Thursday, October 23, 2008

Jeff Healey – A Celebration

Jeff Healey ~ A Celebration
The Sound Academy, Toronto
May 3, 2008
by Live Music Head

It's raining on the Docks
while we wait for the show to start.
And the room is filling up quickly.
We're gathering to honour
the late great Jeff Healey tonight.
And soon the Jazz Wizards will take the stage.
As the red curtain opens,
my eye immediately falls upon
Drew Jurecka from the Hogtown Syncopators.
He's on stage playing his fiddle and it sounds great.
A couple songs in and the band dedicates
a lovely Stardust to Jeff.
Another Syncopator then joins the stage,
the adorable Terra Hazelton.
It got pretty steamy when
she belted out the dirty Long John Blues.
Oh mama was that sexy, or what?
Yes, I really liked that!
Perhaps I'll slip out now and check my jacket
because suddenly it's really hot in here.
Grabbing a drink on my way back,
I notice the crowd is getting tight.
I'm inching closer to the spot I left,
or at least I think I am.
The congestion is great and it's making me cranky.
Up ahead I see Drew fighting his way
thru the traffic jam, coming toward me.
Obviously the band finished their set in my absence.
"that was great Drew,
and your fiddle sounded wonderful!"
,
I say as he squeezes by.
But now I've come to a standstill.
Danny Marks is hitting the stage
and I can't see a damn thing.
I'm too old for this.
And I hate that I'm too old for this.
There's a cute couple beside me, looking my way.
I point toward the thick of it.
"I have a friend in there", I say
"so do we", they reply, feeling my pain.
I knew this would happen.
I found myself in the very same
situation last time I was here.
For the Q107 anniversary party
when Max Webster was headlining.
That was a very tight crowd.
Danny is sounding good and supplying
a great soundtrack to my hell.
Yes, this is hell.
But then I remember Jeff, and why we're here today.
Breathe.
Breathe, I tell myself.
What's that?
A crack in the crowd?
In the direction I need to go?
Good thing I'm small enough to slip through.
I soon found myself back at our spot, swearing.
Mr Marks has finished his set,
and I didn't even lay eyes upon him.
Was he dressed in black?
As Downchild Blues takes the stage,
"Flip Flop Fly, don't care if I die"
someone is giving really good organ.
"don't ever leave me, don't ever say goodbye!"
That rocked.
Hey,
Doug Inglis is sitting high
on the kit as Goddo takes over.
Suddenly we have some space to move Under My Hat.
Seems to be a good spot for now
to listen to this guy who's talking about Jeff.
Remembering the 25,000 78 records he had,
"you could pull any one of those 78s off the shelf
and Jeff would tell you where the vinyl was pressed
simply by running his thumb over the groove."

Incredible.
After shaking it for Stuck in the Middle With You,
Jerome Godboo took the stage
and he's looking so rock star.
A monkey, prancing around while belting out
One Foot in the Gravel, One Foot in the Grave.
Heavy, and I like it.
"Now who's this guy?" , I ask
"Alan Frew", I'm told, "from Glass Tiger"
"Oh"
And he's singing Imagine.
I'm a big John Lennon fan, of course, isn't everyone?
But I'm not appreciating this song
right now as much as I should.
Perhaps I've heard it too many times?
Or perhaps it's Frew.
Or perhaps it's me.
Alannah Miles is up next
and there seems to be much fussing on the stage.
She looks like a witch.
And when she starts to sing,
it's a struggle to listen to.
Although I was moving my hips to
the grooviness of Black Velvet,
I was glad when the singing stopped.
The voice just wasn't up to par.
Matt Minglewood,
from the good old east coast was up next.
And his band belted out a good rocking set.
But I'm starting to get pretty bored
with all this c**k rock.
So many boys with guitars,
one after the other.
"Wanna go hang out back for a while?", I ask
"No, I can't move from here until after Blue Rodeo."
But it doesn't look like they're up next, dammit.
It's another boy with a guitar by the looks of it.
Oh god.
And just then, I feel the spray.
That guy with the beer can just doused me.
One thing I hate more than getting squished in a crowd,
is having beer spilled on me.
F**k!
Is Molson Canadian good for my hair?
Doubtful.
A hand reaches toward me in apology,
but I'm not very forgiving.
But my misery doesn't last long
because holy mother of god,
the boy wonder, Jimmy Bowskill
just gave the most awesome
rendition of I Can't Quit You Babe.
This was definitely the highlight of the show so far.
Fortunately the mirror didn't show the brewery
that I most certainly must smell like.
But now it's raining rock stars again.
Guitar god Tony Springer steps up
and I'm remembering years ago
when I was uptown at Paddy's bar
for the Springer Sunday jam.
He was going off to play with
David Bowie around that time.
Chatting with him back then,
I say "you're a star now".
To which Tony replies, "everyone's a star, baby".
Ha!
"there must be some kind of way outta here…"
The emotional part of the show arrived
when Jeff's wife Cristie took the stage.
A lump rose in my throat
listening to her speak of her husband.
The man was only forty after all, younger than me.
A father, and a great talent.
He should've had many more years to give, but
"there's a light…
a certain kind of light…"

Is that the Bee Gees I'm hearing?
Seriously?
The curtain has parted to reveal Acoustic Rodeo
and they've opened with To Love Somebody.
Lovely!
And a nice break from all the wankage.
"The Bee Gees are in my top 5 man, top 5!"
"I'm a man
Can't you see that I am…"

This is definitely highlight number two.
"What was the name of that spa you went to?"
"You mean the one I ran around naked in all day?"
, I say
"Yes"
"Body Blitz, I think"
"Cuddy's wife owns it"
"Oh"

After this set,
I'm surprised to see Steve Anthony on the stage.
He was a blast to watch on Breakfast Television many moons ago.
And he's still looking pretty good as he introduces Colin James.
But I need a break from all these blues guitarists.
We head for the back and find drummer Doug Inglis at the bar.
"Great to see you up there on the kit.
Obviously you're not down east on Abbey Road.
But tell me,
what's it like playing state-side with Classic Albums Live?"
The popularity of the series in Florida is impressive,
They love you there, huh?"

Mr Inglis proceeds to give me a very animated description
of his experience playing
Sgt Pepper with a symphony orchestra at the Hard Rock.
Thanks for sharing that mister, and now I wish I'd been there.
And thanks to David Wilcox for the soundtrack to our conversation.
He was sounding good, as was Randy Bachman.
"you ain't seen nnnnnnothin' yet".
But now its time for Jack Bruce.
I've never had a live experience with Cream,
so I was delighted to hear Sunshine of Your Love.
Feeling sorry my brother wasn't here
because he would've loved this.
We're standing by the sound board
and I'm grateful for the wonderful
job they're doing with it.
Sittin on Top of the World was so good,
so very good, as was Manic Depression.
The Jack Bruce set, in its entirety,
was the third highlight of the night.
Just when I was thinking,
what is my favourite Cream song anyway?
And then, I kid you not, they went straight into it.
Born Under a Bad Sign.
"if it weren't for f***king bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!"
Thank you Jack.
Ian Gillan was up next.
And I think it's a given we'll hear Smoke on the Water.
"I'm leaving if we do", I'm told
Clearly she's heard this song too many times,
or maybe she just doesn't like it.
I'm not much of a Deep Purple fan either,
but hey, it's classic rock and
Lazy is sounding way cool on those keys!
"Didn't Ian Gillan sing with
Jesus Christ Superstar a few decades back?"

The show is coming to a close now,
and perhaps we should head out before the rush.
You can almost bet there'll be an all-star jam.
I'm not much for all-star finales.
So we did.
Leave.
Out into the refreshing night air.
It was a great night,
a long one at six hours.
And an emotional roller coaster,
remembering who we lost.
Thank you Jeff Healey for all your work.
And your musical friends who celebrated your life tonight.
You are clearly loved and will be sadly missed.
But never forgotten.
RIP


http://www.sound-academy.com/
http://www.jeffhealey.com/