it's kinda like those sunsets that leave you feeling so stoned

Elizabeth and I went to see one of our favourite bands this past Wednesday night. Blue Rodeo performed their annual end of summer show at the Molson Amphitheatre. I managed to score fantastic seats, 8th row centre, which is great for the Amphitheatre since it is outdoors and the sound is generally pretty bad there. The closer you are to the stage, the better off you are.

So, Elizabeth drove in to Toronto and picked me up from work. We headed to the show and grabbed a couple of overpriced beers and some dinner and found our seats. Immediately we knew there would be trouble. The rows are pretty narrow and as we squeezed by the couple sitting to our right the man said, "well hopefully this will be the last time." Obviously, he didn't want to have to get up again. The couple to our left didn't seem to be too thrilled about our arrival either. They didn't exactly seem like "party people". I'm sure they were very nice, I'm just saying. After we finished our dinner, we decided to skip the opening act and grab another drink mostly due to the unfriendly surroundings. Once we returned to our seats, we were ready to party. When Blue Rodeo took the stage, we immediately got to our feet. But as they started their first song, we sat down again because nobody else in our area was standing. 8 rows from the stage and we were surrounded by sitters! I bopped around in my seat, fighting the urge to get up and dance. Finally after a few more songs, there were enough people standing in the rows in front of us to obscure our view. Elizabeth and I got to our feet and there we stayed for the remainder of the concert. When we got tired of the people a few rows back telling us to sit down, I turned around and told them that I paid to see the band not the back of the people in front of me. One of them actually said, "if you sit down, so will they." WTF? Now usually, I try to be considerate of others, especially in a concert setting, but this was ridiculous. All I can say is that if you don't want to stand at a concert, don't buy tickets in the front!

Other than that minor annoyance, the concert was fantastic! The band was on fire as usual and they did a good mix of old and new tunes. They did 4 songs from their forthcoming "record", as Greg Keelor called it, including the awesome single "C'Mon". I was thrilled to hear them do the first track off their very first recording, "Heart Like Mine". And I thought Elizabeth might faint when they launched into "Diamond Mine". I've never heard them to this tune live so it was quite a thrill, especially when Bob Packwood rocked a phenomenal organ solo. "Side of the Road" was another highlight. I've always loved that song. And I was thrilled when they came out for the encore and Jim Cuddy went right to the piano. That could only mean one thing, "After The Rain." This has always been my Jim favourite. And he thoughtfully dedicated it to Haydain Neale of Jacksoul, who is still in hospital after being critically injured in a motor vehicle accident at the beginning of August.

So it was a fantastic show with the band performing their hearts out. I'm always blown away when a band sounds as good or better live then it does on their recordings. And Blue Rodeo blows me away, time and time again.

And of course, I brought my camera and managed to get some decent pictures. You can check them out on my Flickr stream, but here are a couple of teasers.

Greg Keelor guiding the audience through the first part of "Hasn't Hit Me Yet"

Jim Cuddy & Greg Keelor performing the opening of "Heart Like Mine"

Jim Cuddy, in the moment

breakin' up the house

Steve and I had quite the musical weekend. In addition to catching the Barenaked Ladies on Friday night, we took in an excellent show by Colin James and the Little Big Band on Sunday night at Hamilton Place. I've seen Colin James doing his rock thing a few times and I'm a huge fan. He is an immensely talented singer, songwriter and guitarist. To see (and hear) him do the Little Big Band stuff live was fantastic! He captures the spirit of this great music perfectly. His band is fabulously talented and judging by the non-stop smiles on their faces, it's obvious that they were having a great time.

Opening for Colin, was the phenomenal Michael Kaeshammer. Holy crap can this guy play the piano! It was just him and a fantastic drummer but it sounded like there was a 10-piece band on stage. Sadly, they only played for half an hour. I could have easily listened to a full hour of him and then a 90 minute set from Colin. If you like the boogie-woogie, New Orleans, stride piano thing, check this guy out! He's just brilliant.

There was one unfortunate down side to our concert going experience that had absolutely nothing to do with the magic that was happening on stage. I'm always amazed by how people behave in public. In a public setting, most people seem to forget that there are other people around them. Let's talk specifically about the trailer-trash couple sitting next to me. Now they seemed nice enough but once the concert started so did the bizarre behaviour. Mr. Trailer seemed more interested in taking pictures then enjoying the music. Any time Colin came anywhere near us (which was quite often given the fact that we were in the 4th row), this guy was snapping away. Since he was using a digital camera, he immediately checked to make sure the photo was acceptable. At one point, Colin stood directly in front of us and played a wicked guitar solo. Mr. Trailer elbowed me and practically leaned over my lap to get a picture. I don't think he heard one note of the solo. And what the hell is he going to do with those pictures? He'll probably never look at them again. And even if he does, he won't remember how incredible the music was.

Even more fascinating was his companion, who we will call Mrs. Trailer. At one point during the concert, she left her seat with a CD and Sharpie in hand and worked her way up to the stage. She opened the CD case, placed it on the stage next to one of the speakers and placed the marker on top. I looked over at Steve who gave me the "WTF" look. Did this woman honestly thing that Colin would stop, mid-concert, to sign her freakin' CD?!? She patiently waited by the side of the stage for about half an hour. Either he didn't notice that the CD was there or he skillfully avoided it, but eventually, Mrs. Trailer gave up. She collected her CD and Sharpie and returned to her seat where she loudly talked at Mr. Trailer for about 5 minutes before finally shutting her trap and allowing the rest of us to enjoy the music.

Honestly, who are these people?!?

Luckily, these weirdos did not ruin our enjoyment of the show. We had a fantastic time and will definitely see Colin James again. But I do wish people would realize that they are not the only ones who paid to see the show.