Thursday April 16, 2020 ~ BC
by Mary Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
The opening song of a one-hour ‘made in BC’ livestreamed concert by local singer-songwriters entitled I am by Kim Gouchie, set the stage for helping people try to recapture some wholeness after what has been a few hectic, stressful and disruptive weeks since the COVID-19 pandemic was officially declared.
The April 16 lineup of performers for the 4 pm event included:
Kym Gouchie – Folk (Summerland)
Alex Cuba – Pop-Soul (Smithers)
Desirée Dawson – Soulful Folk (White Rock)
Dan Mangan – Indie Rock (Vancouver)
Next up was Alex Cuba, who in his intro said: “We are more together than ever, and that is very inspiring”. He also mused that as a society we are “starting all over again but this time really listening to our hearts”.
Chief Executive Officer of Creative BC, Prem Gill, said between performances: “We’ve never been more together than this ever,” even though physically we are apart.
The third performer was Desirée Dawson, who spoke about the power of melodies to heal the collective. “We’re all together, at home,” she said. Her piece called Wild Heart was about “doing those things that make us feel like our authentic self”.
Dawson said she missed having others sing along with her in person: “There is a special kind of medicine when our voices come together.”
The last performer Dan Mangan referred to this time of COVID-19 as “a chaotic moment”. He performed a new song called Soapbox which he afterward apologized for the lyrics being too negative, but they were spot on for the time of COVID-19, so the ‘negativity’ was not his, he was simply the messenger.
Some lyrics from Mangan: “Damn all the pretenders and the reasons why,” referring to the “reflection of mirrors… that focus on division – the meanest trick the devil ever pulled”.
As a broad socioeconomic comment in Mangan’s lyrics: “They want you lonely, so you will cry.” But insisted in his lyrics that kindness is not weakness, and wrapped up with: “There is still beauty in the mess” and that we should “leave a light on in case another needs to see”.
And in his song Cold in the Summer which he said was about “feeling out of touch”, came a line we can all identify with: “Be careful what you sort of kinda asked for.”
Mangan in his final exit chat thanked BC for “taking a chance on the arts”. And with a smile that sees, said that BC by putting on this concert was “taking that leap, knowing it will return in all kinds of intangible ways as well as literal and financial”.
BC Tourism, Arts & Culture Minister Lisa Beare (MLA for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows) was pleased that the day’s talent could “come together and connect”.
The one-hour event live on the BC Government’s Facebook page was introduced by Premier John Horgan who had initially been approached by NDP MLA Bob D’Eith (Maple Ridge-Mission) to provide an opportunity for a few artists and let British Columbians enjoy a no-cost moment of creative reprieve.
As seen on the Facebook livestream, about 1,000 viewers hung in there for the full hour.