Mahagony Frog at Rainbow Trout Music Festival

Concert Review:

Prog rock giants Mahogany Frog dazzle Rainbow Trout Festival goers

WORDS & PHOTOS: DOUG KRETCHMER

My first outing to the Rainbow Trout Music Festival was quite spectacular. Not only was one of my absolute favourite bands headlining day two of the two and a half day festival, but as soon as I checked into the gates and received my media pass, I could feel the good vibes in the air. After a fun-filled day of checking out the eclectic lineup on the stage (with a bit of tubing on the beautiful Rosseau River to cool off), Mahogany Frog hit the stage. I’ve seen the band many times over the years, and they always deliver a fine performance. Did I say performance? It’s more like a trip where the music takes you and your imagination on a sonic journey. The four members (plus a juggler… why not) came on a little later than their scheduled 11:30 pm start time. No one seemed to mind that they started late, but after hip-hop artist Dill the Giant’s set, some of the folks in the audience seemed a little caught off guard by the high-energy (not to mention the complex arrangements) performance. After a few songs, though, most of the audience seemed to enjoy what they were hearing. One younger fella next to me said that he didn’t quite understand the music but, after a few songs, said, “hey, these guys are pretty cool; I can get into this. Pretty interesting stuff.” Surrounded by a bank of keyboards was Graham Epp, who showed off his wizardry with ease. It was quite amusing watching him go from keyboard to keyboard, with guitarist Jesse Warkentin joining him on keys once in a while for a dual synthesized attack. Once in a while, Epp would leave his keyboard fortress with Warkentin in charge while he would take over guitar duties. The rhythm section consists of Andy Rudolph on drums and newcomer Clayton Rudy on bass. These guys are a tight outfit. With Clayton’s fuzz tone bass complimenting Andy’s fluid drums, the keyboards and guitar nicely weave throughout and around these rhythm aces. The band not only brings me back to the experimental and prog bands of the ‘70s but also seems to put their unique stamp on their (sometimes lengthy, but never redundant) compositions. As I mentioned earlier, the band takes you on a journey, and this journey stretches on for over an hour, with the audience screaming for more when they ended their set. They kindly obliged but left the audience wanting more. I spoke with former bassist Scott Ellenberger, who was in the audience watching the band for the first time since he left the band a while ago. He said it was quite the surreal experience watching and hearing some of the riffs he once played with the band. The last time I saw these guys was in June of 2018 when they opened up for The Flaming Lips at the Burton Cumming Theatre. Now, if that’s not a good endorsement for a band, I don’t know what is. I talked with Jesse just before that gig, and they were quite honoured to be opening for Wayne Coyne and the band.