The concert meme

Darko once wondered if I wouldn’t indulge him a list like this. I can’t recall how or why I fended off his advances on this matter, but I know I resisted. Oh well, better late than never — 

First concert — I was born into the Mennonite Church. I imagine I was present for at least three Christmas concerts before I performed in my first. But the first concert I bought tickets for with my own money was a Christian band from Kelowna called Quickflight, in the fall of '80. It was a crazy good show, actually — very of-the-moment New Wave. Gary Numan was clearly an influence, as was DEVO and Rick Ocasek. It can’t have been an expensive show to put on, but they found ways to juice up the drama with back-lighting and judicious use of the fogger. Just before the concert ended, one of the singers took the mic, paused, then sighed deeply and said, “You know we’re Christian, right?” Audience cheers. “Well, I’m not really sure what I could possibly add to that.” Two more songs and done. For the next five or six years I went to every Christian rock show that came to town. Nobody touched Quickflight. Fun fact: Quickflight founder Ric deGroot (who I suspect offered the reluctant “testimony”) later joined Strange Advance.

Last concert — Los Lobos at Koerner Hall, February 22, 2020. Cesar Rosas was MIA, and another band member was in questionable condition. But boy howdy, drummer Enrique “Bugs” González hit the kit like he couldn’t believe he was getting paid for it. By evening’s end the band brought the house down. My wife and I still talk about it.

Worst concert — a difficult category to pin down. I’ve seen performers show up in a bad mood and leave in the same condition or worse; performers and audiences misunderstand each other; performers fight a losing battle with gremlins, etc . . . and most of these shows still rate as something I’m glad I attended. I’ve only left one concert early, though, and that was Steven Wilson at Toronto Opera House, November 26, 2018. No fault of Wilson and Co. — it was I who had arrived in a bad mood, and left in worse.

Loudest concert — no idea. When ear-plugs became easily obtainable in the early 90s I used them without exception, later switching up to these fine and affordable sonic filters. I’ll go with Meshuggah, though, just to reinforce their rep.

Seen the most — David Lindley, with or without El Rayo-Ex. Through the mid-80s into the 90s Lindley enjoyed playing the Winnipeg Folk Festival and could even be financially enticed to mid-winter concerts in the drafty Playhouse Theatre.

Most surprising — my first John Prine concert.

Best concert — again, how am I supposed to call this one? But I am most grateful I caught Steely Dan in '14, particularly since Walter died a mere three years later.

Next concert — I still wonder if I mightn’t enjoy the Festival International du Blues de Tremblant. Or Rammstein.

Wish I coulda seen — Devin Townsend, in his perpetual state of “Honesty Tourette’s Syndrome,” admitted in a recentish interview that over the years backing tracks and click-tracks had reduced his show to “pantomime . . . a karaoke version of what [I was] doing.” The post-Empath concerts were going to be different, and the second leg of the journey would include Strapping Young Lad material and other early stuff, all live, with improvisations from a rotating cast that included band members from Haken, who were warming up the show for him. Basically he out-and-out acknowledged every single misgiving I felt after the very first DTP concert I attended. There was no earthly way I could make it to the February 27 show, and honestly the concert setlist isn’t quite what I envisioned it might be, so I have no regrets — except that everything shut down two weeks later. And now here we are.

Patiently waiting.