June 29, 2026

MUSIC ON THE BARGE RETURNED SUNDAY WITH THE SERIOUS SOUNDS OF SUMMER AS BIFOCALS BAND HOOKS FANS WITH STIRRING MARCH BEFORE SWITCHING TO POP ROCK

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com PHOTOS LING PAN

GRAVENHURST — A great song has a great hook.

Last night for the Bifocals Concert Band it was the “Tenth Regiment March.” A jarring, highly visual opening burst of brass that let the audience know they were there to hear some serious music.

Played by serious musicians.

The lighter, fluffy fare begins next week with “Swifties” out for a “Taylor’s Story” followed Sundays after by tributes and cover band homages.

**Gravenhurst Bifocals Concert Band conductor Kim Barlow and her members presented a serious music concert with a nod to pop and rock and Saturday monring cartoon capers. PHOTOS Ling Pan**

But before a summer of soft pop it was music for music lovers with taste.

With a blasting high note opening chorus tease by the trumpets — before the full instrumentation dropped — the Tenth was a full speed galloping charge.

“A serious concert has to include a march,” conductor Kim Barlow quoted the late great musician Gid Rowntree.

And so it was last night as Barge fans filled the banks of Gull Lake and sat beneath the pines for the first concert of the Music on the Barge season.

As is tradition, the summer series — dating back 77 years — began with the Gravenhurst Bifocals Band.

Ironically almost the average age of the band members — including percussionist Inge Fritz who is 95 and solos on “More Cow Bell.” She was absent due heat last night. But ably filled in by a younger Vaughn Adamson.

**Sunday night band concerts have been a fixture on the Barge since 1949, with concert bands a staple keeping serious music alive.**

Lest listeners be deceived, this was not strictly a long-haired concert.

For long hairs of the Sixties next up was “Pop and Rock Legends: The Mamas and the Papas.” Followed later by “Pop and Rock Legends: The Association.”

Between was the “Russian Sailors Dance, Chicago, H2Overture, Tales of Dundee, Zorro’s Theme, Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Build Me Up Buttercup.”

And to prove they have the chops for children’s music there was “Cartoon Carnival” — the best of Saturday morning animated TV.

Followed in finale with Jim Henson’s “Muppet Theme.”

So it wasn’t all serious.

But the brass, woodwind and percussion instrumentation reflected the seriousness of the night.

Save for the pulsing backbeat time-keeping of bass guitarist Debbie Silverthorne, who played the lone stringed instrument, the 50-member orchestration showed there’s more lyricism to music than screaming unforgettable lyrics.

Serious music lovers don’t leave early.

They leave that to those who come back next week.