MetroVan Independent News September 2015 | Page 14
14
MetroVanIndependent.com
September 2015
entertainment
Luisa Marshall's Tina Turner Tribute closes out West Vancouver's 2015 Harmony Arts Festival in a spectacular fashion.
Hail to the Queen
Photo by Sheldon Bagunu
Thousands flocked the 2015 Harmony Arts Festival
By MetroVan Independent News Team
From the colorful art exhibits of
Vancouver’s artist Lyza Del Mar Gusin to
watching Mamma Mia – a fantastic musical
featuring ABBA songs under the stars, the
2015 Harmony Arts Festival celebrated its
25th anniversary finale with a big bang.
Many renowned international artists
and performers such as the Boom Booms
and Nearly Neil participated in a diverse
and ingenious festival that ran for ten
consecutive days, from July 31st to August
9th. Some 130,000 visited the festival to
check the cultural events and the superb
entertainment. There was something for
everybody.
The festival's final night last August 9th
drew one of the biggest crowds onto the
breathtaking West Vancouver waterfront.
The Millennium Stage turned into the
festival hub as the sun went down and a
10 piece tribute band and dancers took to
the stage.
World class tribute artist Luisa Marshall
as the “Legendary Queen of Rock n Roll”
Tina Turner and her crew proved to be a
strong major attraction on the busy finale
night with literally thousands flocking to the
Millennium Park. Organizers had to close
the gates down to stop the influx of more
people coming to see the tribute act. Some
Tina Turner fans were forced to sit on the
beach behind the stage just to have a little
glimpse of Marshall’s spectacular tribute
performance.
Marshall was grateful and proud of
being invited the second time to perform
at the Harmony Arts Festival after opening
the festival in 2012. Her family band
consisted of her husband Steve Marshall
on drums, daughters Kimi on guitar and
Zenia Marshall on back-up vocals, sister
Tota Mendez on back-up vocals and
her brother, dancer and choreographer,
Leandro Mendez.
Other members of her rocking crew are
Millennium Park filled to capacity during the festival finale. Photo by Bert Morelos.
Marshall and crew taking a bow.
Jojo Palermo on keyboards, Marlowe Mata
on bass, Dennis Timoshenko on sax, and
dancer Kathryn Schellenberg.
The gigantic crowd was visibly moved
when Marshall announced the retirement
of her choreographer/dancer of 15 years,
Photo by Bert Morelos
younger brother Leandro Mendez from the
Tina Turner tribute show. She dedicated
Tina’s inspiring song “Simply the Best”
to her brother and thanked him for all the
wonderful years they performed together.
Guitarist Kim Mendez on stage during the Tina Turner Tribute show. Photo by Bert Morelos.