Pop and rock standards will have new vocal treatments when Citizen West comes to Weyburn to perform on-stage at the Cugnet Centre on Thursday, Feb. 7, a presentation of the Weyburn Concert Series.
A group that bases their strength on three classically-trained vocalists, accompanied by a piano virtuoso, Citizen West will perform a number of well-known pop and rock songs from the 1960s and 70s right up to the 2000s.
Citizen West is comprised of vocalists Cody Karey from Fort St. James, B.C.; Mark Devigne from Winnipeg; Antonio Larosa from Burnaby, B.C.; and pianist Trevor Hoffmann of Maple Ridge, B.C. Larosa is also a guitarist, and he will be showing those skills off at the Weyburn concert.
鈥淲e come from humble beginnings,鈥� said Karey, noting he and Devigne came from similar backgrounds as they bring together the West Coast with the mid-Prairie influence of the singers. He added when they got together with Hoffmann as their pianist, 鈥渨e just all kind of clicked.鈥�
鈥淲e like to open the show with one of my own favourites, Coldplay鈥檚 鈥榁iva La Vida鈥�, and we usually end the show with a song by Aerosmith, 鈥楧ream On鈥�,鈥� said Karey.
Asked what people will hear at the concert, he replied, 鈥淭hey can expect to hear songs that are familiar to them, whether they grew up in the 60s, 70s or the 2000s.鈥�
He added that Citizen West puts on a high-energy show. 鈥淲e like to have a ton of fun, so when people come to the show, they can expect it鈥檚 going to be memorable. 鈥� We like to interact with the people in the audience.鈥�
Karey noted he worked with Canadian music producer David Foster for 10 years before Citizen West was formed, and the influence of Foster鈥檚 style can be heard in their vocal performances, particularly taking some of their inspiration from Foster-produced artists like Michael Buble and Andrea Bocelli.
鈥淲e try and keep that kind of sound in what we鈥檙e doing,鈥� said Karey.
The group will perform some of their original material as well as covering several well-known songs in their performance.
The Canadian group is currently touring through 麻豆传媒AV America, which included stops in Ecuador, Lima, Peru and finally Chile before flying back to Saskatchewan to put on a performance in Weyburn.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking forward to meeting people at the show and after the show,鈥� said Karey, adding they are grateful to OSAC for helping bring them to Saskatchewan for the show. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always a treat to perform in Saskatchewan. We usually do one or two shows there every year.鈥�
Advance tickets for Citizen West are available at Music Craft, Old Fashion Foods or the Weyburn Review office at a cost of $30 for adults or $15 for children and students. At the door, the price will be $35 for adults and $20 for children and students.
