(Pictures are posted in the next message. Some of them aren't bad.)

I drove to Sydney yesterday and met up with a friend from library school, who had gotten tickets to this show. It was supposed to feature several local acts, Matt Mays & El Torpedo (you may have heard me mention them??) Blue Rodeo (sigh) and Alfie Zappacosta, who had one big hit in the 80s but now all I can remember about him is his hair.

We arrived during the set of one of the local acts, who played nice folkie music with a cover of a Bruce Guthro song (my friend said he sounded so much like Bruce it was sort of weird) and one Tragically Hip song ("Ahead By A Century.") He explained that he usually covers "Try" by Blue Rodeo, but given the lineup for the evening he thought that might be tactless. It was one of those nice "hi to the wife and kids" performances. I won't be buying his CD, but if he was playing a bar I'd go applaud.

The next act we saw was a Cape Breton gal named Carmen (I think) Townsend. She came out with a bass player and a drummer. Lesley, my friend, and I immediately got into an argument about whether a particular quaver in her voice was more Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. After conferring, we realized we were both right. Anyway, she was a good guitarist with an interesting voice and an attractive stage presence, and she was thrilled pink to be in on the event. Her CD I'd buy.

She ended her set with the announcement that she was giving way to one of the best new bands in Canada (by which I assumed she did not mean Alfie Zappacosta) and "I don't care if they're right here, I'll say it to their faces!" (I kind of like it when someone forthrightly says something nice right to your face instead of something hateful.)

At this point Les and I looked at each other and agreed that either Alfie had opened or he was higher on the bill than Matt Mays, which I found kind of embarrassing. Lesley was impressed when Tim, El Torpedo's drummer, came out and set up his own kit--he seems to like to sit down and arrrange things so he can reach everything. And may I add for the record that I'm wildly impressed by his drumkit, which is the size of one of those eensy practice kits and out of which he gets a whole lot of wonderful noise? (Insert own off-colour joke about how size doesn't matter here.) He's a pretty tall guy, probably six foot three, and I will admit he looks sort of funny looming over that little kit. The kit is not noticeably intimidated.

We'd already been aware of El Torpedo's movements, since Troy the road manager was visible in the area behind the stage. When a big grey van with tinted windows pulled up into that area and Troy went to meet it, I'm afraid the fangirl in me perked up considerably. Sure enough, Jarrett was driving and Tim and Rob, the new keyboardist whose surname I still don't know, got out. A minute later Troy and Jarrett reappeared dragging the gear trailer and hooked it up to the van, after which the musicians and the manager could be seen wandering around behind the stage. Matt arrived a little later in a car driven by what looked like a local volunteer, and almost immediately headed for the harbour itself. You know how water draws people.

The van, incidentally, looks newer than the one in the CD liner notes or the promo video Sonic Entertainment released to the Web. Which is good, since I understand the old one broke down on them a couple of times early in the tour. It seems to have been either been refurbished or replaced. Or, come to think of it, maybe just washed.

Anyway, they got set up and the band ambled onstage as the MC was introducing them. The set list, as well as I can recall, went like this:

Stand Down At Sundown
What Are We Gonna Do Come the Month of September
City Of Lakes
It Don't Matter
On the Hood
Cocaine Cowgirl
Time Of Your Life

It was easier to hear the in-between-songs chat this time because I wasn't right next to a speaker--Matt started off saying thanks for inviting them, it was nice to be in on such a cool event, and "Holy smokes, look at that sky"--the sun was just setting and between the clouds and the sky going steel-blue it was very cool--"isn't that something? I think there's like a toenail moon up there too..."

To which I must add--"Holy smokes"? Heh. Spend a lot of time with your grandparents, dear?

Anyway, they explained they were from Dartmouth, and they had a few songs about Dartmouth ("City of Lakes") and a little later Matt said, "We just shot a video for this song"--whole band looks at him--"No, I'm wrong, that's the next song, there's no video at all for this one. I keep doing that!" ("It Don't Matter") Then they played "On The Hood"--Matt: "We just shot a video for this song." Audience: giggles Jarrett: "They already know that." Matt: "It was a joke. My jokes are never funny... and yet I tell them anyway."

They didn't look as energetic as they did in Hubbards the week before, but ended their set looking cheerier and less tired than they did when they began it. Matt assured us that Blue Rodeo were coming right up and the band left the stage. Lesley cut out to the bathroom at that point, leaving me with the folding chairs. And about five minutes later I noticed a couple of teenage girls standing over by the barrier near the grey van. Another minute or so later, Matt came over to talk to them.

So... what the hell.

I put away my camera, because I frankly feel and look like a geek on the few occasions I've had my picture taken with a musician. When Matt was finished talking with the girls a man came over and they chatted, by which time a covey of extremely hyper teenage girls had gathered to my left and were intermittently yelling at him. Hilariously, these kids initially mistook Troy, who was loading gear, for Matt, and he had to point them in the right direction. Yes, Matt was still wearing the same clothes, including a fairly distinctive shirt and a Yankees hat, that he'd worn onstage. Plus he's six foot four and a little hard to miss (although honestly, if I hadn't known how tall he was I never would have noticed he was tall. More on that in a minute.) Anyway, one of the girls was shrieking "Matt Mays!" while her embarrassed friend kept shushing her ("He's talking to someone! Stop that!") Heh.

As Matt came over in our direction I am morally certain that at first he mistook me for the mother of one of the girls, there to keep them out of trouble, but when I leaned forward to say hello he stopped. I just told him I'd really enjoyed the show, had seen them a couple of times before and always thought they were great. Matt smiled and thanked me, I put out my hand and he shook it, and as I was turning away he said he hoped I enjoyed the rest of the show (sort of like he was a little surprised I was leaving--the first set of kids were still hanging around but I didn't have anything intelligent to say so I figured I was done--and he didn't want to be rude and not add a pleasantry of some sort), I said thanks and I left. Because, you know, there's no reason to make a nuisance of myself.

Such a nice young man. So polite to his elders! ;) (And he really does have a great smile.)

And, as noted, it wasn't until afterward that I really registered how far back I had to tilt my head to look him in the eyes. I'm five-four and a bit so lots of people are taller than I am, but I usually notice it more. It could be because Matt's tall but not big, or it could be that some people just don't loom worth a darn and he's one of them.

The rest of the band was loading the van but when I looked back over Jarrett and Andy were chatting with a fairly large group of people. I couldn't see anyone else but I figure they were obscured by the crowd.

It wasn't until this point that I realized I actually did have a question I could have asked--Matt played the whole show on his Telecaster (linked photo isn't one of mine, by the way, I am a thief) rather than his big red Gretsch, which is usually his "main squeeze." He had to keep retuning the Tele and he looked a little frustrated with it a couple of times. I know it was a short set, but they did guitar swaps during the opening set at the Metro Centre so it's not like Blue Rodeo wouldn't let them stop to change guitars. I wonder what was up with that.

In retrospect, though, I'm glad I didn't ask, just in case something really tragic had happened to Big Red. You know how sometimes you ask if someone still has that big orange cat and it turns out he just died of kidney failure? Better not to ask than to land your size-eight in your mouth.

Meantime, the audience challenged the assumption that Blue Rodeo only appeals to old farts like me when hordes of very young fans (some of them actually children, but plenty more younger than El Torpedo at least) started crowding into the spaces not filled by people in foldy chairs. We in the chairs shifted forward so there'd be less chance of being blocked off by latecomers standing in front of us. I ended up much closer to the stage than I thought I would!

I should also note that there were several women in their fifties sitting near us, and when El Torpedo came out they left their chairs and moved farther from the speakers. But near the end of the set they returned, and one of them kept glancing over at her friend with the funniest look on her face--it was a real "mum look," as if she was torn between sticking her fingers in her ears, enjoying how much fun the band was having, and just grabbing Matt and telling him, "You have such a nice face! If you shaved and combed your hair, people would be able to see it! Also, beer is not a vegetable!"

It was really cute. I wonder if she has one just like him at home...

Concerning Blue Rodeo's set all I can say here is:

Damn.

Just, day-um. Best band on earth.

Or, as Matt might say (and later, as will be revealed, did say again), "Holy smokes!"