hot and sunny you need to be prepared so bring plenty of sunscreen, water bottle (plastic), sun hat, low rise or high rise chair, tarp or blanket, flashlight, munchies, and sunglasses. Again this year there will be a shuttle for those that don’t want to park near the Exhibition Grounds, the MusicFest site. First Student shuttles will be travelling back and forth from the Driftwood Mall in Courtenay and the Comox Presbyterian Church in Comox. The shuttles will run until 1 am every evening and if that shuttle is full they will return for remaining riders. For more information see: www.islandmusicfest.com. See you there.