With those words, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers took to the stage at the Air Canada Centre for an evening that ran through much of his catalogue with Petty promising the crowd that they were going to play as long as possible,”so call your babysitter.”
And play they did, opening things up with a rousing cover of The Byrds’ “So You Want To Be A Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” followed by “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” off of their 1993 Greatest Hits album, bringing me back to a time when people still bought greatest hits albums, probably from Columbia House. Ah, memories.
The production values on this tour were pretty barebones, with little more than a giant white sheet hung up at the back of the stage, making it seem much more like a band jamming together in a small space than a massive rock show, which somehow seems to suit Petty. With nothing too extravagant onstage, the focus was squarely on the music. Except when there wasn’t music to focus on. Midway through new song “Forgotten Man,” the sound cut out. The band played on regardless, with the glitch finally getting worked out near the end of that number. “Can you hear me now?” asked Petty after they finished. “Sorry about that. It’s all electricity, after all.”
Aside from that one mishap, it all sounded fantastic. The Heartbreakers have played together for such a long time (Petty joked at one point that drummer Steve Ferrone is still “the new guy” after 20 years in the band) and it’s always impressive to see the chemistry between such seasoned players onstage. To use Petty’s words in a different context, it’s all electricity.
When introducing his bassist a few songs into his set, Christopher Cross mentioned his various other gigs, which included playing with Suzanne Vega and in the orchestra for Broadway musical Kinky Boots in addition to his time with Cross. “He takes some time out for sex, drugs and rock n roll … not with us. I think that’s with Suzanne.” Yup, as Cross himself admits, he’s not exactly the most raucous on stage but then he never was one for that. While some older musicians mellow with age, Cross was always pretty mellow. He definitely fits within the confines of soft rock, or yacht rock, as much of the smooth rock of the 1970s has come to be known in recent years. And on this evening at the CNE Bandshell, Christopher Cross brought the smooth.
As Cross launched into his 1980 hit “Sailing,” (one of his smoothest and the one whose nautical themes fit best within the genre of yacht rock) images appeared onscreen of water and boats – calming stuff. Smooth. Fine. Then I saw images of kayaks and surfing. No. No, Christopher Cross. This is NOT sailing, this will not do. If the wind is right, I can not sail away and find tranquility on a surfboard. Leave the surfboards to Mike Love. Or Beyonce. Just talk to your video production team, man. Sort this out.
Speaking of songs being matched up with images, Cross mentioned how he offered up his 2000 song “Red Room” to the producers of the 50 Shades Of Grey film because the book also has a red room in it. While the song’s mellow sounds probably don’t quite fit with what the film’s producers might be looking for, the lyrics did seem to vaguely fit … although he has yet to hear back from the 50 Shades people. He did have a song featured on an episode of Growing Pains back in the day though and when he performed “Swept Away,” there were probably a few in the crowd who had fond memories of Kirk Cameron as Mike Seaver romancing a Hawaiian girl. Sadly, however, Cross did not perform the other song he wrote for a show, 30 Rock’s “Lemon’s Theme.”
While “Lemon’s Theme” did not make an appearance, “Arthur’s Theme” most certainly did, coming (as expected) near the end of his set ,though some in the audience might have wanted it earlier. When a fan near the front shouted for either that or one of his other hits, Cross cheekily replied with, “Have you people ever heard of delayed gratification?” Nice one, Chris. Very smooth.
You know that Blue Rodeo has reached iconic Canadiana status when you take a glance at their merch table. Sure, there’s the usual t-shirts, ballcaps, hoodies, posters and albums but there’s also hockey jerseys emblazoned with the band’s name. It doesn’t get more Canadian than that. I’d bet good money that Ron MacLean probably has one of these in his closet.
Another indication of their being a Canadian institution is the fact that for the past several years they’ve been playing their annual summertime shows at the Amphitheatre, with this year’s show being played in promotion of their latest album, In Our Nature.
Along for the ride this year were openers The Deep Dark Woods, who played a good set of folk/country rock that brought to mind The Band, The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers at various points. A somewhat muddy mix did them no favours but they’re still a talented bunch of players and their musicianship shone through regardless.
“Nice to hear you singing so early in the night … you must be drunk,” said Greg Keelor to the crowd after Blue Rodeo opened up their set with “Head Over Heels” and “What Am I Doing Here.”
Yes, this was a crowd that was ready to sing along and when given the chance to take the lead later on in the evening for “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet,” they took it. It’s always great to hear a huge room of people singing along together and Blue Rodeo definitely gave the people plenty of chances to sing along to songs from throughout their catalogue. While songs like “Try,” “Five Days In May,” and set closer “Lost Together” (featuring an appearance from The Deep Dark Woods) were the biggest crowd pleasers, newer tracks like “New Morning Sun” and the classic country sounding “Tell Me Again” stood out as well. There’s a reason these guys are seen by many as a Canadian institution.
Echo and the Bunnymen were in town to promote their new record Meteorites, their first release in five years. The show represented some sort of personal landmark for me. Echo was the first show I went to after moving to Toronto in 2003. At that time, I was a fresh faced youth, with the world in the palms of his hands. Now it’s 11 years later, and I am now the grizzled veteran, looking at the youth with equal parts envy and disdain much like I’m sure how old people looked at me earlier in my lifetime. Only problem was, looking around the Danforth Music Hall, there wasn’t many youthful people for me to look at with displeasure.
You know, I’ve been to a lot of old people shows lately. The last two shows I went to have been Lionel Richie and Echo and The Bunnymen, both of whom were most popular in the eighties, when I was but a little Asian child. How did it get to this? I don’t know. After witnessing Echo & The Bunnymen charm the hell out of the crowd on Tuesday, I will say that I enjoy old people shows.
Reasons why I enjoy old people shows
Relaxed Security
Unfortunately, security guards are a necessity at most shows but their behaviour is often dictated by the crowd. As mentioned in my Lionel Richie review, security guards at old people shows are very nice and friendly. Most of the time they are there to ensure you find your way and also, to save you in case of a heart attack or something. Compare this to a bodyguard at an Odd Future show and you will find a much different attitude.
Personal Space
Old people love their personal space. These are people who for the most part move to places called suburbs where they can put massive patches of grass and wood in between them and other people. At an old person show, everyone has ample room. No one is interested in touching each other for the sake of getting a better view. The view is darn fine wherever they are.
Set times
Musicians who play to old people respect their crowd’s desire to get in a relatively early night. This is not a night at the Hoxton where the DJ shows up at 12:30 on a Tuesday night and plays until 3. Shows of this variety start with an opener at 8, and the main act at 9. The show allows you to go to a nice dinner with friends right after work and also allows you to get home before midnight. Since old people go out rarely, that is probably a big night out (oh mi gosh! we are still up at 11:30 pm!)
Old People
It totally gives me strength to see old people at concerts. I mean my god, if they are still going strong in their 40’s, what excuse do I have for not doing anything? They are having so much fun too. It’s totally inspiring. Most of them were even dancing. As a man who is quickly realizing that you can never escape time, it is definitely a good thing to see. Also, if you are of a friendly nature, you can make friends with the crowd and add them to linkedin after. They might hire you at some point.
Set Lists
Bands that have been around for a long time have very deep discographies. However, by the time a band reaches their third decade in the biz, they know exactly what the template should be. It is this:
Opener: New song
2nd/3rd song(s): Somewhat popular classics (get crowd going)
Next few songs: Mixture of new and old
Last bunch of songs: Singalongs and all time classics.
It’s a proven formula. Let’s take a look at Echo’s set list for the night:
Meteorites – new song
Rescue
Do It Clean
Never Stop
People Are Strange
Seven Seas
Bedbugs And Ballyhoo
Holy Moses – new song
All My Colours
Over The Wall
Constantinople – new song
All That Jazz
Villiers Terrace/Roadhouse Blues
Bring On The Dancing Horses
The Killing Moon
The Cutter
Encore:
Nothing Lasts Forever/Walk On The Wild Side/Don’t Let Me Down/In The Midnight Hour
Lips Like Sugar
Ocean Rain
Perfect execution of a perfect template.
As you can tell by the track list, the show was heavy on the hits. Meteorites is a solid opener to the show and shows an elegant almost orchestral side of Echo. The one thing I didn’t feel too strongly about was the band’s tendency to mute instruments for the choruses on their popular songs to allow for singalongs. I found the volume change to be harsh at times and let’s face it, Echo & the Bunnymen were never really known for their poetry. It seemed odd to mute the sounds that made them popular. The band also may have overestimated the crowd’s ability to sing along to some of the songs. Take the track Bring on the Dancing Horses for example. A great song, but even I don’t have the chorus completely memorized, which led to quite a disappointing singalong, which was amplified by the muted music. Ian Maculloch even took the time to say “That was shite”. The crowd did get it right for The Killing Moon, the band’s most iconic song.
Overall the show was quite good. Ian Maculloch’s voice showed signs of wear and tear but he was able to reign it in for the hits. That’s all that really matters anyway, and the crowd went home happy. The show ended at 10:45 and I was home at 11. A perfectly acceptable adult night out.
