When Barney Bentall took his first trip as conductor of the Cariboo Express, he had no idea of what a ride he’d be in for.
A musician by trade, Bentall is well known around Bowen Island – where he calls home – for his performances. Two decades ago, Barney and his band the Legendary Hearts were playing a fundraiser to help a small-town rodeo raise enough money for a new Dance Hall. Friends and family joined in, including Barney’s son Dustin, and the show became a huge success.
What nobody could have predicted is what that night would set in motion. Inspired by the show’s success, Bentall began to look ahead. He felt that with the right backing the evening could become an annual event. Twenty years later the original show has morphed into an entire tour – the Cariboo Express – which travels across Canada each November supporting local charities in each town and city it performs. In total, the tour has raised more than $7 million over its career.
“It runs this whole journey over the course of the night and still to this day I’m entertained throughout the whole two-and-a-half hours,” says Bentall of what has now morphed into a true variety show featuring about a dozen musicians. Musical styles range across rock, country, roots and folk, along some storytelling and poetry written into the act. The performers manage a combination of popular classics and new material. In addition to Dustin who has stuck with the tour, return musical guests include Trixi, Geoffrey Kelly from Spirit of The West, Ridley Bent, Wendy Bird, and Stephanie Cadman on fiddle.
“There’s a certain amount of continuity there, but each year will be different. That’s why people keep coming back,” says Bentall. He adds people appreciate not only the mix of old and new elements, but also the formatting of the set list for the evening.
“I’ll do some funny thing, and all of a sudden a serious or moving song comes right after. The idea has always been to take the audience on a journey and I think we’ve accomplished that,” says Bentall.
Early versions of the show were patterned after performances at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, so much so that the tour was called the Grand Cariboo Opry. Eventually the original venue came calling with a name change request however, and so a new moniker was needed. By doing a little digging into Cariboo Gold Rush history, Bentall decided to rebrand under the current name, while continuing to deliver the same popular performances and raising large funds for charities.
This year is no different in what attendees will experience, aside from the fact it will be the last one ever. After this year’s 10 shows across BC, Alberta and Ontario - appropriately dubbed ‘The Last Roundup’ - the train will park for the final time. Bentall says after a successful 20 years, it’s time to explore new avenues.
“Twenty years is a good time to move on… I’ve been doing rock and roll for a long time and there’s other things I want to do... It just felt like this is time to move on,” says Bentall.
Before the group receives its last ovation, the Cariboo Express travelled to Sidney for a slate of performances on Vancouver Island before returning to the North Shore next week with a pair of dates at the Kay Meek Theatre in West Vancouver. Local charities the tour is supporting this year include the Potluck Café Society, which provides assistance to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and the Victoria-based Buddy Check, which supports youth with mental health struggles.
For Barney, there’s no shortage of memories from the past two decades. “The music that happens in this collaborative way, and all the people we bring together, the guests we bring in, that’s what I carry forward,” says Bentall.
For Bowen Islanders interested in attending either of the West Vancouver shows, tickets can be found on the Kay Meek Theatre website. Shows are scheduled for Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, each at 7:30 pm, with Friday night’s offering featuring a complimentary water taxi service returning to Bowen with Cormorant Marine.
