Review: BNB @ Clark Hall Pub, 10/16/03

[George]

Overall, I was REALLY disappointed. Here's why:

a) Firstly, Clark Hall Pub is not a great venue. The sound is horrible, it looks horrible, and there were tables strewn all over the place, crammed together in no particular order.

There was a $10 cover to get in, which is not altogether unreasonable, but it is when you consider that Burt only played for about 1hr45min total.

The opening band, Jacob Two-Two (sp?) was good for the type of stuff they played, but it really wasn't the type of music that you go to a Burt Neilson show to see. I kind of felt bad for them too. The crowd wasn't receptive, but it really was the booker's fault more than it was there's.

c)The show was so short! The band didn't go on until 12:20am, played about a 40min set, took a 25min break, and then played another 50min set + encore.

d) Most, if not all of the tunes were cool, but there was absolutely no energy on stage. It was so hard to get into the tunes. The band didn't seem interested, and they weren't tight at all. They were just a mess compared to how tight they were when they were on that great run a couple of years ago. In a word, it was boring.

I don't know, I hate giving bad reviews, but this one was a real stinker, especially when compared to some of the other shows I've seen lately (Pocket Dwellers, GTB & Nero were the latest). I thought it was going to be a really good show(first show of the new tour etc.) but I wish I had gone to see the New Deal at The Elixer instead. Did anyone see that one?

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Later!

[bradm]

I went to Queen's University from 1986 to 1991, and was in Applied Science, so Clark Hall Pub was my usual hangout (especially on Friday afternoons). It's not a great place to see a band like BNB; if it had to be a campus gig, I would've booked them into Alfie's, which is larger and has a bigger dance area.

(I'm assuming Clark is still in its old location, above the bookstore? You had to go in through a door to the side, then up the stairs, right?)

ISTR dave-O saying the ferriswheeler played there once, to about 12 people, a day (or so) after opening for Siobanh at Barrymore's, to about 500 people. dave-O, who also went to Queen's for Applied Science (and thus knew Clark well), said to me, "It's not the bar you remember."

Aloha,

Brad

[bONES]

thanks for your review George

it's good to hear another persons opinion of why a show just didn't do it for them

i think i'll try and make the Peterborough show, it's been many years since i saw the Burt Neilson Band....like before the split, cruise from hell for Jeff, side projects for others, etc

i think it was late June of 2000 in Banff that i last boogied down to BNB with earthfreak at Wild Bills....and those 3 shows were great! recorded them on our minidisc i remember...did we ever listen to those EF?