Nanaimo-born Allison Crowe performed with her band to a standing ovation and laughs throughout, as she played well-known covers and songs that will be on her new album.
The Oct. 23 show at the Mary Winspear Centre opened with newest member, Celine Greb, playing cello and singing along with guitarist and vocalist Billie Woods. Dave Baird on bass later joined the show when Crowe came out to perform.
In her first time playing the violin on stage with shaking, sweaty hands, she admitted on stage, Crowe wowed the crowd. She switched between many instruments — piano, guitar, drums and of course, the nerve-wracking violin.
A couple years ago, she said her boyfriend bought her a fiddle for Christmas and so she began learning to play it from YouTube videos. Her great-grandfather played and her father repurposed his fiddle, fixing it up with Crowe now incorporating it into some of her songs.
Crowe first got started in music when she was a teenager, performing at open mic nights and bars and other venues in Nanaimo. Her first tour was in 2002 and Crowe said the Mary Winspear Centre is usually the size of venue she performs at.
“One of my first, I think, biggest shows that I remember was actually in Victoria — The Huron Carole with Tom Jackson years and years ago.
“That was pretty exciting,” she said.
Currently living in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, Crowe said she was happy to come back to B.C. to see family and to perform.
The house was almost full on the weekend, and Crowe performed many different kinds of music, including lots of her originals, music that will be on her new album expected out next year.
She finished off the night with a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, to which the audience sung along and stood in a standing ovation.
She will be performing back in her home town of Nanaimo this week followed by a bit of recording work before she heads off to her last show of the tour in Vancouver.