Tag Archives: Music

Stevie Wonder in Concert

(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

There was a lot of musical synchronicity over the past week.  I wrote about seeing Paul McCartney in concert, received a vinyl copy of McCartney’s remixed “Tug of War” album (featuring two duets with Stevie Wonder), and then went on a blitz of a road trip to see Stevie Wonder perform live in Toronto.

This wasn’t just a “greatest hits” concert:  Stevie was going to perform his entire 1976 magnum opus “Songs in the Key of Life”.  Widely considered to be one of the best albums ever made, despite an extended running length of almost two hours, it spawned both hit singles and “deep cuts” that have had a profound influence on popular music.   Almost everybody knows songs such as “Sir Duke“, “I Wish“, “Isn’t She Lovely” and “Pastime Paradise”…at least by tune, if not by name.

IMG_7275Stevie went onstage at 8:15 p.m. and it was clear that his voice had not suffered over the years.  He also had a huge 36-person band, including a string section, a horn section, a choir, multiple drummers and percussionists and at least 6 backing vocalists.  Songs such as “Village Ghetto Land” were improved from the album as they featured live (rather than synthesized) strings.  Special guests included April Ellington, daughter of…Duke Ellington!  This was a big, big show.

For me, the highlights came fast and furious with back-to-back performances of “Sir Duke” and “I Wish”.  “Sir Duke”, in particular, benefited hugely from the large horn section.  “I Wish”, with its prominent bass, fared slightly less well due to some low-end sound issues but was still memorable.  The low-end issues became rather distracting right before and after the 20-minute intermission but thankfully resolved before too much damage had been done.

IMG_7283While the point of the concert was to play the entire “Songs in the Key of Life” album in order, Stevie did embark on a few tangents. In the first set, he challenged his backing vocalists to match his singing gymnastics solo and without any accompaniment. They all passed the test with flying colours.

In the second set, Stevie played “Ngiculela-Es Una Historia-I Am Singing” with an unusual zither-like instrument called a “harpejji”.   After it was over, he started playing what sounded to me like the chords to John Lennon’s “Imagine” on the harpejji.  He then said that it was his brother’s birthday, to which the audience responded with polite applause.  But it also occurred to me, as someone who probably knows an unhealthy amount of Beatles trivia, that this precise day would have been John Lennon’s 75th birthday.

Outside the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, after the Stevie Wonder concert
Outside the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, after the Stevie Wonder concert

Sure enough, Stevie then said that he wanted to play “Imagine” for his brother, John Lennon.  This definitely wasn’t in the script.  He began playing the song and asked for audience help partway through the song.  It soon became clear why:  he began crying and was unable to sing an extended portion of the lyric.  He recovered somewhat, but wiped away a lot of tears (without apology) before he could continue with the next song.   A lengthy standing ovation ensued and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Concerts are obviously big business and Stevie is not a poor man.  But he is still a sensitive man and, 35 years after Lennon’s death, Stevie is still affected by his murder.  He urged the audience to do what they could to prevent senseless violence and intolerance.

Toronto at midnight
Toronto at midnight

Stevie then resumed performing the rest of his famous album with renewed vigour and finished it about 3 hours after the concert began.  He then assumed his alter-ego of “DJ Tick Tick Boom” for the encore and it is difficult to explain exactly what happened next.  To preserve the surprise, I’ll just say that he played snippets of some disco classics, abbreviated versions of a few of his other hits, and finished with a scorching version of “Superstition”  that made full use of the entire band (again with a memorable brass performance).  It was almost midnight when the concert finally ended; Stevie looked like he had thoroughly enjoyed sharing his music with us.

While there were plenty of Stevie Wonder classics that weren’t played (“Signed, Sealed, Delivered…I’m Yours” is one that I would have liked to hear), there simply would not have been enough time.   As with Paul McCartney’s 2009 concert in Halifax, we felt like we were witnessing a part of history.   We’re looking forward to reliving the experience by playing “Songs in the Key of Life” when we get home!

Road Trip to see Paul McCartney in Nova Scotia (2009)

(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

In about one week’s time, we are going to check off another item on our musical bucket lists.  Music is very subjective, of course, but I think the magnitude of this upcoming concert is similar to our evening with former Beatle Paul McCartney in Halifax, Nova Scotia back in July of 2009.

Paul McCartney live in Halifax, Nova Scotia (July 2009)
Paul McCartney live in Halifax, Nova Scotia (July 2009)

Driving to Nova Scotia from Ontario does not enjoy a great reputation. Yes, there were some long stretches of tedium. However, we were pleasantly surprised by our overnight stay in Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, where we found an attractive downtown core with excellent food…and even bought a pair of Helly Hansen (see my previous post) shorts!

Waterfalls at Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec
Waterfalls at Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec

Next up was a long drive through New Brunswick. We had big plans for Fredericton but the legislature building was closed for renovations and the downtown generally seemed closed when we arrived late in the afternoon.  We pressed on to the tiny town of Sackville, home of Mount Allison University, to spend our second night on the road.   We stayed in a college residence: an excellent accommodation option in the summer months.  We also felt compelled to visit Mel’s Tea Room:  the jukebox, stools and menu were all in accordance with our expectations.

Mel's Tea Room in Sackville, New Brunswick
Mel’s Tea Room in Sackville, New Brunswick

Early the next day, we crossed the border into Nova Scotia.  It was the day of the concert so we didn’t have much time to catch up with our friends before heading to the show.

So what is a Paul McCartney concert like?  Unlike his 1970s concerts with Wings, Paul’s latter-day concerts fully embrace his Beatle past.  It is truly remarkable to hear so many Beatles classics sung by the man who actually wrote them.  You get a feeling that you are a part of history:  many of these songs will be considered the “Classical Music of the 20th Century”.

Waterfalls at Grand Falls, New Brunswick
Waterfalls at Grand Falls, New Brunswick

However, and this may seem like sacrilege to some, Paul has been emphasizing his Beatles hits (and his essentially solo “Band on the Run” album) in concert for so long now that I sometimes found myself wishing that he would skip some of the more overexposed or less-melodic songs.    “Paperback Writer” and “Get Back”?  Er, heard those the last time, thanks…don’t really need to hear them again.   On the other hand, I certainly can’t find fault with songs like the enormously popular “Hey Jude” and it was great to hear energetic versions of only slightly-less familiar tracks like “All My Loving” and “I Saw Her Standing There”.   These songs still sound fresh and brilliant after half a century, and they weren’t even singles in most of the world!

Welcome to Nova Scotia!
Welcome to Nova Scotia!

So, while I would have liked to have heard a few more surprise selections from his solo work (“No More Lonely Nights”, for example, was a huge hit and has a great tune to boot), it is a very minor quibble.  To be fair, I also have seen Paul McCartney perform live before and have seen several of his concert videos.  The bottom line is that his concerts are about three hours in length, immaculately performed, and feature 95% of the songs that casual fans will want to hear.

McCartney still clearly loves performing and his band looks equally thrilled to be there.  I’ve never seen so many people be so happy at a concert from beginning to end.  This “shared experience” makes it easy to understand why many reviewers employ quasi-religious language when describing McCartney shows.  Tickets aren’t cheap but, if you’re a fan, I have no hesitation in recommending these concerts.

Things get a little chaotic during "Live and Let Die"
Things get a little chaotic during “Live and Let Die”

After all that, you may be wondering who we’re seeing next week.  It’s another living legend whose story is every bit as compelling as (and perhaps more so than) Paul McCartney’s.  Feel free to guess…or stay tuned for my report in about a week’s time!

Records on the Road

(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

Last Saturday was “Record Store Day” and we drove to Ottawa to see what was available in the record stores of our nation’s capital.  It reminded me of the interesting music I’ve picked up in my travels: each record has its own story, above and beyond the actual music.

The photo at the top of this post is one of my favourite finds.   For some unknown reason, the Soviet record label Melodiya decided to release a 4-track EP (7″, 33 rpm) containing seemingly random tracks from Paul and Linda McCartney’s 1971 “Ram” album.  When I was “crate-digging” in a Tallinn, Estonia used record store, I found this pressing from Riga (now in Latvia, but then part of the U.S.S.R.).  While I can’t speak Russian, I know the sounds of the Cyrillic alphabet and was able to phonetically confirm that this was in fact a release from the former Beatle.  I picked up some fascinating Soviet LPs there too…but I’ll keep the focus on 7″ records today, as they are easier to pick up while traveling.

A Czechoslovakian 7" single from Dean Reed, the "Red Elvis"
A Czechoslovakian 7″ single from Dean Reed, the “Red Elvis”

Speaking of the Soviet era, I picked up some fascinating 45s in Prague last September.  Some were just Czechoslovakian pressings of hits by Western artists but the Dean Reed 45 pictured above was something I would never find in Canada.

Dean Reed went nowhere in the U.S.A. as a singer and traveled the world in search of fame and revolution.  He ended up based in East Germany, where he was proudly paraded by the authorities as a genuine American rock star and revolutionary.  He did, in fact, enjoy immense popularity in the Eastern Bloc…at least for a while.  His ersatz-Elvis recordings sound rather hokey now but there wasn’t much else available.  Alas, he drowned under mysterious circumstances outside of East Berlin in the mid-1980s.  If you’re interested in his bizarre story, there is a book (“Comrade Rockstar”, by Reggie Nadelson) about Reed and it has long been rumoured that Tom Hanks would make a movie about this forgotten musician.

Karel Gott's "Beatles" single
Karel Gott’s “Beatles” single

Karel Gott also found success in the Eastern Bloc during the 1970s but, unlike Dean Reed, still enjoys some popularity today.  Like many people who lived during that difficult time, he made certain compromises in order to  preserve his career in a totalitarian state.  The above single does not feature the Beatles, but the A-side is a Czech-language tribute to the Fab Four (although it sounds nothing like them).   I found this single in the same grim record store that yielded the Dean Reed record.  Both were very cheap: I suspect it is because they come from a time that many people would like to forget.

Johnny Clegg's 1987 "Asimbonanga" single was not attracting attention in Helsinki
Johnny Clegg’s 1987 “Asimbonanga” single was not attracting attention in Helsinki

Johnny Clegg is one of my favourite musicians.  Best known in North America for contributing “Scatterlings of Africa” to the Rain Man soundtrack, he bravely led racially-integrated bands during the Apartheid era in South Africa and continues to release genre-crossing and thought-provoking records today.   I wrote about Johnny last year in this post.  Alas, it doesn’t appear that he is very popular in Finland:  I found the above French pressing of his “Asimbonanga” single in the bargain bin of a Helsinki record store.

Reality is stranger than fiction:  the Rutles "I Must Be In Love" single
Reality is stranger than fiction: the Rutles “I Must Be In Love” single

I never imagined that the above single could exist.  The Rutles were a Beatles parody band created by some Monty Python alumni and eventually were the subject of the brilliant rockumentary “All You Need is Cash”.  The soundtrack is also outstanding and highly recommended for Beatles fans.  The parody was so well-received in England that I found this single in a London record shop last November.  It was an unexpected souvenir of the same trip that took me to Abbey Road and various other Beatles landmarks.

Coming up next week:  I’m on the road again!  Using some accumulated Air Miles, I’m visiting a place that I somehow overlooked during my year of extended travel.  Stay tuned for the big reveal!

A Musical Pilgrimage

(London, England, U.K.)

After the overwhelming Saturday night concert at the Royal Albert Hall, there was only one day left on my musical tour.  I wanted to take advantage of every moment but I had no further concert tickets and no strong desire to see a musical matinee.  I also had to get up at 4:45 a.m. the following morning to catch my flight back to Canada.

I decided to go on a special guided tour.  Not just any tour, mind you, but a tour that would finally introduce me to the London of my first musical heroes:  The Beatles.

Millions of words have been written about the Beatles and I don’t think I need to convince anyone that their songs will one day be considered the “classical music” of the 20th century.   No matter how much they have been deified, the fact remains that they created all of that music in this very real city and lived a very real life here.  It was time to finally see it for myself.

Trident Studios - this is where "Hey Jude" was recorded in the summer of 1968
Trident Studios – this is where “Hey Jude” was recorded in the summer of 1968

After walking past Paul McCartney’s offices, we saw Trident Studios in a narrow laneway.  The Beatles rarely recorded here, but they did happen to record “Hey Jude” here…and that’s what they were doing on the day I was born.  These particular studios were beyond nondescript and yet this was where one of the most popular songs ever was recorded.

Nearby was the former site of the Indica Gallery – famous for being the place where John Lennon first met Yoko Ono.  Our guide was careful to point out that Ono didn’t break up the Beatles; rather than the “cause”, he thought she was a “symptom” and the breakup would have happened eventually anyway.

The Indica Gallery today, in a quiet London courtyard
The Indica Gallery today, in a quiet London courtyard

The second most important site for me on this tour was 3 Savile Row – the former headquarters of Apple Records and the site of their last ever public performance. This is the building you see throughout the movie “Let It Be”; the famous rooftop concert took place right here!  There was also a recording studio in the basement.  Looking at the neighbourhood today, it still is very “proper and dignified”…it’s no wonder the Beatles were not welcomed with open arms by the other businesses on the street.  Today, 3 Savile Row is the location of an “Abercrombie Kids” store.

3 Savile Row - former headquarters of the Beatles' business empire
3 Savile Row – former headquarters of the Beatles’ business empire

We saw some other minor sites but the best was saved for last.  We had to take the Tube to St. John’s Wood and walk for about 10 minutes.  Even though it was a typical semi-suburban environment, there were tourists everywhere…many of them endangering life and limb on the busy street.  This was Abbey Road.

Abbey Road is the location of EMI Studios (as it was then called), where the Beatles recorded almost all of their music.  The site is now called Abbey Road Studios and is still used as a commercial studio, so it is not open to the general public.  That doesn’t stop hundreds (thousands?) of people visiting it every day to pay their respects.   It does feel kind of magical here.

Abbey Road Studios, St. John's Wood, London
Abbey Road Studios, St. John’s Wood, London

Perhaps even more alluring is the fact that this is also the very place where the iconic Abbey Road album cover photograph was taken.  Back in 1969, the street was briefly closed and the photo of the Beatles was taken from a stepladder in the middle of the road.  That’s why fans continue to endanger their lives by trying to recreate the exact photo.  It’s also one of the few “real” places portrayed on a Beatles album cover.

I didn’t try to take a picture from the very same spot.  But I took some photos of the pedestrian crossing (it’s still there) and even had another person take a photo of me walking across just like the Beatles did all those years ago.  That’s the photo you see at the top of this post, with Abbey Road Studios in the background.

The end of the Abbey Road crossing...and the end of my musical pilgrimage!
The end of the Abbey Road crossing…and the end of my musical pilgrimage!

Along with “Revolver” and “With The Beatles“, “Abbey Road” is one of my three favourite Beatles albums.  It certainly has the best production and was the last original album they recorded together (although the very uneven “Let It Be” album was released later).  It was a fitting finale to an astonishing career.

For me, going to Abbey Road also represented a kind of closure for my year of travel.  I had come to the end of the long and winding road and there was nowhere else I needed to go.  It was time to go home.

Extended Post: Concert at the Royal Albert Hall!

(London, England, U.K.)

Today’s post is an extended one with lots of musical links:  given the event, I didn’t want to break this up into smaller blogs!

When I started planning this trip in June,  even before booking the flights, I ensured that I had great tickets to two shows.  One was the Paul Carrack concert.  The other was a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.  Within a few days, I also had a ticket for Los Pacaminos and I added “The Commitments” a couple of months later.

Why the Royal Albert Hall?  When I think of opulent concert halls, it’s the first one that comes to mind.  However, it has also been the site for a host of legendary concerts.   One of my favourite concert videos is “A Concert for George” – the all-star tribute to the late George Harrison.  In that one concert alone, there were performances by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Jeff (ELO) Lynne, Tom Petty, Billy Preston and the entire Monty Python gang (among others).  In fact, Eric Clapton has played there almost 200 times.

The South Kensington outdoor skating rink, just a short walk from the Royal Albert Hall
The South Kensington outdoor skating rink, just a short walk from the Royal Albert Hall

Not only is it stunningly beautiful inside and out, it also manages to hold more than 5,200 people in comfort.  I was determined to be one of those people, for one night at least!

While travelling alone certainly has its drawbacks, it paid one unexpected dividend on this trip:  it is sometimes possible to snap up single tickets very close to the stage that have been left “stranded” by groups buying blocks of tickets.  That’s what happened with the Paul Carrack concert (where I was in the 9th row, in the exact centre of the hall) and that’s what happened here…where I managed to get  a lone seat in the 13th row, right in the centre, for a Saturday night concert less than a month before Christmas.  Even better, it was for a concert that I really wanted to see!

Jools Holland is known in North America as a former member of Squeeze…in fact, when he left, he was replaced by Paul Carrack.  But in the U.K., he is a legendary radio and television host (“Later…with Jools Holland”) and bandleader of the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.  Simply put, they are the best known “big band” in the U.K. and in many other countries as well.   They have also recorded with just about everybody with an interest in this kind of music.  On one CD alone, the collaborators included George Harrison, Van Morrison, Sting, Paul Weller, Dr. John, Joe Strummer (The Clash), Steve Winwood, Mick Hucknall (Simply Red), Paul Carrack, Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) and Eric Clapton.

View from my seat, looking at the area just to the right of (and behind) the Royal Albert Hall stage
View from my seat, looking at the area just to the right of (and behind) the Royal Albert Hall stage

Imagine an amped-up modern-day cross between Cab Calloway, Glenn Miller, Ray Charles and the Blues Brothers…that might come close to capturing the Jools Holland Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.  The sound is not subtle:  there are 5 saxophones, 3 trumpets and 3 trombones, in addition to the various other singers and instruments you might expect to find in a big band.   And while they do play standards like “Tuxedo Junction”, they don’t restrict themselves to traditional big band material:  here is a live version of Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” with Melanie C(!), a former Spice Girl, while this is a video for Jerry Lee Lewis’ “It’ll Be Me” recorded with Tom Jones.

I arrived well in advance of the concert, as I wanted plenty of time to look around and experience the venue beforehand.  It is located in a posh area (Kensington) of London; as you can see from the photo at the top of this post, it is quite an imposing sight.  I had to negotiate a series of hidden stairwells and oddly-shaped corridors to get to my seat but it is even more impressive inside.  There are arches, rich colours, suites and ornate accents everywhere…as if one has just woken up in the 19th century.

Looking towards the back of the Royal Albert Hall
Looking towards the back of the Royal Albert Hall

After a forgettable opening act, Jools Holland and his R&B Orchestra arrived with a bang.  The horn section was not going to be silenced on this evening and the sell-out crowd was very happy with that.  I should also mention that Jools Holland has the best left-handed piano technique I’ve ever seen.   It would have been fine if they played instrumentals all night.

Nonetheless, the vocalists in the orchestra are exceptional.  The current roster includes Louise Marshall and Ruby Turner.  Ruby Turner is an established singer in her own right; I even picked up her 45 (7″ vinyl single) of “I’d Rather Go Blind” this summer in the Netherlands (here’s a live version of the same song).  But Marshall is a vocal powerhouse too…you should expect to see much more of her in the future (here’s a Louise Marshall/Jools Holland recording of a song that she also performed live tonight).  My wife and I saw Aretha Franklin perform a few years ago and (sacrilege alert!) her performance didn’t even come close to Marshall or Turner.

View of the Royal Albert Hall stage just before the show (from my seat, no zoom lens)
View of the Royal Albert Hall stage just before the show (from my seat, no zoom lens)

Despite having that kind of vocal talent in his orchestra, a big feature of Jools Holland concerts is having some great guest stars.  On this night, there were two special guests.  The first was Joss Stone; you may recognize her name, as her first couple of releases received quite a bit of attention.  This live performance with Melissa Etheridge is fairly typical (although Melissa Etheridge clearly wins this battle!); here are other ones with Donna Summer and Jeff Beck. Her performances on this night with Jools Holland were similar.

The next guest was bit of a surprise.   Marc Almond was the singer with Soft Cell, a synth-pop duo from the early 1980s who had a massive international hit with “Tainted Love” as well as another big hit with “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”.  He has had a successful U.K. solo career since then.

Almond started his set with “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”, followed by a dramatic interpretation of a Jacques Brel song.  Would he sing “Tainted Love”, even though it was also a cover version (recorded originally by Gloria Jones in the early 1960s)?   Personally, I wasn’t too keen on the original Jones vocal, but the musical backing was solid.  Conversely, the Soft Cell vocal was memorable but the synth backing sounds dated now.   Luckily for us, he chose to sing “Tainted Love”…and he did it in front of a powerful big-band arrangement!

They didn't cut corners:  this is the back side of the Royal Albert Hall
They didn’t cut corners: this is the back side of the Royal Albert Hall

This was definitely one of the highlights of the night.  The audience was “gobsmacked”, as they say, and the orchestra really delivered with staccato stabs of horns.  This was how the song was meant to be performed and everybody nailed it.

Yet there were even more highlights.  One of the best encore songs was a song called “Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think)”.  I knew a version of it by British ska legends The Specials but it turns out that it’s a very old song recorded at one point by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians!   Again, this was a brilliantly performed song and one that perfectly suited both the moment and the evening.   Here’s a recent studio version by Jools Holland.

The Orchestra played for a little more than 2 hours…but it went by so fast.  It was also exhausting, with so much energy in the music.  While I caught a bus just outside the Royal Albert Hall, I had enough adrenaline to walk back to my hotel from Leicester Square without even noticing the distance.

Almost back at my hotel...corner  of Tottenham Court Road and Chenies Street in Fitzrovia, London
Almost back at my hotel…corner of Tottenham Court Road and Chenies Street in Fitzrovia, London

With Los Pacaminos last night and the Jools Holland R&B Orchestra tonight, I have been rather forcefully reminded of the sheer power of live music played by committed musicians.   It even makes me think back to the fun I had playing live in a band at law school, where we bludgeoned our way through grunge (hey, it was the 1990s!) covers of songs by the likes of Abba (“Knowing Me, Knowing You”) and Duran Duran (“Hungry Like The Wolf”, although we turned it into “Hungry Like Beowulf”).

To be honest, I would have been happy just going on a tour of the Royal Albert Hall.  To experience a concert like this in such a wonderful venue was icing on the cake.  It was also a great way to end my year of travel, except for one thing:  my year of travel wasn’t quite over.

I still had one more full day in London…but I knew that there was no way I could find a concert to top what I had experienced over the past couple of days.  Stay tuned to find out how I spent the final day of this musical adventure!

Best Concert So Far!

(London, England, U.K.)

On this music-oriented tour of England, I was trying to experience a variety of music venues and formats. One venue that’s hard to arrange in advance is the small pub…but I managed to find and book something 5 months ago. I’m really glad I did, because it ended up being the most enjoyable concert of the tour so far.

The venue was the Half Moon in Putney, located just under an hour by bus from my hotel. The Half Moon accommodates only about 200 people for concerts but has hosted some names you may know: The Rolling Stones, The Who, Elvis Costello, U2, the Yardbirds and Kate Bush for starters. In fact, many of these artists have even had residencies at the Half Moon. It’s just one of those legendary venues that musicians love to play even though it is tiny.

Fans in front of the Half Moon stage, when I first arrived
Fans in front of the Half Moon stage, when I first arrived

So who did I see here? The name of the band was Los Pacaminos. The name may mean nothing – they have only released 2 proper albums after more than twenty years together. I don’t think they’ve ever played outside of Europe and I don’t think they’ve ever had a hit. However, they contain some of the very best professional musicians in England…including one who you might know.

I didn’t really follow Paul Young’s career in the 1980s. I knew he had a bunch of hits: Come Back and Stay, Every Time You Go AwayOh Girl, Don’t Dream It’s Over (a Crowded House cover, with Paul Carrack!) and Love of the Common People, to name a few. The songs were squarely aimed at the mainstream and he was very successful with them.

Paul Young gets saluted by guitarist Jamie Moses
Paul Young gets saluted by guitarist Jamie Moses

However, Paul Young also has a passion for rootsy Tex-Mex music. In 1993, he formed Los Pacaminos (a nonsense word, referring to “pack ’em in”) with a bunch of musicians who had been in his bands and also liked this kind of music. They are still together today and that’s who I was going to see at the Half Moon!

I didn’t know what to expect.  I read that “La Bamba” and “Wooly Bully” generally made appearances but the rest was a mystery to me.  My expectations were low, the ticket price was by far the lowest of the concerts I’m seeing, and I was a little unsure about spending a evening in an unfamiliar bar far from “my” part of London.

Paul Young salutes me
Paul Young salutes me

Any anxiousness was gone by the end of the first song. They came on stage with suitably “western” hats, like cowboys.  They played a combination of originals and slightly obscure but very fun covers of songs from their musical influences…such as Doug Sahm (of the Texas Tornados and the Sir Douglas Quintet) and even Johnny “Guitar” Watson.  They even tried a few synchronized “moves” like you would see from guitar instrumental bands in the 1960s.

The lyrics were sometimes similar to those you’d find in country music (there was the occasional mention of “hurtin'”, “drinkin'” and “cheatin’ hearts”) and there was a pedal steel guitar and an accordion…but the arrangements had Mexican touches and were rocked up far more than you’d ever get in country music.   They all played well but special mention must be made of their guitarist Jamie Moses:  he’s played with Queen and clearly has the chops to play even the most ostentatious rock guitar parts.

A mock serious moment for Paul Young; he's trying hard not to laugh
A mock serious moment for Paul Young; he’s trying hard not to laugh

Most importantly, it was blindingly obvious that these guys loved the music and were having a great time.  A couple of times during the show, they’d play a short version of “Tequila” and a tray of tequila shots would materialize on the stage.   Despite this, they stayed happy and nobody in either the band or the audience became a problem.  The joy was infectious and the 2+ hour gig was over in a flash.

I picked up a CD signed by all of the band members and look forward to listening when I get back to Kingston.  If you  ever get a chance to see Los Pacaminos, I highly recommend it.  [Click on the link for a “studio” version of Woolly Bully by Los Pacaminos!]

“The Commitments” Musical Review

(London, England, U.K.)

One of my favourite movies is “The Commitments”. It came out more than 20 years ago and was based on the Roddy Doyle book of the same name. It’s about a motley crew from the wrong side of Dublin who, against all odds, became a shockingly proficient soul music band. There is no Hollywood ending to the movie but there are some truly electrifying musical performances.

As I may have mentioned in my blogs from Dublin, the final performance of “Try A Little Tenderness” has to stand as one of the most powerful musical moments ever captured on film (and record). I hesitate to say this because I may be accused of blasphemy…but it might even improve on Otis Redding’s original.  Regardless of which version you prefer, it has got to be one of the very best soul songs ever written.

Just around the corner from the Palace Theatre, near Cambridge Circus in London
Just around the corner from the Palace Theatre, near Cambridge Circus in London

Having been to musicals in both Toronto and New York City, I really wanted to see one in London’s West End. When I heard earlier this year that “The Commitments” had finally been adapted to the stage, there was no doubt that I had to see it when in London.  Among other things, I think it would have been much more difficult to reproduce the thick North Dublin accents with a North American cast.  Of course, there is also no guarantee that this musical would ever cross the ocean like the movie did.

The musical is playing at the Palace Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue.  It’s a big old theatre with ornate decor and rather steep upper levels.  My seat was near the front of the first balcony and I had a perfect view of the entire stage.

The Palace Theatre in London's West End
The Palace Theatre in London’s West End

In my opinion, the first half of the show didn’t work quite as well as the movie.  The band (deliberately) makes lots of mistakes and missteps as it struggles to become a unit:  this makes for a good movie but it didn’t come across that well in the musical format.

After the interval, however, the show redeemed itself. The second half of the show features a more polished band as well as more complete versions of songs.  When performed well, a live musical can engage all of the senses and be more effective than a movie…and for the second act, it was.

Evening Christmas shopping on Oxford Street, located between the theatre and my hotel in London
Evening Christmas shopping on Oxford Street, located between the theatre and my hotel in London

Including some songs not heard in the original film (“Papa Was A Rolling Stone” being a surprise as well as one of the strongest performances), this may have been a jukebox musical but it was highly effective.  Similar to the “concert in heaven” that ends the musical “Buddy” (about Buddy Holly), the last 4 songs are not really part of the narrative…they are just complete and furious renditions of soul classics.

The best was saved for last.  I read the previews and knew that “Try a Little Tenderness” would eventually make an appearance.  Sure enough, it was the big finale and the cast milked it for all it was worth.   In terms of impact, it was just as overwhelming as the movie version.

The final verdict?  You can’t go too far wrong with either version, especially if you are a fan of soul music.  Ideally, you’d be able to see the first half in movie form and second half live on stage…but, if you’re not in London, watching it on DVD will still give you a pretty good idea of what it’s all about.

Paul Carrack Concert Review

(Southend-on-Sea, England, U.K.)

I don’t think I had ever been to a proper theatre concert in Europe before; my sole European rock concert experience was seeing Paul Simon at a Budapest soccer stadium way back in 1991. That was a great show but hardly typical!

The Cliffs Pavilion on a late afternoon in November (Southend-on-Sea, England)
The Cliffs Pavilion on a late afternoon in November (Southend-on-Sea, England)

The Cliffs Pavilion has a spectacular location overlooking the sea but the “modern” façade really doesn’t look too inspiring on an overcast November afternoon.  Fortunately, it looks much better on the inside and holds 1,630 spectators in the main theatre.

The opening act was a young singer/guitarist named Elliott Morris.  As yet unsigned, he is an impressive guitar virtuoso.  Not only does he have impressive string technique, he also uses the guitar as a percussive instrument at the same time.  He described it as “slappy and bangy” and he closed off his short set with a fascinating version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”.

The Cliffs Pavilion stage, just before the concert started (Southend-on-Sea, England)
The Cliffs Pavilion stage, just before the concert started (Southend-on-Sea, England)

Paul Carrack came on with a 7-piece band and played a main set of about an hour and forty minutes.  Drawing equally from his “greatest hits” and his more recent albums, Paul was definitely playing to the converted.  He has played this venue several times before and most of the attendees were “return customers”.    A consummate professional, Carrack ensured that the focus remained on his voice…still fully intact after more than 40 years of professional singing.  There were very few extended solos or “jazz odysseys”.

Paul Carrack sings "The Living Years"
Paul Carrack sings “The Living Years”

Carrack has certain “must play” songs, so we eventually heard “Tempted”, “How Long”, “The Living Years” and other highlights from his long career.  Because the vocals were so clear and the sound was so balanced, you could actually understand all of the lyrics.  They clearly affected the fellow beside me, who was indeed wiping away tears during “The Living Years”.  With the audience supplying most of the backing choral-style vocals, it was one of those special musical moments where you can feel a chill running down your spine.

Of the newer material, the cover of Brenda Lee’s “I’m Losing You” was probably the highlight.  But the crowd enthusiastically greeted each of the new songs;  clearly, they were familiar with Carrack’s latest album.  He also felt confident enough in it to close the show with “Rise and Shine”, the title track.

Ever wondered what happened to David Hasselhoff after Baywatch?  He's playing in a Peter Pan pantomime in Southend-on-Sea!
Ever wondered what happened to David Hasselhoff after Baywatch? He’s playing in a Peter Pan pantomime in Southend-on-Sea!

After the handful of encore songs, the concert was over and the crowd politely filed out.  Actually, the crowd was quite polite throughout the show.  They seemed a little more reserved than the crowds back home in Kingston!

The final assessment?  It was definitely among my top ten concerts, although my expectations for it were also quite high.  I hope that the rest of the shows will be as professionally performed and have the same sound quality!

Next up:  I’m off to London, with a West-End (London’s Broadway equivalent) show on my very first night there!

Let The Music Begin

(Southend-on-Sea, England, U.K.)

November 25 was my final night in Cambridge. As noted in my previous blog posting, I spontaneously bought a ticket to see a musical put on by Cambridge University students.  I knew nothing else about it.

The musical had the somewhat postmodern name “[Title of Show]”; it is “a musical about creating a musical about creating a musical”. This odd premise really makes your head spin at times, as the distinctions between performance, reality and time gets blurrier as the show progresses.

The Eagle Bar - this is where two Cambridge professors regularly went for lunch...and also where they announced that they had discovered DNA
The Eagle Bar – this is where two Cambridge professors regularly went for lunch…and also where they announced that they had discovered DNA

It was a very intimate theatre with a capacity of about 100 people (although this mid-week show attracted significantly less than that), so there was no chance of feeling distant from the stage.  In fact, the stage was on the same level as the front row of seats.

While it was not as polished as a Broadway production, the show was amusing enough and set the stage (heh) for the professional musical performances that I’ll be watching over the following 4 nights. In fact, I even made my British theatrical debut during the Cambridge musical: one scene required the actors to have an audience member film them for a YouTube video. I happened to be closest to the stage and was thus drafted without warning into the non-speaking role of “videographer”. I was handed a cell-phone and completed my role without incident.

View of King's College Chapel from the street (Cambridge, England)
View of King’s College Chapel from the street (Cambridge, England)

November 26 saw me travel by train from Cambridge to Southend-on-Sea for the Paul Carrack concert I discussed a few posts ago.   The Cliffs Pavilion in the Westcliff district of Southend is the theatre hosting the show and my cozy B&B is precisely 1 minute and 25 seconds by foot from the Pavilion.

I'm staying at the Trinity Hotel, a B&B in Westcliff-on-Sea.  The waterfront is perhaps half-a-block down the street.
I’m staying here, at the Trinity Hotel, a B&B in Westcliff-on-Sea. The waterfront is perhaps half-a-block down the street.

I wandered around both Westcliff and downtown Southend during the afternoon.  It is a decent-sized city that also doubles as a seaside resort…at least during the warmer months.  Its claim to fame is having “the longest pleasure pier in the world” – it stretches out more than a mile into the North Sea.  There are rides, unhealthy food, games of chance, tacky trinkets…the sorts of things you would hope to find in a place like this.  While it is the off-season and Southend looks a little deserted in places, there are also some very nice neighbourhoods in the city.

On the waterfront at Southend-on-Sea, England
Near the waterfront at Southend-on-Sea, England

I am also pleased to report that I managed to acquire some vinyl records at a well-stocked store near the pedestrian-only High Street.  The street was full of Christmas shoppers and Christmas trees with blue lights.

High Street in Southend-on-Sea, England
Christmas Shopping on the High Street in Southend-on-Sea, England

As my B&B is so close to the theatre, I had dinner at a fish restaurant just a few steps away.  I rarely eat fish but thought that this would be the best time to have some, because this is the closest I’ll get to the sea during this trip.  It was a cut above your typical “chippy”: my haddock (and chips) was almost all fish and no batter, rather than the other way around.  I felt properly English, having upscale fish and chips with a nice cider by the sea.

Stay tuned for a review of the Paul Carrack concert!

Greetings from East Anglia!

(Cambridge, England, U.K.)

Having indulged in most of my sports interests (especially hockey and skiing) already during this year of travel, I decided that it was finally time to have a music-themed trip.

I’ve always enjoyed reading British music journalism and, as a result, have followed some prominent British musicians who don’t have as large a fan base in North America.  Alas, the economic realities of the music business mean that relatively few British musicians are able to tour anywhere near my home in Kingston.  If the music wasn’t going to come to Kingston, I would have to go to the music!

I've seen a lot of airports this year but haven't taken many pictures in them.  This is the long walk from the terminal to the Heathrow baggage claim.
I’ve seen a lot of airports this year but haven’t taken many pictures in them. This is the long walk from the terminal to the Heathrow baggage claim.

London is the epicentre of the music world here in Britain and I’ll be spending some very intensive days there at the end of this trip. However, I’m easing into things by spending a few days in the famous university town of Cambridge.

I wanted to see one of the ancient universities in England, so it came down to a choice between Oxford and Cambridge. They both had a lot to offer but Cambridge was closer to the location of the Paul Carrack concert that I mentioned in my previous post. My wife and I intend to see some more of England in the future; if I enjoy the Cambridge experience, we may include Oxford in one of our future itineraries.  Or maybe we’ll come back here!

Cambridge has a historic core...but there is also an upscale shopping mall in the middle of it.
Cambridge has a historic downtown core…but there is also an upscale shopping mall in the middle of it.

I only arrived in Cambridge at 3:00 p.m. today so I didn’t have a chance to see much of it by daylight.  After a nap, I went for some Indian food…I am forever searching for a chicken dhansak that rivals the wonderful one I had in Chester, England, back in 2005 (I really like the version served up by Darbar back home in Kingston too).  Tonight’s dhansak was good but not spectacular. The search continues!

After dinner, I walked around the city a bit.  It feels safe and comfortable here; the huge university population also supports a terrific variety of ethnic restaurants.  I had assumed that I’d be eating a lot of Indian food here but I saw too many other interesting places to restrict myself to dhansak (however tempting that might be).

"The Cow" - one of many historic buildings in downtown Cambridge
“The Cow” – one of many historic buildings in downtown Cambridge

Tomorrow, I’m taking a tour of Cambridge’s ancient university colleges and will finally see the city by daylight.  I’m looking forward to sharing some daytime photographs!