"Sweet City Woman" singers The Stampeders (May 9) and powerhouse Rush tribute New World Men (May 30) are among bands booked to perform at Surrey Arts Centre's Main Stage this spring.
Country-rock trailblazers in Canada, The Stampeders hit it big in the 1970s with Rich Dodson on lead guitar, Kim Berly on drums and Ronnie King, bass. Dodson and Berly continue to tour without King, who died in March 2024, just before an Ontario tour. Dave Chabot, longtime friend of the band, is now on bass.
"Ronnie remains a presence at every show, as Rich and Kim share stories from 50-plus years on the road and pay tribute with a retrospective video," says a post on Youtube, where a 50-second video hypes the band's B.C. tour. Tickets for the Surrey concert are sold on tickets.surrey.ca, or call 604-501-5566.
Shantero Productions, bookers of the 15-concert Stampeders tour of B.C., also presents comedian Ron James at Surrey Arts Centre on June 3, along with a June 13 concert by Lunch at Allen's, featuring Canadian music legends Murray McLauchlan, Cindy Church, Marc Jordan and Ian Thomas.
Also this spring, New World Men will perform Rush's polished prog-rock on their first tour of B.C.. The Quebec-based trio brings the talents of Marc Girard (bass/keyboards), Matt Grou (drums/vocals) and Frank Larouche (guitars).
"We concentrate on the sound solely, paying homage to Canada's greatest band, Rush," says a post on newworldmen.com/en. "Our mission is performing the challenging music of Rush with the accuracy, nuance and sound of the original records. We don't pretend to be look-alikes, we simply deliver the goods with joy and passion."
That's pretty evident in the many videos that show New World Men performing live versions of "Spirit of Radio," "Tom Sawyer," "Subdivisions," "YYX," "The Trees" and other Rush classics.
Their five-date B.C. tour starts May 25 in Kamloops, followed by concerts in Penticton, Kelowna, Chilliwack and Surrey.
