Page 40 - Flathead Beacon // 10.7.15

EVENTS 42 MOVIE REVIEWS 43 SIDE DISH 46 FACES & PLACES 47 PAWS & CLAWS 48
Arts&Entertainment BATTLE
WBY MOLLY PRIDDY OF THE BEACON
hat happens when an unmov- able object meets an unstop- pable force? What about when a hurricane meets a volcano?
Or when two of the biggest Neils in the world collide in Detroit in the ‘90s?
Singers and actors Nick Spear and Anthony Mead intend on answering at least one of these questions on Oct. 9 and 10, when they bring the new comedy trib- ute concert “Neil Before Me” back to life in the Flathead.
The premise of the concert is this: In a fictional world about 20 years ago, Neil Young, played by Spear, and Neil Dia- mond, played by Mead, are accidentally double-booked at a gig in Detroit.
The resulting farce should have the audience intermittently laughing and singing along, Spear said. He wrote up the script last year after a conversation with a good friend about who was the better Neil Diamond impersonator.
“We decided, ‘Well, we should have a Neil Diamond-off,’” Spear said. “But then it became, ‘You do your best Neil
Diamond and I’ll do my best Neil Young.’” Spear and Mead performed the com- edy at Whitefish’s Crush Lounge last year for a fundraiser, and since then have fielded requests to bring it back to
the stage.
“There’s been a demand around town,”
Mead said. “I’m fired up, I can’t wait.” As a musician, Spear’s influence is obvious around the valley. He released the album “A River Below” in 2012 and a new track called “I Had a Nice Time” in January of this year. His single, “The Song We Sing,” got good radio play on
Nick Spear, left, and Anthony Mead give their best Neil Young and Neil Diamond impressions.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
103.1 The River, and he plays shows all over the valley and Missoula as the front man of The New Wave Time Trippers.
Mead is one of the owners of White- fish’s Straight Blast Gym International, but before moving to the valley, he and his wife Becky Rygg were actors in New York. They moved to the Flathead think- ing they had left the theater world behind, only to find the flush and colorful theater
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OCTOBER 7, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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