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| Theatre Thoughts Well, Wednesday rolled around and I had come off a double shift the day before so I was exhausted – I’m talking slightly nauseous exhausted – and I worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep my eyes open through the show that night. Well. My worries quickly disappeared as The Jeans & Classics Band and the KW Symphony took to the Stage and presented what I think was the best Electric Thursdays show of this season. Keyboardist John Regan was, as always when he is a part of the show, an enthusiastic and humorous host for the evening. He took the audience back to 1969 to a farm in Woodstock, New York. As someone from the next generation I really appreciated his commentary on what bands attended the famous festival and some insight on how the three day line up of bands was scheduled. He also led the lively banter amongst the band and singers – which gives one a feeling of familiarity and that you are part of an intimate event. One of the highlights was when he spoke to a young boy in the front row directly in front of him. He discovered that the 8 year old was celebrating his birthday that day and had chosen to spend it at the show. He asked if he could have some of the trailmix the young man was enjoying (no food allowed in the theatre! J ) but the boy was not going to give up his snacks! On to the music!! Santana, Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills Nash & Young and The Band– all these and more were showcased by the Jeans & Classic Band and the KWS. Rik Emmett arrived on stage half way through the first act and proved that, despite some graying hairs and age appropriate spectacles, he can still rock a guitar like nothing else, first with a Carlos Santana instrumental piece and then with Hendrix’s ‘All Along the Watchtower’. (When I commented to my mum afterwards about Rik’s aged look she pointed out that if Hendrix were alive today he would have some grey hairs and spectacles of his own!) The much-more-than-backup-singers Katalin Kiss and Rique Franks each had a turn at Janis Joplin. Now, with all due respect to Rique who did a fine job, I don’t think that ‘Another Piece of My Heart’ should ever be attempted by anyone as Janis herself wailed it to perfection. However I loved Katalin’s take on ‘Summertime’, backed up by KWS’s talented clarinet players Ross Edwards (Principal) and Barbara Hankins. And her take on White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane had my Dad swooning (he claims he’s been in love with Grace Slick since he was 15). The best part of the show for me came towards the end with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ - one of my favourite songs of all time, followed by ‘With A Little Help From My Friends ‘– Joe Cocker style. What a treat to see this classic rock song performed with an orchestra. Neil Donell writhed and rasped in true Joe Cocker form and the ladies backed him up in superb style. I love it when the KWS really gets into the swing of things - you can always tell when the symphony is enjoying themselves because heads are bopping and toes are tapping and you feel that there is a little bit of a rockstar living inside each of those classically trained musicians and this is their chance to embrace it! Penny The Tragically Hip April 27 th, 2009 Last night the Tragically Hip descended on Kitchener-Waterloo with their first of three shows here at Centre In The Square. Their loyal Canadian fans came out in droves – representing what a diverse audience they have gained. Baseball hats, dreadlocks, Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys, guys, girls, young and old - everyone was ready to rock and the Hip didn’t disappoint. I have always been a fan (isn’t it a Canadian prerequisite?) but this was my first time seeing the Tragically Hip in concert and although I have often been told what a great front man Gord Downie is I really had no idea he would be so comic, ironic, animated and SEXY. (Good lord Gord, where DID you get that suit?! – humina, humina!) As Gord strutted, sang, flipped and kicked around his mike stand, whipped around his mic cable and playacted what appeared to be one of the apes from the opening scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey he continually mopped his sweating brow with a variety of white handkerchiefs that were tossed to him from offstage. The man puts on a SHOW . And as for the rest of the band – it is clear that these guys are hard working, long time rockers and they grind their guitars and beat their drums like the pros they are. And I LOVED how the funky keyboard would sneak through the baseline just enough to let you know it was there. At least half their set was from their most recent albums and although I am not familiar with these newer songs they reminded me that what makes the Hip a great band is their repertoire of songs which can be haunting, then abstract, then hard rock, then classic Canadiana. And all these were served up full blast to a crowd that was ready to party. The beer was flowing in the lobbies, the audience was on their feet all night and the hoots and hollers of appreciation from the crowd went on the entire 3 hours of the show. It is amazing to me that these guys are going to take to the stage again tonight and then AGAIN tomorrow night and deliver the same amount of energy and showmanship. I don’t doubt it for a second – I’m just amazed. As Gord said goodnight ‘to all the music lovers in Kitchener-Waterloo’ and implored us to ‘be better’ I thought – as I often have – that they may have the greatest band name of all time. I know now that it is also accurate. They are so hip it’s almost tragic. And they are Canadian. And they ROCK . Penny Diana Krall Sunday April 26 th, 2009 This week, the seats at the Centre will be crammed with entertainment loving folks. Last night roughly 2K people enjoyed the smoky sounds of Diana Krall, and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the house will rock with fans of the Tragically Hip. I always feel a primal pleasure seeing a sold-out show at the Centre In The Square. Like with any live performance, you share a bond with the other patrons in that you are sharing something unique in your own town. Sure, Diana (I feel like I can call her Diana now) has performed and will perform this show for a bunch more venues, but this was her Kitchener gig. Full of Kitchener goodness. Like the rain…wait that wasn’t really part of the goodness. But having a world-class performer sultrify (spell check says that isn’t a word…but it so should be) her songs on our stage was good. I like Diana Krall. She’s Canadian. She’s damn elegant and charismatic. I’ve heard her version of The Look Of Love on the radio, turns out I don’t know as much of her music as I thought. I kind of felt a little out of the jazzy-orchestra-improvy loop at times. Was it wrong of me to try to peek at the Guy’s wrist next to me when he checked the time. (He was so darn sneaky about shielding the light to avoid annoying anyone else, that I could never see it). I felt a kinship with Guy though. He was feeling those 100 minutes just like I was. Luckily my wonderful companion enjoyed herself. She knew all of the songs and was oppositely amused that she knew way more Diana Krall than she thought. I guess between the two of us we were an average fan. I was glad to be there…feeling all my primal kinship and all. It was a Sunday-sleepy show. I’m sure the next three nights will not be…sleepy I mean. Maybe it was just that I was sleepy. I’d spent the weekend at my improv troupe’s workshop weekend. Ah what a weekend. Chock full of improv singing, stage combat, the Devil’s Advocates’ Albert Howell and about 7 rounds of werewolfy goodness. Oh and the rain dance. And the scene I did as Mother Superior whose convent isn’t allowed to wear socks. Kay so I was sleepy and Diana was smoky and Guy was sneaky. But really, it was a great way to spend a night out in Kitchener . Karen
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