(Beatles for Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul)
Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto
August 15, 2008
by Live Music Head
Leaning on the sound board I'm captivated
Elvis Presley is singing
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Walking in from the side door I was immediately drawn
To the image of the King on the big screen
Although there are many folks milling about
The atmosphere is quiet and hushed as we listened to My Way
And I begin to remember watching his funeral procession on television
When the king of rock and roll passed away thirty one years ago tomorrow
"whether you're black or white
whether you're country, red-neck or a freak
young or old
from moscow to london or memphis
elvis presley will still be the king of rock and roll to me"
~ a young man speaks to a television camera pressed to his face on the day Elvis died
Moving closer to the front of the Phoenix stage we gather
As the producer of the classic albums live series
And a representative from our local radio station
Take the stage with their bag of goodies
And my friend Luke gets thrown a Q107 baseball cap
"put it on backwards", I tell him
And suddenly he looks like a rapper
I Feel Fine kicked off round two of the Beatle mini-marathon
When Mac arrived carrying his own bag of goodies
I was handed a burned copy of the Zappa Plays Zappa performance
From the Gathering of the Vibes festival
A nice addition this will be for my music collection
But along with this came a plastic cup
Hitting me in the left hip before I felt the beer pouring down to my feet below
I seem to attract these types of bar room accidents
Much to my annoyance
But I wasn't annoyed for long
When the words to my first favourite song of the night were heard
"This happened once before,
When I came to your door,
No Reply"
Looking over at Darryl standing beside me
Like us
In the same spot as last week
For the love of Beatle music
And Vanessa pasted front row and centre
Happy as a bug dancing away in her Beatle cap
Marty Morin plays harp on I'm a Loser
And Marty Morin is Rock and Roll Music
And we love Marty Morin
Marcus Garrison gives great organ
And Joe Power blows me away singing the intro to Mr Moonlight
I thought I lost a few brain cells somewhere since the original marathon
Because I don't recall Joe Power sounding so incredibly like John Lennon
But it's not my brain, is it?
Joe just didn't sing as much on the original show, right?
My god the singing is so good
Terrance Gowan blows me away on Kansas City
And again on I'm Down
He does a great Paul McCartney on vocals and guitar
All the singing is so f%^&king good
"When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors"
The song Help! means more to me today than ever
And it's the second song I was anxious to hear on this night
The band plays it so well that
I'm in love
I'm in love with this band
Head over heals totally in love
Listening to them harmonize
And the back up vocals on songs like The Night Before
Just looking at them
Has me announcing, "I want to take them all home"
I want to take the entire band home after the show
Wrap them up in blankets and feed them chunky soup with a big spoon"
"Hey!"
"Hey!", I say, laughing
At the memory of Luke yelling out a request for
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away at a Greg Wyard gig a while back
Try yelling out this request in a crowded bar room and not laugh
Especially when the one yelling it sounds like Captain James T Kirk
Braxton Hicks arrives on stage to play his flute for this song
And it was played perfectly of course
I loved the bald headed guitar on I Need You
Russell Gray rocks
And Luke and Mac are being the rock and roll boys they are
Displaying their incredible gift of air guitar
"thru thick and thin she will always be my friend"
You got that right
Marty's percussion was thrilling
As was the bald headed guitar and the back up vocals for
You're Gonna Lose That Girl
Before heading to the country to Act Naturally
With Doug Inglis providing the back beat
I'm so in love with this band
I'd like to hire them all to play on my yacht
How many of you would join me to sail the sea
With this band playing the baby Beatles under a full moon?
If I only had a yacht
My docs are sticking to the beer spillage
Making it difficult to Drive My Car
Loving the "ooh la la la" for You Won't See Me
I reach for the bottled water from a friendly bartender
Wearing a blue t-shirt tight across his muscular chest
I think he should be on my yacht too
To serve the Beatle band St Peter's Organic English Ale
"Say the word and you'll be free
Say the word and be like me
Say the word I'm thinking of
Have you heard the word is love?"
What a groovy butt shaker that number was
I loved it
I loved it
I absolutely loved it
"Is there anybody going to listen to my story
All about the girl who came to stay?
She's the kind of girl you want so much
It makes you sorry
Still you don't regret a single day"
Shivers ran up my spine and my nipples rose to attention
Every time Michael Daley sucked in air
I loved it
I loved it
I absolutely f*^%ing loved it
But my third highlight of the night would have to be
Mike Daley singing
"You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end'a little girl"
Mac's displaying his love of the guitar riff on Paperback Writer
Before the Rain comes
Toronto has been saturated with rain this summer
And the song Rain brings this show to an end
Another great night for music lovers at the Phoenix
But it didn't really end here because coming back from the ladies room
I was excited to discover the funk I was hearing
Had visuals of James Brown on the big screen
I love James Brown
How can anyone not stop to watch in amazement
The shaky leg of James Brown
As he shimmies across the stage in that tight blue jumpsuit?
I thought I'd seen this video before
Yet Bo Diddley's performance of Mannish Boy was unfamiliar
As was the footage of Ray Charles
Having had this video to keep us in the club longer than usual
Gave us the opportunity to be there for a chat with the Mighty Joe Power
After the big screen grew dark
I enjoyed our chat
And Mrs Weejoepee is as cute as a button
Thanks again to the good looking band in black
For bringing the warm and fuzzies to all us Beatle fans
On another damp and rainy summer night in Toronto
www.classicalbumslive.com
