If you ever wanted to experience what it would be like to be at a live radio program before television was widely available, a Jake Vaadeland & The Sturgeon River Boys show is right up your alley.
Vaadeland returned to Victoria for the second time since winning the Canadian Country Music Award for Alternative Country Album of the Year at Capital Ballroom to perform a Christmas themed show. He was previously in town for Rifflandia in September.
22-year-old Vaadeland and his four-piece band took the stage in 1940s period suits and performed two highly entertaining sets with a mix of original songs and classic Christmas tunes. Some audience members even dressed to match the old timey theme.
The performance was part concert and part scripted stage show. At a couple points in the sets Vaadeland “paused” the program to “acknowledge a sponsor” including Diet Pepsi. The live ad had a full promotional read while his bandmates cracked open cans of Pepsi at the microphones so everyone could hear the sound. They then performed a jingle.
At various times the band members seemed to throw some improvisational curveballs at each other that all of them were able to keep up with.
It was a very wholesome country show like one might have experienced at the Grand Ole Opry back in the day.
I’m not typically much of a country fan, but Jake Vaadeland & The Sturgeon River Boys were a lot of fun.
