KJames199
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|  #1 Posted on 2.5.16 0103.23
Reposted on: 2.5.23 0106.32 | This one, this is even more inexplicable than Black Sabbath. At least Sabbath was within walking distance. Plus I knew seeing them would make Aaron jealous and that counts for something. Probably counted for too much in my internal decision-making process, if I'm being honest. And Sabbath was cheaper too.
Thing is, there's a local weekly paper called the Prairie Dog. Their website has daily blog posts about upcoming events, and on Tuesday, they talked about George Thorogood playing the Conexus Arts Centre on Friday. More out of curiosity than anything, I clicked over to the Arts Centre's website, just to see how much tickets were and see how well they were selling. Oddly, they looked pretty close to sold out - but with four open seats in the front row. I assume there were some tickets set aside for promotional uses that wound up not being used, and I happened to check at just the right time. After confirming that Mika had no interest in going, I picked myself up a ticket.
I'm well on pace to set a new personal record for concerts seen this year, so somewhere along the way I got the idea that I should see if I can see 52 shows in 2016. I think it's possible but it will require moving out of my comfort zone and seeing some bands I'd normally skip. This is show #14 for the year, but I'd need to have seen 17 or 18 by now to be on pace. Gonna have to work on it.
I suppose if 52 isn't doable due to finances, time, or opportunity, I'd accept 40 for godforsaken birthday reasons. This seems like a better midlife crisis than a tattoo.
Anyway, that's all how I found myself sitting front row for George Thorogood & the Destroyers. But James, you ask, do you actually know any George Thorogood songs? Apart from Bad to the Bone? And I answer yes. I know Get a Haircut. I mean, I know all the songs everyone knows, pretty much, but I especially know Get a Haircut. When I was in high school, I knew a dude who love love LOVED George Thorogood. And in Grade 12 English class, we had to play a song and provide the class with the lyrics, and then provide our interpretation of the lyrics. Get a Haircut was the song that he picked:
I was a rebel from the day I left school
Grew my hair long and broke all the rules
I'd sit and listen to my records all day
With big ambitions of when I could play
My parents taught me what life was about
So I grew up the type they warned me about
They said my friends were just an unruly mob
And I should get a haircut and get a real job
Get a haircut and get a real job
Clean your act up and don't be a slob
Get it together like your big brother Bob
Why don't you get a haircut and get a real job
I even tried that 9-to-5 scene
I told myself that it was all a bad dream
I found a band and some good songs to play
Now I party all night, I sleep all day
I met this chick, she was my number-one fan
She took me home to meet her mommy and dad
They took one look at me and said "oh my god
Get a haircut and get a real job"
Get a haircut and get a real job
Clean your act up and don't be a slob
Get it together like your big brother Bob
Why don't you get a haircut and get a real job
I hit the big time with my rock 'n' roll band
The future's brighter now than I'd ever planned
I'm ten times richer than my big brother Bob
But he's got a haircut, he's got a real job
Get a haircut and get a real job
Clean your act up and don't be a slob
Get it together like your big brother Bob
Why don't you get a haircut and get a real job
Personally, I'm not sure how much interpretation is required to understand the deeper meaning therein, but when it came time to critique poetry, this dude picked an eight-line poem by Red Green, so he had a type. I chose the song The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel, which is much easier to bullshit symbolism about, though also pretty straightforward in retrospect. Mostly I remember people asking why I played the original and not the cover by The Waltons which was a big radio hit locally at the time.
Another girl picked Dust in the Wind and was shocked to discover that maybe it shouldn't be her wedding song after all.
I was curious as to what the audience for this show would be like, a question that was answered within seconds of arriving when I ran into a lady from work, and then another once inside. In general, the audience was older, skewing slightly female, but with lots of couples. I had some college-age bros to my right. Behind me were some women who really wanted to complain about the state of music today and how they'd like to see those teenyboppers today go like Keith Richards when they're his age!!!
The openers were the Ben Miller Band and I am glad that I was sitting close enough to the front to get some decent pictures because I'm not sure I can describe them adequately. To the far left was Scott Leeper, a very bearded man in a plaid shirt and suspenders playing a one-string washtub bass. Next to him was Smilin' Bob Lewis, who appeared to be a survivalist Dr. Demento in a tie-dye t-shirt covered in kittens. This was accessorized with a long white coat that had shiny reflective cactuses on it, as well as a tall red top hat with black brim. Miller himself looked like Ozark Sheamus and yet barely stood out by comparison. Finally, we had Rachel Ammons, a fiddle player who had hair down past her ass and her own wind-blowing-machine-thingy* to make it fly around while she played.
*it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that I could just call it a "fan" so I'm leaving the original description in
Anyway. I had no idea who these folks were and no idea what to make of them. And then... they KILLED IT. Unbelievable. It took a few songs for them to warm up and for the crowd to get into them, but around the third song, everything clicked and they blew the roof off the place. They had 45 minutes or so and they made the most of it. "Bluegrass-infused rock" is my short description but that doesn't cover it - on their Facebook page, they list their genre as "who knows, who cares." But seriously. They traded off instruments all night and everyone got a chance to sing. There was a banjo. There was a WASHBOARD. There was a bluegrass cover of House of the Rising Sun and another of Black Betty. There was incredible energy and the crowd responded in kind, going from polite applause for the first song to a standing ovation for the last one. When they were over, I was thinking that Thorogood was going to have an awfully hard time following them. I could have gone home at this point and it would have been worth it. Never skip the openers, kids.
Man, I love it when I go into a show not knowing an artist and leave as a fan. The chance of these kinds of discoveries is a big part of what keeps me going to all these shows. That, and I have no common sense.
As they left the stage, the lady behind me screamed "HEY JUSTIN BIEBER! I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU... DO... WHAT WE JUST SAW." I endorse the sentiment but maybe make sure you've decided on what you're going to yell before you start yelling.
During the intermission, I just hung around in my seat. I thought about going to the stuff table to get a record from the Ben Miller Band, but they said they'd be around after the show too, so I figured I had plenty of opportunity. You know how this goes.
After a short break, the lights dimmed. The bros to my right returned, having smoked all the weed there is. Sorry, world. We're out. The lady behind me screamed "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! MY IDOL!" Yes. But she would have to wait, as first they shone a spotlight on the drum kit and played Eve of Destruction in its entirety. Only once that was done did we get the booming voice of a wrestling announcer, introducing the heavyweight rock and roll champions of the world.
I won't lie. This was fun as heck. Now, admittedly, a huge part of that had to do with the front row seat. And not just front row, but right off centre, which meant that when Thorogood was walking around, he was often dead set right in front of me. At one point, he played about a two-minute guitar solo, lights dimmed, spotlight on him, his guitar two feet from my face the whole time. I could have hated his music and still had a blast. This would still have been fun from my traditional seat in Row L For Legroom but not nearly the same. This bodes well for Weird Al, as we have similar seats in August.
Now, being so close DID mean that I was also dangerously near some tongue waggling and some pelvic thrusts. Such are the risks when you are sitting in the splash zone. I do not believe I was ever splashed. Wouldn't complain if I was. I knew the dangers.
Anyway, you surely know what George Thorogood sounds like and whether you like him or not. Of course he closed the main set with Bad to the Bone (complete with BONE lights behind him). And he played pretty much exactly what his fans would want to hear - Move it on Over; Who do you Love; I Drink Alone; One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer. He played Get a Haircut and I was overjoyed.
He hammed it up as only an experienced frontman can - dancing around, making faces, posing, talking about what a fiiiiiiiiiiiiine city this is, dropping the name "Regina" into as many songs as he could (he'll "make an old woman blush and a Regina girl squeal"). And people ate it up. There was one lady who was convinced she was part of the show and ran up to dance in front of everyone over and over, to the point that security quit trying to stop her from rushing the stage because the people she was with resigned themselves to handling it. At another time, when a bunch of people were standing and dancing, one guy hopped on one foot for the length of the stage, playing air guitar all the while. This was one of the most tremendous things I have ever seen. Dude looked like he was in a trance. Compelled by the power of the rock.
So yeah, this was great fun. And yet, I still have to give the Ben Miller Band the nod for the evening. They had more energy and great presence and didn't have the advantage of, you know, people already knowing and liking them, but they still stole the show. On the way out, I got caught up in the rush of people leaving and never made it to the stuff table and I'm still a little disappointed about that, but oh well, there's always iTunes.
p.s. go here for a million pictures
UPCOMING CONCERTS
• Ben Folds & yMusic w/Dotan (May 11)
• Danny Michel (May 12)
• Hawksley Workman & The Art of Time Ensemble (May 13)
• Age of Electric (May 27)
• The Pack a.d. (May 28)
• Meat Loaf (June 11)
• City and Colour w/Shakey Graves (June 12)
• Northcote w/Jordan Klassen and Josiah (June 22)
• BA Johnston (June 24)
• Regina Folk Festival w/The Head and The Heart; Ry Cooder, Ricky Skaggs, & Sharon White (cancelled); Sam Roberts Band; The Mavericks; Bettye LaVette; The Cat Empire; The Strumbellas; more (August 5-7)
• "Weird Al" Yankovic (August 14)
• Fred Eaglesmith (October 1)
• I Mother Earth (October 8) | Promote this thread! |             | pieman
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|  #2 Posted on 2.5.16 0832.15
Reposted on: 2.5.23 0832.22 | | I played bass guitar in a band when I was much younger. They let me sing lead on two songs - Bad Moon Rising by CCR and Get a Haircut by Thorogood. I am overjoyed that James loves this song as much as me! | | ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE |
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