A spirited night with Spirit of the West (photos)

Joining forces in 1983, Spirit of the West founding members John Mann and Geoffrey Kelly have tirelessly lead the iconic Canadian folk band through a quarter century of line up changes, endless touring, quirky habits and more than a few libations.

Saturday night at the Kiwanis Community Theatre Centre, Mann and Kelly, along with Hugh McMillan, Vince Ditrich and Tobin Frank (who had his own personal cheering section) played the closing performance of the 2008 Algoma Fall Festival.

"Wow. You're huge here, Tobin," said Kelly. "Accordion must be really big in the Sault. Whenever there's a lull in the performance, I'm just gonna say 'Tobin Frank!'"

No worries, Mr. Kelly.

There was a definite lack of lulls as the band played 90 minutes of the stuff that earned Spirit of the West its recent induction into the Western Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

As the jigs, reels and pub tunes rolled forth, many audience members gradually shed their shyness and vacated their seats for some lively front-of-stage dancing.

Best known for the classic drinking companion tune Home For a Rest, a seated alcohol-free venue seemed an odd choice for this performance.

But the band held nothing back and made everyone in attendance feel connected with their Celtic roots, actual and fictional.

Also included in the set list were Canadian Skye, Save This House, Political, The Crawl, July, Good-Bye Grace, The Old Sod, And if Venice is Sinking, Putting Up With the Joneses and Another Happy New Year, a brand new tune included on the band's latest release Spirituality: A Consummate Compendium.

25 years in the business has not dulled this Canadian spirit one bit.

Cheers to 25 more.