Steve's Blog
Rogue Fundraiser - it's a wrap! Thank you!!! Plus - a Cool Yule Celebration and some gift ideas
Friday December 1, 2017

1. Van Django's Cool Yule celebration, Saturday December 9th, 8pm at St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

2. Thanks For Supporting The Rogue Fundraiser!!

Thank you all so much for making last Saturday's Fundraiser such a roaring success! The Auction Committee accomplished the herculean task of organizing the Silent Auction and coordinating not one but two "venues" at St. James Hall. The downstairs hall looked great, and we were all very pleasantly amazed that so many people came to the first part of the evening.

The food provided by Rick & Dominique Martin, Monica Jones, and the other volunteers who brought goodies to eat was fabulous and very popular. It's remarkable to think that we utilized a kitchen and ran a bar, while simultaneously running a silent auction, and with live music presented by Kierah Raymond, Michael Averill, and uilleann piper Chris McMullan from Co. Tyrone - and that was just the start of the evening!


The door staff coped with a constant stream of attendees, and when we moved the whole operation upstairs there was another bar, and the other half of the silent auction, with brilliant concert performances by Gabriel Dubreuil and his new trio, Stephen Fearing, Marin Patenaude, and the Honky Tonk Dilettantes. Jay O'Keeffe did a great job on the sound, with the ever-dependable Peter Bennett's assistance.

So the event was an artistic triumph, a catering miracle, and a very successful fundraiser. We are still counting the proceeds, but it looks like we raised around $20,000 on the night!

We couldn't have pulled this off without your support - and, of course, the incredible contributions of the volunteers and the musicians.

Thank you, one and all, from the bottom of my heart. Not only has this restored The Rogue's finances to an unprecedented level of stability, it has also reaffirmed the genuine love the community has for The Rogue. Very humbling.

3. Christmas Gift Ideas & Future Concerts

We have unique Rogue Folk Club 2018 calendars on sale for $25. Large, heavy duty, colourful calendars featuring many of the performers who played at The Rogue in 2017. There are quite a few Rogue concert dates on the calendars as well. We also have copies of Rogue 30th Anniversary Yearbooks available. These are hard cover, Over 30 pages, with narrative and photos from the Rogue's 30th year (2017).

You might also consider giving a Rogue Gift Certificate for friends or family members. These can be in any amount. Just let us know and we can either email you the certificate or you can pick them up at the Cool Yule show (in this case, we need at least 24 hours notice, so we can print them out for you.)

Parcel O'Rogues ticket bundles make another excellent gift! Just $159 for any 10 Rogue shows. Buy them soon, because the price will go up in January to $169 (still a fantastic bargain, though!)

Or you might wish to give the gift of concert tickets to some of these amazing Rogue concerts coming up in 2018:

• January 13 - Connie Kaldor (legendary Canadian songwriter)
• January 19 - Jim Byrnes CD Launch with Steve Dawson, The Sojourners and the full Black Hen Band - with horns!
• January 26 - Beppe Gambetta (Italian flatpack guitar virtuoso) with special guest Liz Stringer (Australia)
• February 2 - Lynn Miles (another of Canada's finest singer songwriters)
• February 4 - Ten Strings & A Goatskin (great PEI Celtic trio) with Ben & Anita (pipes and fiddle from Cape Breton)
• February 9 - B.C. Fiddle Festival with Early Spirit and Daniel Lapp Band
• February 10 - B.C. Fiddle Festival with Jocelyn Pettit and Mad Pudding
• February 11 - B.C. Fiddle Festival with Kathleen Nisbet Metis Fiddle Group and the stunning Latin / Celtic band Locarno
• February 18 - Stringband Farewell Tour (venue to be confirmed)
• February 23 - Stephen Fearing Trio with Riley & Vivian (Seattle)
• February 25 - Altan (one of Ireland's top Celtic bands - at St. James!)
• March 3 - Tom Russell
• March 10 - Chris Smither (tickets available through Capilano University not us - but it is at St. James)
• March 11 - Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas 
• March 16 - Annie Lou CD launch
• March 18 - Carlos del Junco 
• March 23 - The Arrogant Worms
• March 25 - Old Man Luedecke
• April 14 - Madison Violet
• April 20 - Martyn Joseph