meggo

This was one of my favourite shows of allllllll time!! 

I swear we had a thread going about this when it was first announced that Rob was sick.  Yet I couldn't seem to find it.  
Anyhow some hopeful news and even a couple shows scheduled. I hope it draws in the energy he needs to continue to fuel his recovery ((())))
https://www.jambase.com/article/moe-announces-return-stage
 

I haven't posted my travel logs in a long time.  In honour of our good friend Bradm (who enjoyed my travel logs and loved it when this board was more active) I'm going to start posting them again.  Though I don't have anything solid on the horizon right now I did just get back from China, so here goes:
102317
I think this might be my record for most miles travelled versus least time prepping.  Getting randomly yanked off the street and thrown into an airplane would have been the only way I could have been any less prepared as I was when we left Ottawa for China this morning.  When I woke up at 7am I hadn’t even started packing yet, and our curfew for leaving the house to take the cat to the sitters was 9:30.  (Heather’s mom again; she seems to be getting slightly less annoyed by the chore every time).  
Frankly I hadn’t given the trip hardly a thought.  Leading up to today I had been busy getting a proposal together for a new book idea which completely distracted me from any thoughts of vacation.  After plugging away for the last week or so I had finished my rough draft at midnight last night and gone straight to bed.  
(This all completely falls in with the fact that I booked the trip to China with hardly a thought as well.  A while back I saw a post on facebook advertising an Air China seat sale to Hong Kong priced at just $501 per person, return from Montreal.  I told Heather about it, we shrugged and booked it.  How could we not?  Imagine how I felt when a few weeks later I saw another post advertising the same flights at just $400, these ones time departing from Ottawa!  Can’t win them all.)
Of course I got it together and packed with time to spare.  We dropped the cat off and made sure he was happy before circling the car around to the bus station where I left Heather and all of our luggage to stand in line for the Montreal bus.  I drove home, pounded a quick tall-boy and power-walked back to the Greyhound station, joining Heather in the Montreal line in thirty minutes flat.
And here we are sitting on the bus.  I’ve gone over the book proposal for a quick proof-read and will send it in from the airport.  Then maybe I can start to relax and think about Honk Kong.
Though I suspect I’ll just head straight to the nearest airport lounge and think about ordering a few drinks.
 

the FUCKING HORROR   Over the last few days I've just been trying to process this incredible loss to the extended social circle I am a part of as well as the extended community of music fans and musicians everywhere. It has been almost impossible to sit down and put fingers to keyboard because I really wish I could pretend it wasn't real.   Brad was, well Brad. A total one of a kind. Legit, straight up unicorn. Based on the many many talks we had about an endless variety of music, I feel that Brad captured and held captive that amazing and beautiful feeling of positivity and endless possibility in terms of his experience of music.( Not to say he wasn't opinionated about things. He certainly would tell you how he felt. Straight faced. No bullshit.) But he was far less jaded than I or (especially) my older music fanatic friends. I feel like he really was just searching for the beauty in the music all the time. I'm sure everyone can picture Brad's facial expression after a set of music he loved. When it came to music, he was passionate. Constanty. In a way I wish I could be.   That positivity was all around Brad's character. Guaranteed big hug, a cheers, maybe a shot. We could both go off on whatever guitar player or band had been blowing our minds in between having seen each other. When Brad retired I remember congratulating him and he had the best response... (imagine BradM voice) "Well Dave, in the 90's I didn't go out so much, I didn't have a girlfriend, and I didn't have a hard drug habit. So I saved a lot of money". Indeed! Every time I think about that, I laugh.   As a musician, you really couldn't ask for anything more. Someone who pays close attention but is really actively seeking the beauty out of every moment. That being said, if you really stunk it up and managed to talk with Brad before he left, he wouldn't bullshit you.    His mark on the Ottawa music community was massive. So much so that I think any of us will have a hard time even comprehending the scope of it. I'll tell my story, but then just imagine the hundreds of other musicians and thousands of listeners that were gifted so much by Brad.   I'm very fortunate that Brad took an interest in every musical thing I did or tried to do. If it weren't for Brad, there would likely have never been any nero reunion shows. Because I had to figure out how to play that stuff somehow! lol. I can't tell you how many times I have been thanking Brad at my desk while trying to figure out how I played something.    That's really just completely secondary though to the real gifts I got from Brad. I am a completely disorganized mess in terms of my music. I also have failed to plan ahead in any aspect of it. I'm so thankful that Brad recorded things that surely would have slipped into the ether.    Brad was at almost every show that I ever performed in Ottawa. He also made it to a bunch of Toronto ones. Just going back and looking at a couple of things I found an early solo show with a song I had written for my infant son. Totally something I had lost track of. I was able to download it and email my now 12 year old son the song to hear. That is really something. Really a gift that Brad gave me.  He also recorded a show that was a day after my grandfather passed. I did a cover of Daniel Lanois "the maker". I remember playing a solo in it and thinking about my grandfather and the bigger picture kinda stuff. Upon relistening, the solo isn't great. hahaha. But I know what was happening for me in that moment and I can go back and experience it. Thanks to Brad. Take those kinds of moments and multiply it by the hundreds of musicians he recorded. He really gave a lot.    I'll miss him very much.

My goodness, BradM was such a great friend. We went to Europe together, we saw countless, and I mean countless shows together, he introduced me to my wife, he was ALWAYS the first to arrive at every party I’ve thrown since I’ve known him, he was THE most dedicated music fan I’ve ever known (and in our crowd that’s saying a lot), and of course he recorded every band I’ve been a part of for the last…what…fifteen years? There are so many songs/lyrics/chord changes I would have forgotten if I didn’t have his recordings to go back to. He was so friendly, so smart, and so damn punctual. I mean, if a ticket said “8pm" BradM would be in the room by 7:30.
For years - and I mean years - every time I saw BradM he would pull a handful of CD's out of his ever-present backpack that he had specifically burnt for me.  They might be a show we had seen together, a show I had recently played, or some local band he had  recorded that he thought I should hear.  I have literally boxes and boxes of these CD's, and so do a lot of other people.  Go ahead, put up your hand if BradM ever gave you a CD.  The man was so unbelievably thoughtful.
BradM, I loved you. We all loved you. You were an indispensable, necessary, and utterly unique member of our social circle. You helped make it a community. You were so supportive. Man, you will be so, so very missed.

I suspect a lot of you guys know this story but I think it was after this Dave Matthews show in 2001 when, on public transport back to Ottawa... well I hadn't really enjoyed the show and may have been venting a bit. I spotted a lanky fellow freak in a Phish t-shirt... and announced to everyone in the immediate vicinity "Now there's someone that knows good music". I told him about how nero was playing afterward, downtown and told him he should go see the show.
Years later and every now and then he'd sling his arm around me, reminiscing about that fateful night. It almost became comical, trying to remember who owed whom a round since the last show, since the last shared moment of musical magic, since the last exchange of the broadest of shit-eating grins. I think we've all heard that line from him "THIS is why I tape!" and everyone who did hear it couldn't help but feel that infectious unbridled joy.
Over the years his love of live music and enthusiasm for the next show never wavered. The number of friends he met and embraced along the way was and remains a shining example of the kind of unconditional friendship and love that we should all strive for. Farewell Brad, thank you for the legacy, the memories and the love.
 

Such sad sad news!
I can see him standing by his taping rig in his nero shirt...
Aloha

Oh wow, thanks for bumping that post, Hart.
I was devastated to hear this terrible news. At home this morning, I heard Ollie yell "Oh no!"...to which I replied "Oh no...Who died?", thinking that yet another celebrity passed away.
Unfortunately, the news was much worse, much closer to home. Brad was indeed a celebrity in his own right in this town's music community.
I just saw Brad less than two weeks ago. I was always happy to see Brad at a house party or concert. I felt comfort when seeing him because if I didn't know who to talk to, I knew I could talk to him. And it was about music. I always asked him what shows he saw recently or was going to see soon. Last conversation we had was about Mike Essoudry. He was telling me about a show coming up at Mavericks on November 7th. I wasn't surprised to hear him mention Essoudry. He was a big fan. Another band that Brad often promoted is Souljazz Orchestra. I think of Brad whenever I see their name.
Looks like I need to buy some scotch. Cheers to you, Brad!

I went to the bradm well on the archive tonight after work to delve into just how much time and effort this man has put into spreading his love of music.  The list of recordings is staggering.  
https://archive.org/search.php?query=bradm&sort=-publicdate
Friends, there are 831 individual concert recording in Brad's Archive.  Soak that in.  Click the link and have a look at the shear number of bands he's seen and the incredible distances that it must have taken him.   It truly was his passion and now is a legacy that I am positive each and every one of us would be honoured to call our own.  I'll be honouring and remembering Brad with a gigantic smile for years and years to come because of this amazing gift that he has bestowed upon the music world.  
 
My first bradm Archival smile came tonight as I chose this show:
https://archive.org/details/nero2002-12-21.sbd.shnf
I am pretty sure that this was Punk's first show with nero.  As I listened to Carol of Bells in the second set I could distinctly hear drunk-as-fuck Schwa. coming through the recording loud and clear.....fuck you, my voice carries, ok?!   LOL.   I couldn't help but picture Brad standing by his rig just grimacing and wishing that this loud guy would just bugger off and stop jibbering over his recording.  Sorry BRO!!!  Personally, and I think I speak for a lot of my friends here, I mourn tragic events like this but there is far greater merit in celebrating a life force like Brad once it has left us.  I'll be keeping brad in my heart through memories like this one.  

So very sorry to hear this news. RIP BradM. I did not know Brad well, but he was such a fixture in this scene for such a long time - at shows and of course in this forum. It was always a pleasure chatting with him during a set break, and I've enjoyed his recordings over the years. His presence will be missed. Aloha BradM!

What a huge and tragic shock. This leaves such a big hole in our lives and hearts. I just cannot imagine going out in Ottawa and not seeing him there. I used to think I went to a lot of concerts until I met Brad! He was an inspiration, so dedicated to the love of music and always sharing it with everyone. He was one of the first people I met when I moved to Ottawa, of course, as he was always at any show that I attended. He also introduced me to Velvet, for which I cannot thank him enough. We will miss him so much.  Rest in peace Brad.

My first Jambands post in a VERY long time... thanks for bumping BradM's post. It is comforting. He will really be missed...