ON STAGE
What: Barney Bentall and the Cariboo Express, featuring Leeroy Stagger, Dustin Bentall, Ridley Bent and more
Where: Charlie White Theatre in the Mary Winspear Centre, 2243 Beacon Ave., Sidney
When: Nov. 15 through Nov. 17
Tickets: Sold out
Note: The Cariboo Express also stops Monday on Salt Spring Island for a performance at the Fulford Hall and Nov. 23 at the Port Theatre in Nanaimo
The travelling Western Canadian caravan that is the Cariboo Express has always found a sympathetic home on Vancouver Island.
Its mandate — to help those less fortunate around the Christmas season — is closely aligned with the personal politics of many local residents, who have turned out en masse to support the annual fundraiser during its successful 12-year run.
Led by founder Barney Bentall, the Cariboo Express is back on the road this month, with five of its 11 shows taking place in the Vancouver Island area, including three sold-out nights at Sidney’s Charlie White Theatre.
Bentall and his musical compatriots will donate the proceeds from their stops tonight, Friday and Saturday to the Saanich Peninsula Lions Food Bank.
Following his stop in Sidney, Bentall and his many musical comrades, which includes son Dustin Bentall, Victoria’s Leeroy Stagger and Ridley Bent, will perform Monday on Salt Spring Island at Fulford Hall and Nov. 23 in Nanaimo at The Port Theatre.
Those concerts will benefit Salt Spring Community Services and the Nanaimo Region John Howard Society, respectively.
Part variety show and part barn dance, the Cariboo Express is modelled in part after Festival Express, the train-bound tour that took the Grateful Dead, The Band, Janis Joplin and others across Canada in 1970.
The idea to add a charity component came from Barney Bentall, who was recently given a Community Excellence Award by the Western Canadian Music Alliance.
“The express was hatched playing a rodeo dance with Dustin, Ridley and Leeroy,” Bentall told the Times Colonist last year.
“The great thing is the musical part is so rewarding and fun, but the charity element is important, too.”
For more information on the tour, including the full lineup of performers, visit barneybentall.com.
