Playlist
Tangerine Dream - Mala Kunia
Ornette Coleman - New York Is Now!
Michael Rother - Flammende Herzen (Remaster)
Rheostatics - Epic Rheostatics
Out for provisions...
...and back to the garden...
..where some local black squirrels were getting it on...
On to the Street Car...
...and in the opposite direction from Down Town today, to The Beaches...
...and a walk along the boardwalk...
...with planes overhead...
...and ice cream to cool us down, the weather was still roasting...
The boardwalk led to parkland...
...a walk back to the Street Car stop and a quick journey home...
...where we were met by Smudge the Rabbit, who lives with Steve and Liza...
Lunch...
...and then back out and into the centre...
The old city hall...
...where we took a seat and inspected some of the many mosquito bites I'd accrued over the last few days...
Right next door...
...is the new city hall...
Can you spot the Exec Producer?
Inside and out of the heat...
They have a scale model of the city around 20 years ago...
...the world's largest underground shopping mall - a warren of underground air-conditioned walkways and shops which took us all the way down to Union Station...
...from where we took a subway back to Queen St...
..and another Street Car home...
...spotting the neighbour's cat in the window...
...and noting Smudge still gambolling around in the garden...
...where we joined him and enjoyed some light refreshment...
Then, it was time to get going to the AGO for tonight's concert...
First though, some more art...
Including an enjoyable lecture on female Canadian artists...
Back to the auditorium...
..where, shortly after these were taken...
...we met up with Dave Bidini and Tim Vesely from The Rheostatics, the original reason we'd come all this way...
Dave was pleased to see us again after some 21 years and advised the band were going to do a surprise set after the planned set of covers by guest artists, for which we'd come along tonight...
Some waiting ensued...
...but soon we were ready to roll and the cover band, including Dave's regular guitarist, Paul Linklater, took to the stage...
You can download a bootleg of the entire gig, including the Rheos' surprise set, here...
The night was sponsored by First Thursdays at the AGO and the theme was "Music Inspired by Rheostatics". The band comprised Thom Gill (Guitar & Vocals), Paul Linklater (Guitar), Phil Millotson (Drums) and Charles James (Bass)...
They were joined by a series of guest vocalists : Laura Barrett (of The Hidden Cameras), Terra Lightfoot, Casey Mecija (of Ohbijou), Mike O'Brien (of Zeus), Chris Cummings aka Mantler and, now, Marker Starling, Sandro Perri, plus a special performance by Canadian folk legend Mary Margaret O'Hara...
Unless you're a Rheos fan, the set list won't mean much to you but it went like this:-
Who? (Thom Gill)
Northern Wish (Terra Lightfoot)
Claire (Casey Mecija)
We Went West (Mike O'Brien)
From The Reel - a Martin Tielli solo song (Marker Starling)
Stolen Car (Laura Barrett)
Laura's first ever gig - as a 13 year old - was the Rheos performance of "Music Inspired by The Group of Seven" at the AGO on March 29 1996 - she advises in this lovely short piece from 2009, filmed with Martin Tielli at the AGO, that the Rheos "were my Beatles"...
,
Laura was followed by Mary Margaret O'Hara, who sang "Rock Death America"...
...and was joined by Sandro Inro for "Take Me In Your Hand" - from the first Rheos album I owned, "Introducing Happiness" - which Dave gave me all those years ago and which act ultimately led all the way to tonight and this trip...
Finally, Thom Gill duetted with Mary Margaret O'Hara on "Bad Time To Be Poor"
Following the Tribute band the Rheostatics surprised the crowd by taking the stage in a warm up show. Their set, comprising parts of the GO7 show and a couple of encores, represented, I think, the first time they'd played a full set together since their farewell show at Massey Hall back in March 2007...
Tonight's set comprised:-
One (Kevin's Waltz)
Two (Earth (Almost)
Three (Boxcar Song (Weiners and Beans))
Four (Landscape And Sky)
Five (Blue Hysteria)
Six (Cello For A Winter's Day)
Eleven (Yellow Days Under A Lemon Sun)
Seven (Northern Wish)
Saskatchewan
...after which, as you can hear on the recording, Dave gave Anne and I a shout out for coming all the way from Scotland to see them...
They ended with "Legal Age Life At Variety Store"...
Here are some pics - we were standing right in front of Martin Tielli and his famous guitar...
It was so good to finally see a band I'd loved for over 20 years and who I thought would never play in public again, playing live right in front of me...
...and to see them enjoying it so much...
Paul Linklater joined them for "Legal Aged Life"...
All too soon it was over...
And we were out and looking forward to Saturday...
Another excellent day in Canada...
Highlight of the Day : Rheos live...
Highlight of the Day : Rheos live...
2 comments:
Glad you're having, (or have had) such a great time. never knew there were black squirrels. And what a well trained rabbit! Moira
It was thanks to your suggestion of "Carpe Diem" Moira, that we were there. Inspiration! Thanks xxx
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