The low key After Dark Concert Series demonstrated there doesn't need to be an arena show for Estevan music lovers to find some great tunes.
The concert series continued with a young Regina six-piece and a former Estevanite.
Carl Johnson, an Estevan native and member of Library Voices, kicked off the second concert at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum last Friday evening with a solo acoustic performance.
The variance between this concert and the Hedley show the following night at Spectra Place shows the the wide range of musicians Estevan may be expected to attract in the future.
About 40 people, both young and old, turned out for the event held in the art gallery's main show room. Johnson played beneath a large mosasaurus skeleton, a water lizard from the time of the dinosaurs that is the main exhibit at the gallery.
With some of the audience right in front of the musicians and the rest listening from the other side of the hanging skeleton, it made for an interesting venue. Johnson called it the strangest he'd ever played in thanks to the prehistoric set piece.
He said that most of the songs he was playing were either written about women who rejected him or his cats, but he included a cover of a Misfits song, as well as one by Tom Petty.
The main act was the Regina band Whiskey Manner, made up of 20-something musicians who filled the gallery's space with sound. They got the audience tapping toes with some bluesy numbers and also played a Tom Petty cover, along with Hey Hey, admitting they weren't sure who wrote it, but played the Eric Clapton version.
By the end of the night, it sounded like Whiskey Manner had made a few new fans in the southeast, and they continued the trend of playing songs about pets, as Roberto Giannini sang about his dog Chico.
Amber Andersen, director of the EAGM, asks people to stay tuned for what's next in the concert series, with more shows upcoming in the next few months.
