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McBean juggles mountains — both black and pink

local musician Makes a Triumphant return to Harpo's for a concert benefiting the Victoria Society for Children with Autism.
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Stephen McBean and the Pink Mountaintops are playing a benefit concert Fri., Dec. 21 for the Victoria Society for Children with Autism.

 

 

A quarter of a century ago, an underage Stephen McBean managed to bypass Harpo’s air tight security to see up and coming bands such as The Melvins and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who are now hailed as legends; on Friday night, McBean will return to the club, this time as a legend in his own right. All of the proceeds from The Pink Mountaintops’ homecoming will go to Autism research.

McBean’s rise to the top has been a long and winding road.  He’s played in a number of bands over the years — Jerk With a Bomb, Blood Meridian — but it was Black Mountain that launched him out of tiny clubs and onto some of the world’s largest stages in support of Coldplay.

As McBean explains, however, his idea of a ‘good show’ hasn’t really changed all that much.

“Sure it’s great to play huge shows with thousands of people. It’s great to feel the energy of that many people in one place for one reason, but I still love to play to one hundred people in Prague who’ve never heard of our band.”

For the past decade, McBean has been at the helm of two very different bands with deceptively similar names.

In many ways, Pink Mountaintops has played the friendly, though overshadowed foothills to the towering Black Mountain.

While Black Mountain has played some of the largest venues on earth, Pink Mountaintops has done much smaller tours throughout the Mid-West and down into California.

Pink Mountaintops’ albums are just as strong, however; their most recent release, Outside Love boasts an incredibly strong track list, which just so happens to feature a host of Victorian talent.

The choir consists of local musicians such as Rachelle Reath, and the album was recorded at the 50/50 by our own Tolan Mcneil.

On Friday night, these songs, along with the man who carefully crafted them into the gems they are, will return to town. It is an event not to be missed. M

 

Pink Mountaintops

with Himalayan Bear

Fri., Dec. 21 at 7pm

Upstairs Cabaret (formerly Harpo’s, 15 Bastion Square)

Tickets $15 in advance at Ditch Records, Lyle’s Place and online at rmts.bc.ca or by phone at 250-386-6121

All proceeds to the Victoria Society for Children with Autism