Surrey’s final Gone Country benefit concert will feature some familiar names next summer.
Dallas Smith, Karen Lee Batten, Chris Buck Band, Dakota Pearl, Danielle Ryan and others have been announced for the July 20 show at Cloverdale’s Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre, where Twins Cancer Fundraising has staged the annual party for a decade.
Over the weekend, in just 48 hours, all Super Early Bird and Early Bird tickets were sold soon after they went on sale on twinscancerfundraising.com/gone-country/tickets.
If you haven’t heard, Gone Country will be gone after next summer’s concert. Twin brothers Chris and Jamie Ruscheinski started TCF several years ago to raise money for cancer-related causes after their mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999.
Last month, Chris cited several reasons for the end of Gone Country, including how the volunteer crew was loaded down with family, business and other commitments.
“Our bones all rattle a little more each year out on that dusty field than they did in our early 30s,” Chris posted on facebook.com/TwinsCancerFundraising. “We want to go out with a bang, with a lasting memory of an event that never fizzled out and went out on our own accord. Our attendance and total raised have grown every year, and it’s scary to think that this event might one day be less exciting.”
SOUNDS LIKE SANTANA
Ace guitarist Doug Towle is back in town with Supernatural, the Santana tribute that also features wife Andrea Shannon on vocals plus Brett Ziegler (keyboards), Goby Catt (bass), Mathew Atkins (percussion) and Mike Michalkow (drums).
On Dec. 15-16 they’ll set up at White Rock’s Blue Frog Studios for a few performances of Santana’s best songs and a few Christmas numbers as well.
Towle and Shannon, who have roots in this area, moved to Vancouver Island in 2016, “basically for a lifestyle change,” the guitarist reports.
“We were both working so much and on opposite schedules we hardly saw each other,” he told me. “So at the time, property prices over here on the Island made it possible to survive and actually have some family time – not true about prices anymore. Career-wise for me it took a while to gain a foothold in the area, and when things were starting to pick up, COVID hit and shut it all down. That was a bit rough but we survived and now we’re busier than we’ve ever been.
“We lived in South Surrey for many years, our kids were born at Peace Arch Hospital so we have a strong connection to the area and particularly with Blue Frog,” Towle continued. “I was actually the very first performer on that stage, before it was even Blue Frog.”
BUSY BC PLACE STADIUM
B.C.’s biggest stadium sure is getting busy with concerts in 2024, including the three featuring Taylor Swift a full year from now and the Rolling Stones in July.
This week Live Nation announced Coast City Country concerts at BC Place for April 19-20, when Luke Bryan, Nickelback and Dierks Bentley will headline a multi-band bill. The new festival, which aims to be “the ultimate country celebration combining coastal and mountain charm with a vibrant city atmosphere,” will involve themed events across Vancouver including a kickoff party at the Commodore Ballroom, an in-stadium craft beer and whiskey fest and an outdoor BBQ smokehouse. Details are on coastcitycountry.com, where passes are sold starting Friday, Dec. 8, at 10 a.m. (Amex presale Dec. 6). A portion of the proceeds from tickets sold will go to various charities in support of B.C. wildfire relief.
Also booked at BC Place is Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh for an April 27 concert on his Dil-luminati Tour. Live Nation expects the history-making Vancouver date to be the largest Punjabi show outside of India following Dosanjh’s sold-out concert at Rogers Arena in 2022.
