22 — Friday, July 23, 1999 ~— North Shore News MERRITT MOUNTAIN MUSIC FESTIVAL DIARY Waiting for Kenny Liesel Unger Contributing Writer Friday, July 16 ® Arrived at site apprexi- mately 9:30 p.m. Lots of security but very friendly and willing to help © Set up camp. VIP section an approximate five-minute walk to concert site. Wiist bands must be scanned in. No alcohol allowed. ¢ Dwight Yoakam was the Friday night headlirier. Caught the tail end of his performance. The crowd was moving and shaking to his extended version of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” the Queen cover he sings on a Gap TV ad. e Everything on site is - bought and sold in Mountain Bucks, the week-. end’s official currency. No cash exchanged. . © Largest beer gardens I have ever attended. le were incredibly ‘Bien y. Everyone intro- ‘duces themselves even if you : are just standing beside them for a matter of rain- ites. * No fights or altercations “seen anywhere, just good “clean fun: Peopt ¢ from all walks of life: old, young, _ bikers, children etc. a Saturday, July’ 17. . © Deana Carter's press con- ference. She was 45 minutes late. : * According to publicists; the largest press gathering yet (this was before Kenny “Rogers on Sunday). | ° She said the commute was ° long from Nashville to ‘Seattle to Vancouver and ‘then the drive to Merritt. she loved the landscape and scenery around.” the Merritt area. >® Q:“In your. - video To Tou Sit a “Deana Carter “the universit i aioet this year. ». When ‘told she was beaa- > she said ‘she is very modest about her beauty and has not been brave “What are your feel. ings: ‘on Canadian coun! and its effects on the y music industry in shvilic?”A: “1 think ‘Canadian country i is and am a huge fan'o number of Canadian per- formers like Anne Murray, ‘the Wilkinsons,’ and Bryan ‘Adams, etc.” @ Q: “Since your debut - Ibu is named Did 2 Share ‘My Legs For This, what do you. recommend women do: wax or shave?” A: (laughs at : “question) “I recommend. waxing your privates and - shaving your legs.” ©. When s cement hand print was requested, she . signed her name and Ieft a foot print since she is knowa for playing on stage ° barefoot: She performed this concert t barefoot. © Excellent veice and sounded great live (at least from the press booth). Sound at the concert was not the best but a difficult open-air environment. Sunday, July 18 © Anumber of pcople packed up and left on Sunday before Kenny Rogers played after a major storm front came through containing rain, hail and a temperature inversion. ° A number of acts were cancelled due to the storm, including North Vancouver’s Bebbi Smith. She made her press confer- ence but the stage was teo wet for her to perform. ¢ Most of the crowd ran for cover during the storm, but returned for Kenny. © Some partyers decided to turn a large mud puddle in - the beer gardens into a mud wrestling pit: the guys stripped down aude to wrestle, a security guard was hauled into the middle of the fun and the beer gar- dens were closed to gop the fun but reopened a few minutes later when the guys were Out. © Sun came out again in full force and started to dry everything off before Kenny - came on, ° Kenny’s press conference , was at 6 p.m., only halfan hour later than scheduled ' due to the weather mishap. © Question was asked about “The Gambler” and how famous it made him. So famous in fact that it got "him an ap ce on the ~ Muppet Show. He laughed and said that being on that ~ show was the highlight of ‘ his life : © He was not pre- pared for the 4 amount of \ response “The ’, Gambler” had : - worldwide. He : just finished a _ tour of Norther feed Europe and was very surprised that ple in Warsaw, ofand knew the words to the song, ® Question was "asked about 2 book he is rumoured to be writing on inspirational messages (as expressed through music). He said in addition to writ- ing a weekly column for the ew York ‘Times syndicate on this topic, he is compil- ‘ing info for a book. ° Comment was made that “in recent years fie has taken a very strong humanitarian approach: to life. Question was asked about what his upcoming charitable plans - are. Answer: “In, October : Pm involved in the planning of a project that is a ‘We Are the Werld?-zype idea: It will involve three differcnt continents and its goal is to end world hunger. . When asked if he will ever have another hit like “The Gambler”, he answered that the new single on his new album is called “Slow Dance Boy” and he feels that this may be the next big one «. Hi has lots of things in the works. The commercial art major in college has hooked up with =zster pho- tographer John Sexton and has already published two books. A third, with photos of country music artists, is in the works. © The new book idea is called Faces and Places about his travels and world- wide performing. He wants to take pictures of people and landscapes to show how people change from place to place around the worid. * Kenny was very geod with the crowd. Both in concert and in the press tent. He spoke with people one-on-one and interacted with the crowd better than any performer I lave seen. ‘The ivinidad and Tobago Cultural Society of B. C. presents the : ‘stages, authentic foed, refreshments, : tropical istand of activity. From iam te Tpm.. Alone couple wait out the hail and rain sterm that hit the Merrit Mountain Music Festival last Sunday. Several acts were cancolled on tha last day of the event but the sun came back out for Kenny Rogers. sings. 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