Category Music
Bachman At Bluesfest
When you’ve been making hits for 50 years it seems somehow unfair to the fans to only be given an hour to play those tunes. It gets even more complicated when you are still releasing records and want to showcase that new, less familiar, material in your concert. Such was Randy Bachman’s plight at the […]
A Tough Act To Be
It must be tough to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and still be on the road bringing the music to your fans every night. There are expectations of you and your show, expectations that you have to meet to keep the paying customers happy. People want to hear the familiar tunes. […]
Bluesfest – When All Choices Are Bad (or Good)
Blue Rodeo are Canadian comfort food, part of the fabric of our national existence. That may be overstating things just a bit, but they are one of Canada’s most beloved musical acts, and can be considered a national treasure. If you are not Canadian you may never have heard of Blue Rodeo despite the band […]
Random Thoughts from Buesfest I
I tend to graze at music festivals, nibble a bit of this act or that performer and move on after a couple of songs. I’ll only stay longer if they manage to grab my attention. The 2015 edition of RBC Ottawa Bluesfest started Wednesday night and I have been grazing the music on offer. Here […]
Welcome to Bluesfest – No Blues Required
Ottawa’s biggest annual music festival, the RBC Ottawa Bluesfest started last night. Each year I waffle: is buying a festival pass worth the expense? There are 11 day of music, but a lot of artists I don’t care for. Would I be better off just buying a day pass for the shows I really want […]
Music Month Begins
July is for me usually the busiest month of the year in terms of seeing live music. Ottawa has a number festivals, including the RBC Bluesfest, which features hundreds of acts (and where you have to try really hard to find a blues performer). So you can expect a lot of thoughts on the music […]
The Surprise
My friend Mike loves his wife. That is not surprising. After all, he is a Christian and there is a biblical element there. But he likes to go the extra mile (another biblical reference if you missed it) and think big. So when he phoned me and said he wanted to do something special for […]
Taking Centre Stage
She took the evening off from her day job with the geriatric geezers who don’t rock every night anymore. On this night, at the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival she was centre stage, not 20 feet from stardom. Immediately after the show she flew to Pittsburg to rejoin the Rolling Stones, who she has toured with […]
Refugees III – We Are One
Theoretically I am back home, though it is tough to say for sure since I am posting this before I leave. With the effects of jet lag expected and no time to write while I was gone, I thought i should have something ready to go, so I held off on posting this song before […]
Warped in Montreal – The Daycare
It was a decade ago, and I was much too old for it, but I took in a stop on the annual Vans Warped Tour when it came to Montreal. It was part of being a good dad. My teenaged son had some bands he wanted to see. My wife and daughter were away; I […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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