Jaimoe Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 Bela Fleck & The Flecktones put on one hell of a show last night at the packed Nathan Phillips Square venue ( as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival ). I was standing up front, about 15 feet from Victor Wooten for the entire evening and I couldn't have asked for a better perch. The shouts to " SIT DOWN " eventually faded away, leaving the 500 heads at the front plenty of room to dance ( there was probably close to 1000 people at the concert ). I pitied the jazz snob grandpas that chose to sit at tables off to the sides and at the back of the tent. They probably couldn't see a damn thing, but hey, Bela doesn't have a pure jazz audience. The tunes were a mix of old and new, and all featured lengthy Flecktones jams. All were in fine form. It was great to see Bela in total control of all his chosen instruments: banjo, electric banjo ( the purple one ), mahogony electric banjo and a custom acoustic/electric guitar. I found it fascinating to see and hear Bela play each instrument in a different style. For instance, Bela plays his purple electric banjo like an electic guitar, featuring ripping lead jazz/fusion guitar solos, often with the aid of an envelope filter pedal. He sounded like Jerry at times. When he picked up his crazy-ass guitar, Bela proved to anyone that didn't know, that he is also a great guitarist too - even though he only used his guitar on one song. Anyway, the 2-plus hour show was a rewarding and definitely a summer concert highlight. And for anyone that's curious, yes, Victor Wooten was at his flashy best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secondtube Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 nice! i knew they would put on a great show, as always. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 Should be a blast here in Ottawa tomorrow as well. Yeehaw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisley Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 yeah, truly enjoyed the Bela show in Hamilton love to see them outdoors someday glad to hear you made it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuleMomma Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 ...and Jeff Coffin jammed briefly (on the final song of the night) at the late night jazz jam at Traders in the Sheraton Hotel. Apparently Victor had walked in earlier in the night with his bass, but promptly left (someone told me that they don't have the setup for an electric bass rig there, and if he wanted to jam he would've had to play the upright, but I don't know enough about these things to know if this is true). Futureman was sitting by the door until the end of the night and, along with ourselves, was the last to leave. He told us that they were spending the day in Toronto and were quite possibly going to take in a movie as the director had invited them. It seems that, apart from Sunday night after Scofield and Galactic, the late night jam has been getting interesting. Wynton Marsalis showed up at 2am after Tuesday's show and apparently played with his own band for awhile and then the other jam participants (including Jesse) until 4:30am. Wish I could've been there for that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey d Posted July 2, 2004 Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 i really enjoyed their set on wednesday, the best i've seen them yet. loved the big country and the gutiar jam. i was right up against the stage, directly infront of vic: an awesome view. i sure as hell did not dig the audience vibes that night though. did anyone else see the guy carry the chair into the middle of the dance floor and call all of us ignorant bastards and try to sit down in the middle of all the dancing people? what a dick! and each time i lit a joint i was asked by somebody around me to put it out. obviously im going to respect other peoples requests to not smoke up within inches of them, but it kind of threw me off, if you know what i mean. the band and the music more than made up for this, though, as they put on a killer show! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shainhouse Posted July 2, 2004 Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 wow, good for Jesse. I thought the Bela show was mellow, pretty standard jazz festival show. I was on the outside though, so it was well worth the price of admission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted July 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 i sure as hell did not dig the audience vibes that night though. did anyone else see the guy carry the chair into the middle of the dance floor and call all of us ignorant bastards and try to sit down in the middle of all the dancing people? what a dick! and each time i lit a joint i was asked by somebody around me to put it out. I wasn't surprised that people were mad that fans up front were standing and wouldn't sit down. Over half the audience were jazz festival fans, and at jazz festivals and clubs, everyone sits down. That being said, Bela isn't a jazz artist - he transcends many genres of music. I must say that I understand why aged jazz aficionados sitting at tables were upset that their view was blocked by hundreds of young jamheads, but Bela attracts a different " type " of crowd, and the hardcore jazz fans just happened to learn this the hard way. As for sparking up a joint, why were you surprised that people told you to put it out? There's a zero tolerance anti-smoking bi-law in Toronto. The tent was enclosed. They easily could have thrown you out. The show was killer, but keep in mind that from now on, any club like the Opera House, Horseshoe etc... are all no smoking. It was strange when I saw My Morning Jacket last month and no one was smoking, anything. It didn't hurt that great show, but it could hurt the trippier bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted July 2, 2004 Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 "It didn't hurt that great show, but it could hurt the trippier bands." Not if one is tripping............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bONES Posted July 3, 2004 Report Share Posted July 3, 2004 The show was killer, but keep in mind that from now on, any club like the Opera House, Horseshoe etc... are all no smoking. i was at the Burning Spear show last night @ The York Theatre and LOTS of people were smoking herb, with no hassles from security! my new fave TO venue for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey d Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 "As for sparking up a joint, why were you surprised that people told you to put it out? There's a zero tolerance anti-smoking bi-law in Toronto. The tent was enclosed. They easily could have thrown you out." how long has this bi-law been standing for? i wasn't aware of it, but regardless, i suppose im just not used to being askd to put out a joint, im more used to being asked to pass it around. i remember at the same venue last year for mmw there was soooo much bud going around, but i assume that was before the bi-law was put in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secondtube Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 smoking was nearly impossible at the kimock show, where a year earlier, the venue had the best marijuana smoking policy of anywhere i'd ever been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey d Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 tsk tsk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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