Music to keep you warm

1/30/2007

“This is the warmest place I’ve been all day.”
—Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy, at The Old Roxy last week
It was cold last Thursday night, the kind of crunchy cold where you hear every crackle, creak and groan; the kind of cold where you’re careful not to go outside and lick any aluminum, not that you would in the first place.
It was considerably warmer inside The Old Roxy, where the great Canadian band Blue Rodeo was heating things up on stage. The oldtimers might say the band was “really cooking”, but that would make you sound too much like a “hip cat”, or someone who licks aluminum.
Blue Rodeo is no stranger to The Old Roxy, and the band seems to really enjoy a good January concert in the intimate and friendly confines of our local theatre. It almost seems as if the boys use it as a tune up for the year; a way to shake off the holiday dust, put the music machine in high gear, and take aim at the long months ahead.
You get a little bit of everything at a Blue Rodeo show, and the band has been playing well enough long enough to really know how to fill a stage with sound and energy.
They know how to wring emotion out of song, and make the listener feel it. They know how to rock, and how to lift a crowd up and carry it along. They also know how to throw in a few country twangers, with a slice of levity, to ensure there is a little bit of something for everyone.
The band even read a note addressed to a Mount Forest principal, asking him to excuse young so-and-so from school on Friday because he was up late at the concert. If there is a better reason than that for a young person to lose some sleep, or his homework, I would like to hear it.
They even threw in a jazz number or two last Thursday, for those out there who think jazz is important. It isn’t, unless you happen to be playing jazz, and then I’ll bet it is wonderful fun for all the hip cats and aluminum lickers.
When Greg Keelor toned it down for a quiet solo, the addicts took it as their cue to huddle together outside for a smoke break. The band didn’t even seem to mind, as if they were clearing their throats for the night’s big finish.
And what impressed me most was the remarkable work of Blue Rodeo’s longtime bass player Bazil Donovan.
Front men Cuddy and Keelor get the lion’s share of Blue Rodeo’s spotlight, and always have, but Bazil is the spine that props that band up and keeps it humming along. His contribution should not be overlooked.
I have had the good fortune to see Blue Rodeo perform live and in concert before, and they never fail to impress.
The strange part is, I don’t even own a Blue Rodeo CD or have any of their music rat holed away in my collection, save for a few live cuts. They are the type of band that really should be seen live, as most of the good ones are.
The Tragically Hip. Great Big Sea. Sam Roberts. 54 40. On a good day, maybe even Stompin’ Tom Connors. Acts like these are born and bred to play live music. If you have a chance to see them, think twice before passing it up.
Winter in Canada can get pretty hard sometimes.
Good thing we have our music to keep us warm.