Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/995384
Join us to celebrate Icelandic culture and descent with live music, midway rides, food, family-friendly events and of course, Vikings! AUG. 3 - AUG. 6, 2018 GIMLI, MANITOBA ICELANDICFESTIVAL.COM ISL ENDINGADAGURINN! G A T H E R A S F A M I L Y Join us to celebrate Icelandic culture and descent with live music, midway rides, food, family-friendly events and of course, Vikings! AUG. 3 - AUG. 6, 2018 GIMLI, MANITOBA ICELANDICFESTIVAL.COM ISL ENDINGADAGURINN! G A T H E R A S F A M I L Y Join us to celebrate Icelandic culture and descent with live music, midway rides, food, family-friendly events and of course, Vikings! AUG. 3 - AUG. 6, 2018 GIMLI, MANITOBA ICELANDICFESTIVAL.COM ISL ENDINGADAGURINN! G A T H E R A S F A M I L Y Join us to celebrate Icelandic culture and descent with live music, midway rides, food, family-friendly events and of course, Vikings! AUG. 3 - AUG. 6, 2018 GIMLI, MANITOBA ICELANDICFESTIVAL.COM ISL ENDINGADAGURINN! G A T H E R A S F A M I L Y Join us to celebrate Icelandic culture and descent with live music, midway rides, food, family-friendly events and of course, Vikings! AUG. 3 - AUG. 6, 2018 GIMLI, MANITOBA ICELANDICFESTIVAL.COM ISL ENDINGADAGURINN! G A T H E R A S F A M I L Y Neil Young, the Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Terry Jacks, the Watchmen and the Crash Test Dummies all launched their musical careers in Winnipeg before going on to achieve international stardom. The history of Winnipeg's rock scene and the impact it's had nationally and internationally is the subject of the Magical Musical History Tour, a fun and informative stroll through the city's musical past, present and future conducted by noted local music historian John Einarson. It features stops at some of the city's most notable rock landmarks, stories from Einarson about those points of interest and a video of vintage music and photos. Einarson estimates that more than 1,500 people have taken part in the tour since he and Don Finkbeiner of Heartland Travel began organizing it seven years ago and interest continues to grow. In fact, they've had to add extra tours just to keep up with demand. "I've been the guy who has kind of been the champion of Manitoba music and Winnipeg music so it's gratifying for me when people show so much interest in the tours," says Einarson, who came up with the idea for the tour after meeting with Finkbeiner during a Hermetic Code Tour of the Manitoba Legislative Building several years ago. The three-hour musical sojourn kicks off at The Forks where participants board a van that takes them to the sites of several now defunct clubs such as the Blue Note Café and Beat Retreat that helped launch the careers of some of the city's biggest acts including the Crash Test Dummies. One of the first stops on the tour is outside the former location of CKRC Radio in the old Winnipeg Free Press building on Carlton Street. That's where Young and his first band, the Squires, recorded their first song with vocals, I Wonder, in 1964. The recording engineer, Harry Taylor, was less than impressed with the young singer at the time. "He said you're a good guitar player kid, but you're never going to make it as a singer," Einarson says, laughing. "When Neil came back to Winnipeg in '71 he went to see Harry Taylor at the radio station and said, 'I just came back to tell you you were wrong." Don Finkbeiner (left) and John Einarson take music lovers back in time as part of the Magical Musical History Tour.