Bits and bites.
April 18th, 2009 at 12.20pm (Concert reviews, News)
The weekend. The glorious, glorious weekend. That may have been one of the longest weeks I’ve ever experienced, and I’m not keen to repeat it!
I guess I have some blog catching-up to do as a result of that week. Thursday (April 9) I had the immense pleasure of seeing Willie Nelson at Massey Hall, supported by the incredible Ray Price and the petulant Billy Bob Thornton with his band the Boxmasters.
I know we’re all tired of hearing about BBT, but I suspect this review wouldn’t be entirely complete without a mention of his conduct. We all know what happened on CBC Radio on the 8th, but for some reason, Thornton decided it would be a good idea to try to “set the record straight” at his second night at Massey Hall. He called Ghomeshi an “asshole” and pontificated on how one is expected to keep the promises that are made, forgetting about two things in the process: one, that journalism is about all the facts, not some of them; and two, that his band isn’t very good and decidedly would not be playing with such country legends as Nelson and Price if he were not Billy Bob Thornton, actor, as well.
Anyway, there was no tossed gravy, but I heard later that security intercepted a guy with a container of it intending to do just that. I wish they’d let it go! Either way, Thornton was booed continually during his speech to the crowd and the next day bailed out of the rest of the Canadian dates on the tour. He cited an ill bandmate, but he probably just can’t handle Canada.
Here’s a review from the Globe and Mail about the Massey show and about his behaviour in more detail, and here’s a column by Russell Smith that pretty much sums up the entire situation perfectly.
Back to the show: Thornton’s band is not all that great, and there were five guitarists. Overkill in itself, but four of them were playing identical Fender Telecasters, and one guy had a steel-string. This did nothing to cover up Thornton’s lack of imaginative drumming when he got behind the kit during their extendo-jam, and the end was very welcome when it finally arrived.
Ray Price, who is a whopping 83 years old, delivered a beautiful set with a large band sounding more intimate than I have ever heard twelve people sound. It felt like you really were back in “the good old days,” two-stepping and wearing big skirts. His voice is among the best I’ve ever heard, and the string section were scored like horns — I’ve never heard strings act quite like that before, and it was magnificent. If you ever get the chance to see this man perform, do yourself a favour; he’s done so much more than most of us could even hope for, and he’s still going strong.
Willie was great, of course. He performed with a very stripped-down ensemble, in total contrast to the acts preceding him: the focus was entirely on his voice and amazing guitar chops, and rightfully so. He brought Price back out to sing “Crazy” with him, which is probably the only way that song could be any better than it already is; other favourites included “Always On My Mind,” “On the Road Again” and a fantastic medley of the classics “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” and “I’ll Fly Away”. I’m not familiar with a large portion of Nelson’s repertoire (he has an eye-popping 77 studio albums, so I suppose that’s excusable!), but it seemed like the setlist was hit after hit after hit, with a couple lesser-known songs thrown in here and there. The crowd loved it, and he proved to us — not that we needed convincing — that he’s legendary for a very, very good reason. And he’s only seven years younger than Ray Price, which is pretty remarkable too.
I also saw familiar funnyman Jerry Seinfeld last night, supported by Tom Papa, who I’d never heard before. The latter was really funny — good, clean, PG-rated comedy (I realised with some embarrassment that most of the comedy I have been watching lately has been significantly more than PG), and a lot of observational stuff similar to Seinfeld. And of course, Jerry was hilarious — the crowd loved it, and he really gave them a good set. He mentioned the cast of Seinfeld’s upcoming appearance on Larry David’s new show Curb Your Enthusiasm, which should be an interesting reunion: apparently they’re recreating the show on CYE? I have no idea. Stay tuned, I guess!
And finally, two news announcements!
The first is that Phoenix have announced their tour dates (see them here) … and their Toronto date is at, yes indeed, the Phoenix Concert Theatre. I guess it would be pretty hard to forget the venue for this one. They’ll be here on June 15; check out the tour page for the rest of their dates.
The second is that the Calgary Folk Music Festival have been releasing their Leak of the Week for quite some time, and the lineup is getting mind-blowing. Already. The full lineup will be announced on May 14, but for the time being, I’m already getting excited: artists confirmed include Mavis Staples, Akron/Family, Bell Orchestre, Justin Rutledge, The Acorn, Mark Berube & The Patriotic Few, Glen Campbell, and Iron and Wine. And that’s not even the full list of leaks!
The festival runs July 23-26 and tickets will be available starting May 14.
Have a lovely weekend!
Tags: billy bob thornton, boxmasters, calgary folk music festival, jerry seinfeld, massey hall, oh the controversy!, phoenix, ray price, tom papa, willie nelson