Looking back on 10 years at South Okanagan Events Centre
The Okanagan Valley is a great place for live music, with venues including the SOEC and Prospera Place, the small coffee halls, service clubs, and outdoor festivals.
In recognition of the South Okanagan Events Centre’s 10th year of operation, we re-read our reviews and coverage and decided on the 10 best concerts in the 10-year history of the complex.
1. RINGO STARR & HIS ALL-STARR BAND, OCT. 13, 2015
Disclosure: the managing editor of
Okanagan Weekend is a die-hard Beatles fan and had seen Ringo on seven previous occasions.
Fifty years after Beatlemania, a Fab came to Penticton. Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band offered a combination of Ringo’s successful solo singles (everyone forgets he had seven top 10 singles) with Beatles’ songs that Ringo sang lead on. But you didn’t have to be a Beatles’ fan to enjoy the show. Backed by Todd Rundgren, Steve Lukather of Toto, Richard Page from Mr. Mister (Broken Wings) and Gregg Rolie (Santana, Journey), each all-starr did three of their own hits as Ringo tapped away on the kit.
It was like seeing Toto and Santana, without any filler. It was a fun and spirited jam, gleefully emceed by Ringo. The show’s highlights: Oye Coma Va by Rollie and, of course, Yellow Submarine.
2. DON HENLEY JULY 13, 2016
A comfortably full house with a comfortably-aged audience. That’s how we would best describe Don Henley’s Penticton concert. It was a polished show with none of the usual gimmicks like video screens, pyrotechnics, lasers or anything that would take away from the music. Lighting was gorgeous and not overpowering. All vocals were pitch perfect. Makes sense. Eagles fans would only accept the best.
Great band, and we mean really great. Even the horn players, decked out in classy tuxedos, were grooving in the back. Henley’s a pro.
There were no mistakes. The highlight was Henley performing a touching tribute to his late partner Glenn Frey by finishing up the night with Desperado.
3. ERIC CHURCH FEB. 1, 2013
Although Church had been around since 2006, his career started taking off in the 2010s with back-to-back No. 1s — Drink in
My Hand and Springsteen, both featured prominently on his set list.
Church is an artist who sounds better live than in the studio. Tickets were ridiculously affordable and this show was renowned more for the electric, party atmosphere than the music itself. Country boys and girls know how to party and have fun.
4. JOHN FOGERTY NOV. 17, 2014
The show was all about energy. Fogerty spent the two-and-a-half hours he was on stage sprinting from one side to the other. The 70ish Fogerty was the epitome of a rock and roll elder statesman who still thrives on touring and putting on a great show for his fans. Die-hard Creedence fans would be able to sing along with practically every song – the way they remember them. Fogerty is a believer of basically covering his own songs the way he recorded them 45 years ago. (Our competing paper sent a younger reporter who disliked the concert for all the same points.)
The show began with an interesting documentary about the cultural significance of the year 1969. The highlight was a swampy rendition of Lodi with his son, Shane.
5. RIHANNA JULY 7, 2010
2010 was a breakout year for the Barbadian singer/actress. She was the top female artist of the year on the Billboard charts and scored three No. 1 singles —
Rude Body, S&M and Only Girl (In the World), which won a Grammy for best dance recording.
Kesha, an up-and-coming superstar, was the opening act. The Last Girl on Earth tour was by far the most elaborate show ever staged at the SOEC and there was a brief interruption to resolve a technical issue.
Unfortunately, high ticket prices (the top seat was $300) and a show the night before in Vancouver resulted in the arena not selling out and the City of Penticton had to absorb a financial loss.
6. CARRIE UNDERWOOD DEC. 15, 2010
The most successful act to ever come out of American Idol (sorry Sanjaya), by the start of the new decade she had already set a record for the most No. 1 singles by a female artist on the Billboard country chart.
Her Play On tour included costume and prop changes, complete with a truck featuring a ‘Carrie’ vanity plate on the back that circled the top of the arena as she sang John Denver’s Take Me Home Country Roads.
She saved the best for her encore, a rousing version of Before He Cheats, one of the nastiest, but irresistible, songs of all time. Every man in the audience went home nervous.
7. BAD COMPANY SEPT. 14, 2013
It was billed as a 40th anniversary tour, but with only two of the original members on stage — lead singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke. That was enough.
The majority of set came from Bad Company’s first two albums which included Can’t Get Enough, Ready for Love and Shooting Star. What made this concert so memorable was Rodgers, one of the best voices in rock music. Ever. He still sounded great.
It was special because Rodgers now lives in Summerland, and it was a chance for Okanagan audiences to acknowledge a (sort-of) local boy.
8. MEGADETH MARCH 3, 2016
Four thrash metal bands and close to five hours of live music, it included opening acts Suicidal Tendencies, Children of Bodom and Havok. Megadeth was touring in support of
Dystopia which, after 12 previous nominations, finally won the band its first Grammy for best metal performance. Fronted by guitarist Dave Bustaine, who parted ways with Metallica in one of rock’s biggest feuds, his showmanship on guitar was remarkable. As expected, the band’s biggest hit, Symphony of Destruction, was the night’s show stopper.
The evening’s biggest surprise — for many — was the performance of Finnish band Children of Bodom and its front man Alexi “Wildchild” Lalho, a rarity in that the opening act was as good as the headliner.
9.THE TRAGICALLY HIP AUG. 7, 2009
You can say you saw them. The Hip was still in their prime when they brought their We Are the Same tour to the SOEC.
Canada’s band played a 27-song set, beginning with New Orleans is Sinking, but saving Bobcaygeon until near the end. There were some unexpected song choices — Courage, Blowin’ High Dough, Poets and
Love is a First. It’s the only time in SOEC history that a Canadian flag crowd surfed, rather than people.
The stage set-up was basic, a few LED screens so those in the nosebleeds could see the band. There was a light show on the ceiling which nobody was watching — all eyes were on Gord Downie.
The only disappointment was Downie didn’t do one of his unscripted and adlibbed stories, a trademark of most Hip shows.
10. CHICAGO OCT. 19, 2008
The second concert ever hosted by the SOEC (Fiest was the first), not only was it a mix of hits from the horn-band years (Beginnings, 25 or 6 to 4) and the Peter Cetera pop era (You’re the Inspiration, Hard
to Say I’m Sorry), it included rarities such as Ballet for a Girl in Buchanon, a suite from the band’s second album, and Stone
for Sisyhus, the title track to its long unreleased album.
Cetera hadn’t been with the band for years, but Jason Scheff and Bill Champlin, lead singers from when the band was still on the charts in the 1990s, were still with them along with the the original horn section.