It might be a while before we're all packed back into a concert venue or at a festival in a field somewhere watching live music. And that sucks. But one thing this layoff has given me the chance to do is think about some of the awesome shows I've seen over the years and the memories I have of them.
I've pulled a bunch of them into a list, and today I've got three of them here with the reasons (I believe) they were so great and why they remain memorable to me.
If you've got shows that you can close your eyes and still hear, or picture the artists on stage, leave a comment telling us who it was and what made it special to you too!
Foo Fighter - Scotiabank Place, Ottawa - March 19, 2008
Echos, Silence, Patience & Grace TourOpeners: Against Me!, Hi-Fi Hand Grenades
I've been a fan for a long time, a lot of people have, so when the opportunity came up for my friend Megan and I to get tickets to see Dave and the band at Scotiabank Place (now Canadian Tire Centre) I jumped on it and was excited all the way to concert day.
The concert that March night was exactly what I'd always hoped it would be. There were huge smash-hit songs, surprises, a stage that came out of the rafters and landed at the end of the catwalk. We got Dave playing Everlong solo so that thousands of us could sing along and be heard before the whole band came in and turned it into something full and loud and amazing to finish it off. Hell, even the triangle solo got me going.
12 years later I can't tell you what section our seats were in, and I have to look at Setlist.fm to see exactly what songs the band played. But man, I don't forget the way I felt, or the energy in that suburban hockey arena as one of the biggest rock bands in the world filled the place with sound and put a smile on my face that stretched from ear to ear.
The balance between electric and acoustic was well executed. The showmanship of Dave Grohl as a frontman was all I'd been told about and then some.
I didn't have much cash for merch that night (or many nights then), but I did buy a pair of Foo Fighters socks that I wore until they fell apart. I loved them. I love the band. I loved that show.
JJ Shiplett - The Dakota Tavern, Toronto - March 3, 2016
Canadian Music WeekCMW 2016 Spotlight: JJ Shiplett
Canadian Music Week is always a great time to discover new music, and in March 2016, we got that opportunity when hit the stage at The Dakota Tavern.
Sometimes, when you see a new act playing a late-night show in a small venue, it can be really clear that they're fresh to the opportunity. Especially when they (at the time) the audience at large had access to one song and video in wide release.
However, JJ Shiplett and his band took the stage and instead showed that they were tight, prepared, and pros.
That night we got our first taste of a voice that is as unique as any in Canadian music. You can call it country or roots or somewhere in between - but that really doesn't matter much. In that live setting, we were drawn to the sweetness and vulnerability when JJ slowed things down with songs like Always For You and we were amped up with him and singing along when they picked up the tempo and got the crowd involved on Something To Believe In.
You know the old saying, you never forget your first. And while we've been able to see JJ Shiplett a bunch of times since that March night in 2016, that CMW showcase, with the post-midnight start time in a crowded basement venue packed with music lovers, stays memorable.
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The Cadillac Three - Boots & Bourbon Saloon, Toronto - October 26, 2017
Special Showcase EventDang If We Didn't: The Cadillac Three Take Toronto
Country music is great live. Rock and roll is great live. fit somewhere in between with southern country roots, loud and rowdy rock and roll tendencies, and a willingness to straddle the two as they see fit.
Less than a week after we'd seen TC3 open for Dallas Smith in Oshawa on his Side Effects Tour, we saw them again - this time in the back of Boots & Bourbon Saloon in Toronto, on a small stage with a small crowd, and a lot of volume.
This concert stands out as a great memory because of the show the boys put on, but also because we sat down with them for an interview beforehand too. It was the first time that we'd met the band, and having the chance to sit with them, talk about music and their career and family and stuff was a great bonus.
And when they did hit the stage, holy cow!
We've been to a lot of small shows for contest winners that had a meet & greet and four to six songs, often stripped down. This was not that. The Cadillac Three played 10 songs in their set, they played at full volume, they got sweaty, they had drinks, and they put on the kind of show that fans were used to in an arena - in a setting at least 10x smaller. They connected with the fans. They played and sang their hearts out, and they earned every cheer and scream and round of applause they got.
We'd seen them before and we've seen them since. But we'd bet that we'll never see The Cadillac Three like we did that night in Toronto.
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