July 8, 2022 Music in The Park

It’s back… 

What’s back you may ask? Music in the park in West Kelowna is back. Westside Daze returned after a three-year hiatus and it came back to life with the glorious sounds of musical joy.

The midway was packed with laughing kids and the bandstand was full of talented people filling the park with the refreshing sounds of Elton John. Andrew Johns led a very talented group of musicians in a two-hour tribute to the piano man at the Annette Beaudreau Amphitheatre at Memorial Park in West Kelowna. It was a beautiful evening and the connection with the people and the music filled everyone’s hearts. It was another event that returned our world and our lives to where it was in the before times.

I felt spontaneous joy seeing so many familiar faces grooving to the music in the park. It was a warm evening and everything felt right in the world. Hundreds of people gathered on the grass and in the amphitheatre and there wasn’t a mask in sight. People breathed the air and soaked in the melodies. The energy was contagious as people, young and old, smiled and swayed to such classics as Crocodile Rock, Rocket Man and so many other classic Elton John hits. 

Andrew Johns was an entertaining presence on the stage, adding humour and passion to his show. I loved when he reminisced about playing the vinyl version of a song. When he was young and everyone listened to records you could slow down or speed up the song on the record player. So there they were on stage slowing the songs down or speeding them up. It was hilarious and kept the audience entertained. 

We didn’t want the evening to end.

But all good things must come to an end, the band played the final tribute to Elton John; Levon. The lyrics all make me smile and I felt an instant connection with the song and the people around me. As the final notes rang through the air, the crowd cheered, and everything felt right in our little corner of paradise. 

We walked away from the park with a feeling of contentment. As we walked to the car the rides of the midway were still spinning and the smell of mini-donuts filled my nostrils. The line for the doughnuts was long and at the end of the line stood a member of the RCMP. I chuckled to myself but refrained from any comments about cops and doughnuts. 

We turned and saw another person we knew that we hadn’t seen since the before times. It was refreshing getting out and seeing people we knew.

The smell of donuts wafting in the air could not be resisted any longer so I turned around and got in line. There were two ladies between me and the policeman so I stood and waited patiently. The cop chatted with the ladies and everyone was joking and smiling. It turned out that the policeman was just a regular human being like the rest of us. 

Doughnut jokes were not required.

As the kids laughed and played we walked away enjoying the flavour of my childhood. Mini donuts in hand we wandered back to the car and headed home. The mini-donuts wouldn’t make it home but the feeling from a summer evening in Westbank will last a lifetime.