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White Lightning headline Oct. 13 show

R.F. Staples’ improv troupe, Westlock Flock, is gearing up for a season of laughs and collaborations with musical artists. And the Flock kicks it off Oct. 13 with White Lightning rocking the CATS Theatre at 7 p.m.
White Lightning will be rocking the CATS Theatre Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. to kick start Westlock Flock’s improv season. The R.F. Staples improv troupe is gearing up for a season of
White Lightning will be rocking the CATS Theatre Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. to kick start Westlock Flock’s improv season. The R.F. Staples improv troupe is gearing up for a season of laughs and collaborations with musical artists. L-R: Savanah Bosch (vocals), Jason Grilo (bass, vocals), Steve Bosch (lead vocals and guitar), Enoch Rottier (drums, vocals) and Melayne Shankel (vocals).

R.F. Staples’ improv troupe, Westlock Flock, is gearing up for a season of laughs and collaborations with musical artists.

And the Flock kicks it off Oct. 13 with White Lightning rocking the CATS Theatre at 7 p.m. Nuela Charles will part the curtains on Nov. 17.

“Basically, if you like music, you will love this band,” said Westlock Flock creative director Abby Keyes. “They started as a Christian band so the music is appropriate for any age group. Whether you are five years old or 95, you will be smiling and tapping your feet to the beat.”

The troupe is fundraising for registration in the Northern Alberta Improv League (NAIL) to travel and compete with other high school improv clubs.

Treat sales and a silent auction during intermission will all fund the Flock. With that in mind, Keyes said she hoped the community would come out and embrace the fun-filled night, not to mention a bit of cowbell and audience interaction.

White Lightning, the Edmonton-based pop-rock band, has been described as the musical love child of KC and the Sunshine Band and The Black Keys. The band has opened for Kim Mitchell, Sublime and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

“A lot of the young audience enjoys it but we have fun getting some seniors off their feet and dancing a little bit,” said drummer Enoch Rottier. “It’s a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll and a bunch of dance and disco. We do some cover songs every once in a while that people like.”

Not only that, the band has a Westlock connection. Rottier is from the Dapp/Pibroch area and his brother is Edmonton Eskimo Simeon Rottier. The band also met their current bass player while helping out at Teen Time Ranch northeast of Long Island Lake.

“We’ve realized that we really like playing in smaller towns or just outside of the city,” Rottier said. “It’s really fun because people don’t always get to see a lot of bands. When they do, they’re incredibly gracious and grateful.”

The band performed for Westlock audiences back in 2016 for Canada Day and the town’s centennial, but this show will be extra special.

“I really appreciated growing up in the area and when bands would come out because it wasn’t that common,” Rottier said. “When sweet bands would come out, it was one of the most exciting things. It’s cool to see familiar faces, but even play in the same theatre that I did my piano recitals, or band concerts and choir and other shows.”

However, White Lightning isn’t just a small-town band. The group was the first artist to perform in Rogers Place when it opened last year, the day after the Oilers hit the ice for the first time. The band filled up the stage with a 10-piece band, complete with percussionist and a full horn section.

“They treated it like a big band was coming to town and that whole night they covered the ice, set up a huge stage and had all the lights and smoke,” Rottier said. “It was also the first day the staff of Rogers Place had been there too so we got to put on a show for them, and we got to shoot a sweet music video there because we had all this access to this incredible facility that no one had been in yet at that point, except for construction workers.”

The band got involved with Westlock Flock when Keyes approached them at the end of winter and asked if they would play.

“We were definitely for it; she was super excited,” Rottier said. “Abby saw us play last summer in Athabasca at the River Rats Festival. We played shortly after Fred Penner, which was pretty sweet, but it was pouring rain so people thinned out, but the people that were actually there and stuck it out had a blast.”

Westlock Flock formed last year and finished the season with a show for local audiences and celebrity judges at the end of May. The proceeds from that funded the troupe’s trip to Edmonton in June for Improvaganza, an international improv and sketch comedy festival.

Tickets are $25 at the door, $20 in advance, and can be purchased at The Flower Shoppe, Lennon Barlow Keyes law office or at the R.F. Staples school office. Big families, youth groups or staff of 10 people or more can purchase reduced tickets for $15 each. Student tickets are $10 each.

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