Pontiac Reunion Show 2 Saturday SOLD OUT

Co-Presented by Yardbird Suite

Pontiac, a band that would roll out everything from hardcore Chicago blues to vintage rock and roll, from soul and Motown hits to New Orleans rhythms in the space of a single set were the purveyors of classic sounds that were dispensed with an authority and passion.

While there were a few incarnations of this band, the classic Pontiac line-up that filled joints like The Hovel, Dinwoodie Lounge at the U of A and community halls was a quartet edition that featured Ron Rault on bass and vocals, his brother Lionel on guitar and vocals, drummer Chris Nordquist and harmonica-playing vocalist Rob Storeshaw.

Nordquist recalls that, “we started out playing 6 hours a night, six days a week, behind topless dancers, for $100 each in Vancouver’s downtown east side, which was the perfect environment to play the music we came to love!”

Ron Rault concurs and feels that, “the magic of Pontiac was in our dedication and singularness of purpose. We were on a mission to become respectable blues musicians.”

These four musicians earned a sterling reputation that found them playing from Edmonton to Vancouver and back. While Pontiac was a sadly under-recorded band, a few years ago a live tape from a performance at the fabled Rohan’s Rockpile in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighborhood surfaced. A staff member at Co-op Radio came across the tape and while he wasn’t sure who the band was, he did recognize Nordquist’s name on the tape box.

Nordquist, who for decades now has been one of the great first call drummers on the Vancouver roots music scene gratefully took possession of the tapes. If any of us thought we were looking back at Pontiac through rose colored glasses, these tapes confirmed that the band was a red-hot and tight outfit.

In the day, Pontiac opened a serious of shows on the road for John Mayall, backed Bo Diddley for a week-long stint at Grand Central Station, and were part of a double bill with the great John Hammond at the same venue.

For this reunion engagement Peter Sweetzir (Long John Baldry, Gaye Delorme, Fosterchild) will be handling keyboards and Dave Babcock will be heard on sax.