Vertigo Series Open Stage featuring Lillian Allen

Thursday, March 6, 2014, 7:00 pm 
MacKenzie Art Gallery
Admission: $5

Impromptu poetry, spoken word and musical performances combined to create a casual yet seamless event at the recent Vertigo Series Open Stage. Forget about the negative stereotypes you may have about open mic nights: Vertigo does it right. 

House musicians Brian Templeton (double bass) and Herb Exner (guitar) kicked off the evening with an instrumental performance, then played back-up for writers wanting their words set to music. The evening’s program was created by audience members who wrote their names on a sign-up sheet and waited anxiously for host Tara Dawn Solheim to call them to the stage. 

Performances spanned a number of genres. Carla Harris set the tone for the open stage with a poem that turned into a song and ended with a scat solo, all set to the groove of Templeton’s bass. Rachel MacDonald sang an a cappella prayer song that she had written while lying in bed recovering from an injury. Bruce Rice read a series of poems responding to the MacKenzie Art Gallery’s recent 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. exhibition. Spoken word artist Shayna Stock and pianist Jeff Moser presented a collaborative piece that wove poetry and music into a breathtaking work of art. A number of others also shared their work, and none disappointed.

The feature performer was Lillian Allen, an internationally acclaimed, Juno-award-winning writer and reggae musician. She is credited as one of the originators of dub poetry, described on her website as “a highly politicized form of poetry preferring a black aesthetic and specific cultural codification.” Allen combines Jamaican vernacular, vocal sounds, looping and music to elicit an emotional response from audiences and draw them into the situations she explores. 

At Vertigo, she presented pieces with topics ranging from tongue-in-cheek advice on how to be a writer, to the hardship and reward of labour and childbirth, to the anxiety that we feel in modern society. She then called the house musicians on stage for a jazz number and answered a variety of audience questions. Her performance was captivating, entertaining and refreshing, and her presence enhanced rather than overshadowed the local writers taking the stage before and after her. 

Casual yet inspiring: Vertigo does it right.

The Vertigo Series provides regular opportunities for writers and musicians of all genres and levels of accomplishment to share their work with an audience. The series is supported and sponsored by community granting organizations including the Saskatchewan Arts Board, the Canada Council for the Arts and the League of Canadian Poets. For more information, visit www.vertigoseries.com, the Vertigo Series Group on Facebook, or @VertigoSeries on Twitter.