Artists unite for Manitoba 150 musical tribute

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This article was published 28/07/2021 (1556 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Life is a highway, and Manitoba 150 will ride it all the way to Shaw Park on Aug. 28.

Tom Cochrane, the Lynn Lake-raised singer who made Life Is a Highway a worldwide hit in 1991, will join former Guess Who stalwarts Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings on the bill for Unite 150, the concert that will celebrate Manitoba’s 150th year since entering Confederation.

The show has been altered since it was first scheduled for late June in 2020. The pandemic has forced organizers to move the event to Shaw Park instead of the Manitoba Legislature for public health reasons.

Instead of an all-day event, Unite 150 has been split into an afternoon concert, which begins at noon and will be headlined by Winnipeg-born pop singer Chantal Kreviazuk accompanied by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and an evening show that begins at 6:30 p.m. with Bachman Cummings topping the bill.

Provincial health measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 mean organizers have had to forego plans for a free concert. A limited number of tickets will be sold as a way to follow regulations on outdoor gatherings and ensure contact tracing.

Attendees must be fully vaccinated.

The status of the pandemic will determine the number of people who will be allowed to attend the two shows, although Manitoba 150 co-chairs Monique LaCoste and Stuart Murray anticipate at least 4,000 people attending each show.

“Pre-COVID, we were looking at a space in front of the legislative building that probably could have covered between 20 and 30,000 people. We knew a great number of people would come out,” says Murray.

“The challenge with a free ticket is that sometimes people will decide that they may or may not go. We want to ensure that those tickets are going to be sold, so by putting the smallest value as we possibly could on it, we believe will ensure we’ll have a full house.”

The general-admission tickets cost $4.95 and will be available at Ticketmaster on Aug. 10, with the funds collected to be donated to the Manitoba Association of Friendship Centres.

A free livestream from CTV Winnipeg will also be available at manitoba150.com.

The afternoon show will include folk singer William Prince, children’s entertaining legend Fred Penner, singer-songwriter Tal Bachman, singer-songwriter Andrina Turenne, a presentation from the Rainbow Stage musical MA-BUHAY!, Winnipeg folk group Red Moon Road, Juno-winning jazz guitarist Jocelyn Gould and Indigenous folk-rockers Indian City.

The evening show includes rising star Begonia, Portage la Prairie country group Doc Walker joined by Sierra Noble, actor/singer/philanthropist Tom Jackson, city rap group the Lytics, Tataskweyak Cree Nation R&B singer Sebastian Gaskin, francophone singer-songwriter Kelly Bado, as well as the Manitoba Youth Chorus.

alan.small@freepress.mb.ca