Peter Presents a Review
While my main interest in music is “indie music”, I also like some mainstream music (even I had a copy of “Zeppelin II”), and have attended various concerts which apparently qualify me to say that. I do not pretend to be in the “Sharon Vernon triple figure concert attendance superfan category”, although the most recent “Trews” show she went to eerily included “Fortunate Losers” on the bill, a band which has been mentioned in my column before.
Fortunate Losers
I have seen “Chicago” six or seven times, but lineup changes and a dearth of creativity seems to be dooming that once blooming relationship. (Looking at their later releases, how many versions of “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” does one need in their personal music collection?) Thanks though, “You’re the Inspiration”.
“The Cult” has received some of Mrs Montreuil’s little boy’s take home pay twice. They are back in Toronto this summer with two other bands. Problem is, I don’t particularly like the other two bands on the bill, so I will choose not to attend that show.
I have seen “Billy Joel” twice as well. Excellent musician, disciplined, professional, clever show. I took Lois to see him at the ACC. Opening act started at 8:00 on the nose, played until 8:50, Billy Joel hit the stage at 9:00 and really rocked the house. He played until about 10:55, and he played Lois’ favourite song, “Zanzibar”. My only complaint? The last hour of the show turned into a “grey haired olde goat karaoke session”. Realizing that I might be mistaken for one of these unfortunate creatures, I have held my peace……..until now!
I saw “Gordon Lightfoot” at Massey Hall, a Canadian rite of passage, of course. That is also where Lois and I enjoyed the music of “Boz Scaggs”. Another lovely evening, enjoying wonderful music with someone you love. Nirvana is closer than you think, although I never went to one of their concerts 😉.
The “crown jewel” of such concerts I went to had to be “Badfinger” at the El Mocambo. Such a promising group, their chance at greatness so tragically cut short. Life is so very sweet, yet so very bitter, too.
Badfinger
Most of the rest of this column will focus on the absolutely worst concert experience I have ever had.
I paid about a third of the GNP of a small country to get seats for “Hall and Oates” at the Air Canada Centre. After transferring my treasure, I got floor seats in Row 10. “Wow!’ I said’ Wow!” We had a nice dinner at Jack Astor’s at Yonge and Bloor, then cabbed down to the ACC.
Hall and Oates
This was the view as we settled into our seats. Looking good, ehh? These pictures showed up on my “memories” feed today. Note the captions.
Although the ads mentioned both “Tears for Fears” and “Hall and Oates”, this artist opened the show. An amazing talent, well worth following up on. Like every artist I mention in my columns, he has a Facebook page. He recently played at Danforth Hall, but I was too busy with Canadian Music Week to get to see him. I hope he returns to Toronto soon.
https://www.facebook.com/allenstone/videos/10154671464868034/
After “Allen Stone”, “Tears For Fears” hit the stage. They played “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” about 3 songs into their set. I had the feeling they rather wisely wanted to get it out of the way. I have never been a big “TFF” fan, but Lois was enjoying the show, and that’s what mattered to me. Note the different appearance of the stage area in this picture.
“Hall and Oates” began their set, and we couldn’t even see the big screens to the side of the stage, people were jumping around so!
Overall, I was very disappointed with this show. The first three rows of people seemed to be on their feet most of the concert. There were even people coming up and standing in the aisles, which is against the Fire Code, I believe. I also kept thinking about how many indie shows I could have seen for the amount of money I laid out to be there.
Lois enjoyed the music, which, as I said, matters most to me. However, I would never buy floor seats for a concert again. I just found much of the audience very rude, and Lois and I had a better concert experience sitting in the stands listening to “Billy Joel”.
I think in future, I will stick with “indie music”. I find the shows much more enjoyable. Maybe I’m just turning into a grumpy olde man.
As a tribute to the great woman who involuntarily inspired this column, let’s finish off with “The Trews”.
See you soon, and I promise I’ll be in a better frame of mind next time😉.
=PJM=
A confirmed Cat person, Peter dabbled with being a water boy, a paper boy and an altar boy before finally settling on a career with the Canadian federal government. Once, in his youth, he ate a Dutch oven full of mashed potatoes to win a 5 cent bet with his beloved sister Mary’s boyfriend. (Of course he was much younger and a nickel went a lot farther!) He has retired to 
palatial “Chez Montreuil”, which he shares with his diabetic little buddy Reg the Cat. He is blessed to have his dear Lois in his life. He is not only a plastic aircraft modeller, but a proud “rivet counter”. Military aviation and live music are among other interests of his, and he tries to get out to as many shows as he can. He will be here for your enlightenment whenever the stars align. Profile photo courtesy of Pat Blythe, caricature courtesy of Peter Mossman.
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