Velvet

How did you get the $100 back?

They called me last week.

She said she was calling from Microsoft though my caller ID said it was unknown caller, so I figured scam. Also (admittedly this was in retrospect) I thought how much it would cost Microsoft to call people with viruses and figured there was no way.

The kicker was when I asked to be taken off the call list and she asked, "Why, we're just trying to help you." That right there is an immediate fine so I figured she was calling from another country.

She then asked if I was sitting at my computer. That's when I hung up.

Best of luck Groove Fetish, and don't feel bad for trusting people. Hope it all works out for you.

Don't kid yourself, Jimmy.

He wasn't drunk.

I'm pretty glad I saw the show though because otherwise I'd definitely be making plans to be at The Palladium for this.

Unrehearsed?

It was pretty clear to me that the show was a one off - there's no way they were in the middle of the tour; things just didn't sound tight. I checked his website after the show and sure enough - one off.

Voice shot due to age?

Not a word of a lie: when he got to the first chorus of the first tune it was immediately clear he couldn't hit the notes so he held the mic to the crowd for them to sing along (instead of him). After this happened in the next four or five songs he even gave up trying to sing the start of the choruses himself and just held the mic out to the crowd every time.

For one tune he was having such difficulty he actually said "Let's sing this one like Tom Waits" and sang his chorus with a low gravelly shitty voice. In Moncton. Like anyone in Moncton knows who Tom Waits is.

Phoned it in?

My honest assessment is he did one rehearsal for the show that probably lasted less than an hour. And that's opening for Springsteen. I'm sure he'll really step it up for a free CUPE gig.

I suppose he could have been getting over a cold, but I doubt it.

I saw him opening for Springsteen in August.

I'm a Red Rider fan and actually admire/like a fair amount of Tom's solo stuff.

That said, based on the show I saw last month this free show won't be worth the money.

Seriously, if he was playing my backyard for free I'd probably not even bother stepping outside.

It was an embarrassment.

What?!? I thought it was the Sadies.

Los Lobob opens the first leg (including Kingston), Patti Smith opens the second leg (including Ottawa).

Burnt Reynolds is playing the Wakefield mill tonight from 5-8pm. If any of you are out there leaf-watching drop by for a pint.

Vince Neil spit on the girl in front of me in line at the Yonge Street store during a over-attended Motley Crue autograph session in the early '80's (he whispered something to her, she slapped him, he spit). Nikki Sixx signed my guitar.

Rock and roll, olde schoole.

A few years later my roommate worked at Sam's in the head office. He actually worked with Sam himself and would often talk about the rock stars that cruised in and out. He had Lee Aaron over for dinner once, when she was currently the metal queen.

Who's got my heady download!

Hippie.

Very, very great show tonight in a really cool venue.

Man, that St. Vincent is fantastic. Great singer, really cool guitar playing and her stage presence is killer. David Byrne ain't too shabby neither, though he looks like Matlock when he wears suspenders. Toss in a fantastic drummer, a keyboard player who got to use the church's massive pipe organ for a tune, and eight horn players...well, what a show.

If you can get in the Toronto show you'll probably have a real good time.

Enjoy every sandwich.

I fucked BDunn right in the ear.

shiver

Just got home from the show.

I think I saw the original So tour, or at least the tail end of it; Gabriel at Amnesty International in 1988. His set at Amnesty was at the time the pinnacle of my concert-going experiences, though I was pretty unfamiliar with his music.

Tonight the show was, well I guess a bit subdued. Most of his music is fairly chill and doesn't really feel right in an arena. The lights are fan-freakin'-tastic, so much that they were the star of the show (what CK5 could do with those light booms). Frankly, those boom lights and a mass singalong Biko are the standout memories from my first show. There was a singalong this time too, but as soon as the house lights went on it was over. Not so in 1988.

The crowd was loving it and I liked it too, though I think with four PG shows under my belt I might make this the last, unless he does a theatre tour or something, I don't know.

Have a great time in Toronto everyone!

Thanks Bradm!

By the way, Burnt Reynolds is playing for the first time at The Mill in Wakefield in a couple of weeks, on Saturday, September 29th. We play during dinner, from 5-ish until 8-ish, and apparently the food is really good.

Hope to see some of you there, and someone please tell facebook about it!

Geez.

He got a bit violent when he was asked to sign a CD with, "How 'bout that Phil Lesh?"

Hart said. "Any accusation or claim of assault against me is completely false and without any basis whatsoever. I played drums on 'Shakedown Street,' but I never expected to be 'The Victim or the Crime.'"

Now that dude is a Cheesy McCheeserball.

We were at the same show. It's not very often that I think dancers are cool, but those dancers were cool!

Sorry, 20,500 seats.

Not to mention people who had made arrangements with their babysitters.

She came on at 10:30, done at 12:15.

I was expecting the show to get cancelled. I didn't know artists could go late at SBP.

Saturday, September 15

King James Stage - Main Stage

1:00 Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra with special guest C.R. Avery

Holey moley. That might just be astounding.

If I didn't have a gig that might have been enough to get me down from Ottawa.

Well, that was one of the oddest shows I've seen. The first ten minutes featured steady graphic gunplay and bloodsmears as Madonna shot several of her dancers point blank, over and over, singing "Gonna kill my lover, gonna shoot him in the head..." Our jaws were on the floor.

The pluses: Fantastic lights, great sound, a very creative stage and screen setup, lots of well-choreographed stuff going on. Overall a visually stunning event. And when she wants to Madonna can sing her ass off. Oh, and she shows her ass off too.

The minuses: Frankly, the music. To start with (ha), the opener was a useless DJ named Paul Oakenfold. It's hard for me to imagine why he was there and why anyone would pay him to do what he was - ahem - doing? Madonna's stuff was never really very interesting either, all the hits were reworked, and though some of it was at least refreshing, the mindlessness of most of the new material made the reworkings also seem a bit mindless.

There were several times when she left the stage altogether, leaving us with what must be a recording of a tune while choreographed stuff plays out onstage with some of the 25 or so dancers. It's okay in a Cirque De Soleil kind of way but I'm not too crazy about that sort of thing in an overall sense.

She closed with Like A Prayer and it was great. It was the most concert-like number of the night and was the only thing she did that was unquestionably damn good musically. If the whole show was more like that I would be gushing right now. I don't begrudge her for doing her own thing - she's come up with and presents a very interesting 105 minutes and more power to her, but as a big live music fan and a casual Madonna fan I would have enjoyed a more musical and less "artistic" show.

My tickets were $47, $61.25 with all charges in. Most of the tickets in the 22,000 seater were $350 each, $375 with charges added. I feel like I got my moneys worth or came at least close. I hope all the ladies in the pricey seats feel the same.

PS. It was the easiest bathroom scene I've ever seen, there was one other guy in the cavernous can when I went before the show started. Gender-wise, it was like being at a Rush concert in reverse.

Hey all,

As I assume you know, the OFF starts tomorrow, Sept. 6th. What you may not know is that the secondary stages and workshops are free all weekend.

Also, on Thursday at 7pm I'll be playing my first show with local folkie Missy Burgess. I'm honored that she picked me to be her new sideman, she's played with some great players. Willie P. Bennett, Petr Cancura, Keith Glass, and Vince Halfhide have all appeared on her albums. We'll be performing on one of the free stages. Maybe I'll see some of you there.

Alan Frew was probably thinking, "Wow, good crowd!"