from the "Blue Rodeo redux" dept.

I'm a bit short of time this morning, so here's a cut-and-paste "review" of the Blue Rodeo show last night at the Orpheum in Vancouver that I emailed to Brent down in Belize:

I saw the Blue Rodeo boys for the umpteenth time last night.

It was their second show at the Orpheum, and the place was packed. I went with Leanne, an old pal who moved to Toronto, but is now back in Vancouver.

The first thing we noticed was the crowd. Lots of bald spots and paunches. Average age? Mid-30's. Which, of course, makes perfect sense. People brought their kids too. Although kids conceived to Casino would be teens, and not interested in old peoples music. These were 5 year olds. What album was that?

The stage set-up was typical for B.R.: a big carpet, some lights, some Marshall stacks. Up first was a Dartmouth, NS band called Matt Mayes and the Torpedos (or something like that). They were very reminiscent of Blue Rodeo in the 80's. The lead singer has a hell of a voice, and the tracks are worth seeking out. Unfortunately their stage presence sucked. Most of the time, they would turn to face the drummer, backs to the audience. I've never noticed this sort of thing before, but the crowd sure did. After a while we were waving to the backs of the band, mocking them, saying "over here! Hello! Audience this way!"

After a break, the boys came on. Basil hiding in the corner. New folks on drums (I think), slide, and keys. They kicked it off with a bunch of tracks from their new CD (released last week). Then they dipped into the archives with classics like Five Days in May, English Bay, Diamond Mine, etc etc. No Try, however. It must be hard for them to choose a set, given they have such a big catalog of amazing tunes.

Basil hung back for most of the show, with Cuddy and Keelor joking about that. Then, Basil was called up front and actually did lead vocals on a tune (!). Never seen that before.

Unfortunately the dancing was curtailed either by a typical low-key Vancouver audience or the seating in the Orpheum. It wasn't until the encore (one only) that people actually stood. At least 3 lighters were spotted ( effects of no smoking laws? ). Matt Mayes came out and they did a familiar sounding Dylan song.

So it was a good show... Cuddy looked the same. Keelor looked old, sporting a grey beard. But they rocked, and sounded great.

Cheers!