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Curtis Labelle plays Castor Community Hall

Red Deer-based rocker Curtis Labelle opened his “High on Pride 2022” tour at the Castor Community Hall on Mar. 4.
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Traveling everywhere with Labelle on his tour is his customized purple grand piano. (Kevin Sabo/Castor Advance)

Red Deer-based rocker Curtis Labelle opened his “High on Pride 2022” tour at the Castor Community Hall on Mar. 4.

Unfortunately, the crowd was sparse for the concert.

This could be partially due to the fact the region received heavy snowfall on March 3 and 4 and the roads were treacherous.

Still, the 20 audience members who made the trek were taken on an Elton John and Billy Joel piano-rock-inspired musical journey of all original music.

One song, entitled “Carry On,” was so new that Labelle’s band hadn’t even heard it yet as he had just finished writing it three days prior.

“It was very, very new,” said Labelle during the show.

Another new song, released the same day the tour began, was the single entitled “On the Gun.”

The single features a cross-promoted craft beer of the same name from Field & Forge Brewing of Innisfail, Alta.

Labelle describes the song as the heaviest song he has ever written.

One can of the new beer is travelling in a protective case with the band, to be signed by concert organizers at each venue.

The plan is that at the end of the 60+ date tour the can will be auctioned off with the proceeds to go towards supporting the LGBTQ community in central Alberta.

With Labelle on stage were bass guitarist Matt Dubois, drummer Adrian Johnson and guitarist Mike Sands.

The entire concert lasted just under 90 minutes with no intermission.

While he had no albums available for purchase, Labelle did have a variety of other merchandise available for purchase including t-shirts, hoodies, and water bottles.

All of Labelle’s music is available for purchase through both the Apple and Google stores.

Labelle and his band will be performing a show in St. Albert on March 5 before heading into Saskatchewan on a tour that will take the band from Castor to Montreal before returning to central Alberta in June.

A second leg of the tour is also planned for sometime this fall.

For those who missed the Castor show and don’t want to travel too far, Labelle and his band are already scheduled to be back in the area playing at the Coronation Community Hall on June 1, along with a variety of other central Alberta dates around that time.

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Rock pianist Curtis Labelle played the Castor Community Hall March 4, kicking off his nation “High on Pride 2022” tour. (Kevin Sabo/Castor Advance)


Kevin Sabo

About the Author: Kevin Sabo

I’m Kevin Sabo. I’ve been a resident of the Castor area for the last 12 years and counting, first coming out here in my previous career as an EMT.
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