Blue Rodeo brings back winery concerts

Of course, Blue Rodeo saved its biggest hit -- Try -- for the encore.

The venerable Canadian country-rock band played for a sold-out crowd of 800 last night at Mission Hill Family Estate's outdoor amphitheatre in West Kelowna.

As it always goes at concerts, after a solid, two-hour set, lead singer Jim Cuddy says good-night, thanks the audience for coming out, the band exits the stage and the lights go out.

Immediately the crowd breaks into a standing ovation, after all Blue Rodeo has not yet performed its most famous song.

The lights go on, the band trots back onto the stage and instead of heading to the centre-stage microphone with his guitar, Cuddy hops up behind the piano and breaks into Try.

The crowd goes crazy and starts to sing along -- Every time you walk in the room...Oh, night after night...Oh, you got to try, try, try...Oh, don't you know you've got to try, try, try...Oh, baby, you try.

The concert wasn't just live music.

The audience treated the evening out as a return to normal after a two-year, pandemic-induced hiatus.

People arrived early for the 7:30 pm concert to grab a glass of wine and mingle.

Others made it dinner-and-a-show by opting for a picnic or dinner on the loggia, in the Chagall Room or in the Terrace restaurant before the concert.

Blue Rodeo sensed the excitement and gave the audience what it wanted -- a non-stop, two-hour show with hits Til I Am Myself Again, Head Over Heels and Rain Down on Me and some rockabilly and honky tonk interludes.

Cuddy will be back in the Okanagan on July 29 for another winery concert at Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards in Peachland.

He'll play on the winery's outdoor crush deck with a 180-degree view of vineyards, Okanagan Lake and mountains as a backdrop.

Cuddy will be joined by Blue Rodeo guitarist Colin Cripps and genre-defying violinist Anne Lindsay.

Tickets for the 7:30 pm concert are $145, or $295 for concert and pre-show dinner at 19Bistro@Fitz, at FitzWine.com/Shop.

Mission Hill has three more concerts this season -- country singer Dean Brody on July 28 (tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon), country-R&B artist Johnny Reid on July 29 (sold out) and jazz trumpeter Chris Botti and friends on Aug. 30 (some tickets still available).

Ticket information at MissionHillWinery.com.

CedarCreek Winery in Kelowna also has two concerts on tap this summer -- indie rocker Tim Baker on July 20 and blues guitarist and singer Matt Anderson on Aug. 17.

Tickets at CedarCreek.bc.ca.