Enjoy Okanagan musician Andrew Allen’s hit song ‘My Favourite Song’ and other Christmas favourites at a free concert from the comfort of your living room tonight, (Sunday, Dec. 20) at 7 p.m.
The free concert is Penticton’s Dream Cafe’s gift to you but donations are always appreciated to help pay rent and bills at the cafe that is currently closed.
“Think of it as the one safe Christmas event you can go too. Raise a glass and enjoy the warmth of the Dream Cafe and the sounds of Andrew Allen,” said Dream Cafe booking manager Hazel Bennett.
The concert was filmed inside the Dream Cafe a couple weeks ago. The concert was professionally edited by local sound engineer Mark Greenwall. Allen plays his latest release ‘My Favourite Christmas Song’ in the concert, along with other favourites and some classics too. In fact, Allen’s new release ‘My Favourite Song’ is getting tons of airplay on the radio and quickly becoming the song of the season.
The Dream Cafe got a bit of grant money and this is what they decided to do with it, said Bennett.
“It was just three of us in the Dream Cafe for the filming. It felt so good to be back there,” said Bennett. The Dream Cafe shut down in March because it’s a small venue that wouldn’t be able to host guests safely during the pandemic.
The Dream Cafe has been a hidden gem of the Penticton music scene, bringing well-known musicians to Penticton from all over the world for more than a decade.
Before COVID-19 shut down the Dream Cafe, the Jerry Cans from Nunavut were supposed to play. Their original concert was postponed so they could play at the Junos.
There’s been other big names at Dream Cafe too. Jeff Healey, spoken word star Shane Koyczan and the singer from Lion, Bear and the Fox, and Men at Work.
“Artists love playing the Dream Cafe. It’s like the Carnegie Hall of the Okanagan,” Bennett said. “It’s got such a great vibe and great sound too.”
“We are are a co-op here. No one is getting paid. We are all here for the love of the arts. But we don’t know what the future holds for music venues like us. Our landlord has been amazing through this but there are still bills to pay.
“We are hopeful for sponsorship and getting through this pandemic and hosting live music again.”
All the acts that were cancelled have only been postponed and will be rebooked, she added.
The co-op is hoping to get some more grant money and if they do, expect some more concerts being streamed.
To get your free tickets to this Christmas concert, go to the Dream Cafe website.
monique.Tamminga@pentictonwesternnews.com
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