As I blogged last year, Andrew and I like to attend the Vinyl Cafe Christmas Concert with Stuart Mclean, which tours around Canada every year. We don't go to any other Christmas concerts throughout the season, so this is sort of our one chance to tap into the holiday spirit (aside from being bombarded by advertisements, and mall music--thankfully we're pretty much done with that for this year). The concert also isn't an overload of Christmas. The musical guests only preform 2 or 3 times each, and they don't necessarily sing Christmas tunes, and the 'Dave and Morely' stories (the main reason why I love listening to the Vinyl Cafe) aren't always on a holiday theme. It's a good time, and an afternoon well spent, I think.
So, what can I tell you about the show? I enjoyed it. I laughed heartily throughout. I wished it didn't have to end, but as all good things must, it did. First, I'll make a quick mention of the musical guests: Matt Anderson (brought back from last year due to popular demand), and Jackie Richardson. As noted last year, Matt has an extremely powerful voice. It fills a large auditorium like the Jubilee without difficulty, although I think this year he was a little toned down (for the better). He sang a gospel tune in the first act (thanks to my somewhat 'Swiss cheese' memory I can't recall if it was a Christmas song, or if it was a regular gospel song) but the second song was 'O Holy Night.' My one beef with Matt is that he walked onto stage in bare feet and tattered jeans--it just seemed a little unprofessional. I can't remember what he wore last year, but I would have been happier if his pants had been hemmed and there were shoes on his feet.
I looked around for information on Jackie Richardson, but was surprised to find that Google had little help for me (I could only find a few articles regarding specific events, and an unhelpful MySpace page). From the intro given to her during the show, she's well known in the jazz/blue/gospel scene, has sung back up for Ray Charles and opened for Tina Turner (I think...that Swiss cheese memory acting up again). She was good. Her voice was full, and rich, and low. I kept thinking of the line from Spaceballs: 'So she's a bass,' not to say she was a bass--my ear isn't good enough to pick out a singer range--but I would guess her to be a contralto. Her rendition of (You make me feel) Like a natural woman was powerful and she seems to be an expert at the singing/talking thing that some performers do during intro's to songs. Overall, she was great.
Now for Stuart. What is there to say about Stuart McLean? For anyone who's listened to the Vinyl Cafe you know he has a unique delivery style that if you tried to punctuate on a page as he speaks, would violate grammatical rules left, right, and centre (not that I'm a grammar guru...). Yet his dramatic pauses and stammers some how manage to captivate listeners. The Jubilee Auditorium was full on Sunday, December 5th, and despite the musical guests, people were there to see and hear Stuart. Three stories were read that afternoon, plus an extra special segment where he sped-told seven stories in eleven minutes (approximately). I won't tell you much about the stories, that would ruin the experience if you're a regular listener, and the new Christmas story should air during the last radio show before the 25th. Two of the stories were Christmas themed (one old, one new), and the third was a wonderful tale about Dave going to visit an old buddy in the hospital and well...getting into trouble (this Dave we're talking about).
The speed-telling section was a neat segment. As the first act closed Stuart announced that the show was a few minutes short, so he needed people to request stories for him to speed-tell. A bucket was placed in the lobby during intermission and audience members were allowed to make suggestions. As act two opened, Stuart came out with John Sheer (piano) and Denis Pendrith (bass). The deal was Stuart would pull out audience suggestions and the musicians would come up with something to play as accompaniment. Many of the stories asked for were my own favourites including, Dave Toilet Trains the Cat, and Home Repairs. When Stuart read out the request for Dave buys a coffin, John Sheer began to play 'Little Boxes' (a song I'm not familiar with, but it was a cheerful sounding tune). Stuart remarked he was expecting something more somber, at which point John switched the song to a minor key. Again Stuart quipped, that he meant mournful, not Slavic, something hopeful. What was played next? When you wish upon a star. *grin*
Ciao,
Andrea
Showing posts with label Vinyl Cafe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vinyl Cafe. Show all posts
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The annual Christmas show
For several years now, Andrew and I have attended the Vinyl Cafe's Christmas show (although we missed last year's). If you've never heard of the Vinyl Cafe, it's a one hour radio show that runs on CBC 2 on Saturday at 9:00 am and on CBC 1 at 12:00 pm. The show is hosted by Stuart McLean and features music from up and coming Canadian artists, and stories, some by Stuart, some by audience members who have written to Stuart. When you see the show live, it's a little like a variety performance, I suppose. Stuart will talk a little (okay, maybe a lot), and various musical guests will play in between, and usually there's at least one group number. It's a great deal of fun. Stuart's stories are often quite humours, and the musicians are often quite good.
This year's show (this past Sunday) got off to a bit of a slow start. Andrew and I made it to the theatre with about 15 minutes to spare, which was our plan, although the other 2 members of our party whom we were meeting there were running late, due to traffic. Many other people were running late, due to traffic too. We were sitting in the theatre wondering when the show was going to start when an unassuming figure walked out onto the stage. It was Stuart and he had heard that there was a huge line up for the parking garage with he figured, people yelling: "I told you we should have left earlier" at each other. So, for about 15 minutes he took questions from the audience. The first couple, very basic: What is your shoe size (10), and how old are you (it has a 6 in it). Then we got to hear about Georgie Murphy and how Stuart only ever kissed the air between him and her, and then Stuart told us his favourite story about Peter Gzowski (involving a charity bucket for Tourette's Syndrome).
After that the show really did start. The lights went down Stuart came out again (wearing a vest and jacket this time) and the fun began. A word about the musicians first. This year's musical guests were Jill Barber, and Matt Anderson. I'd heard of Jill Barber before, she's played fairly often on the CBC. She has an interesting, quivery (as opposed to vibrato) voice that's reminiscent of female singers from the 1940s and 1950s. I think I like the slightly anachronistic quality of her style of music, as many of her songs sound like they should be playing on an radio with the whole family sitting around listening. The second artist was Matt Anderson. I'd never heard of him before, but WOW. That man has a voice that easily filled the entire Jubilee Auditorium. He was called back out onto the stage after both of his performances. I purchased both of their CD and listened to them on after we got home.
Stuart told 3 Dave and Morely stories during the show. The first was a re-tell of one of his older Christmas stories: Polly Anderson's Christmas Party. I've heard this one a couple of times before, but it's still enjoyable to hear again. The second story seemed to only have a fleeting glace at Christmas, beginning with a simple bike given as a gift one year to Ted Anderson. The rest must have happened several years after the Christmas gift and in the spring or summer. It described how Ted, after being given a basic 3-speed, had grown to love biking. The final story, again had less to do directly with Christmas, and more about a surprise gift that led to Stephanie's love for reading. I really enjoyed this story. It wasn't silly or ridiculous like many Dave and Morely stories are, it was just wonderful. I won't give anything else away, but the current year's Christmas concert is usually played on the CBC the weekend before Christmas. Listen in for a good time.
Finally, as a Beatles fan, since I've written a post for today anyway, I just want to note that today is the 29th anniversary of John Lennon's death. Imagine.
Ciao,
Andrea
This year's show (this past Sunday) got off to a bit of a slow start. Andrew and I made it to the theatre with about 15 minutes to spare, which was our plan, although the other 2 members of our party whom we were meeting there were running late, due to traffic. Many other people were running late, due to traffic too. We were sitting in the theatre wondering when the show was going to start when an unassuming figure walked out onto the stage. It was Stuart and he had heard that there was a huge line up for the parking garage with he figured, people yelling: "I told you we should have left earlier" at each other. So, for about 15 minutes he took questions from the audience. The first couple, very basic: What is your shoe size (10), and how old are you (it has a 6 in it). Then we got to hear about Georgie Murphy and how Stuart only ever kissed the air between him and her, and then Stuart told us his favourite story about Peter Gzowski (involving a charity bucket for Tourette's Syndrome).
After that the show really did start. The lights went down Stuart came out again (wearing a vest and jacket this time) and the fun began. A word about the musicians first. This year's musical guests were Jill Barber, and Matt Anderson. I'd heard of Jill Barber before, she's played fairly often on the CBC. She has an interesting, quivery (as opposed to vibrato) voice that's reminiscent of female singers from the 1940s and 1950s. I think I like the slightly anachronistic quality of her style of music, as many of her songs sound like they should be playing on an radio with the whole family sitting around listening. The second artist was Matt Anderson. I'd never heard of him before, but WOW. That man has a voice that easily filled the entire Jubilee Auditorium. He was called back out onto the stage after both of his performances. I purchased both of their CD and listened to them on after we got home.
Stuart told 3 Dave and Morely stories during the show. The first was a re-tell of one of his older Christmas stories: Polly Anderson's Christmas Party. I've heard this one a couple of times before, but it's still enjoyable to hear again. The second story seemed to only have a fleeting glace at Christmas, beginning with a simple bike given as a gift one year to Ted Anderson. The rest must have happened several years after the Christmas gift and in the spring or summer. It described how Ted, after being given a basic 3-speed, had grown to love biking. The final story, again had less to do directly with Christmas, and more about a surprise gift that led to Stephanie's love for reading. I really enjoyed this story. It wasn't silly or ridiculous like many Dave and Morely stories are, it was just wonderful. I won't give anything else away, but the current year's Christmas concert is usually played on the CBC the weekend before Christmas. Listen in for a good time.
Finally, as a Beatles fan, since I've written a post for today anyway, I just want to note that today is the 29th anniversary of John Lennon's death. Imagine.
Ciao,
Andrea
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