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Blue Rodeo

My favourite musicians - not well known outside Canada - but still wonderfully relevant in Canada; three of the original group have survived together since the mid 1980s and the band is still releasing Juno award winning music.

Their debut album - Outskirts - was released in 1987 shortly before I arrived in Canada.

Their studio albums are:

1987: Outskirts
1989: Diamond Mine
1990: Casino
1992: Lost Together
1993: Five Days in July
1995: Nowhere to Here
1997: Tremolo
2000: The Days in Between
2002: Palace of Gold
2005: Are You Ready
2007: Small Miracles
2009: The Things We Left Behind

They are great to see live; always producing a show that is a little bit different. A Toronto based band they started on Queen Street and I saw them in Canada at Massey Hall, the old Ontario Pace Forum and a new year concert at the Diamond Club.

I traveled from Dubai to see them play at the Lobero theatre in Santa Barbara and to the UK to see them play at the Bedford Corn Exchange and in London at the Borderline Club at Tottenham Court Road - this is my review of the UK concerts:

A Tale of Two Cities

There can be few places more different than Bedford and London and few venues more different than The Corn Exchange and the Borderline Club.

It was Friday night that a handful of Blue Rodeo faithful and some curious Bedfordians gathered in the Corn Exchange. The concert was originally to be held in the much smaller Harpur Suite with a capacity of about 160. Instead we gathered in the far larger Corn Exchange Building.

Honestly this was the strangest of venues for the band. Yes it is on the way from Leeds to London – but then so are Birmingham, Coventry and other much larger cities. Bedford is a quiet rather conservative market town.

And as we gathered – after a quick visit to the very friendly-priced bar – we sat at round tables as though we were attending a corporate presentation or the aftermath of the wedding reception. Strange. The people at my table were very friendly but had never seen or heard Blue Rodeo. But to the credit of the Bedford venue they have the most varied of concert schedules and entertainers and seem to be well supported in the community.

Up first – local band – The WhyBirds – retro rock, and with more hair that almost anyone in the audience. They are popular locally and were well received.

Then the hard working Luke Doucet – solo – singing his own songs – with piano on one song from Mike Boguski. Loved the story of writing a song for his ex. That should frighten off any other romantic interest.

And then Blue Rodeo; with Luke Doucet as Luke Doucet rather than as a baby-faced Greg Keelor.

The playlist:

Candice
Better off as we are
Waiting for the world
Always getting better
One more night
Now and Forever
5 Days in May
Bad Timing (vocals shared with LD)
Finger Lakes
Walk like you don’t Mind
Basil sings – Stage Door
Rain Down on Me
Montreal
Cinema
Photograph
Till I am Myself
Head over Heels
Encore:
Mystic River
Try
It could happen to you

Sorry if I missed anything. I like Luke Doucet. Yes I miss Greg and it is a different show as the playlist shows. But the band always look like they are enjoying themselves. But this was not really a party crowd. It was a sit back and listen crowd. But they enjoyed what they heard. Mr. Cuddy got a few people dancing. Not me – my other half could not get the time away from work to be in the UK.

So that was Bedford. It was almost midnight before the show wrapped up. Mr. Cuddy did his PR role generously to shake hands and take pictures. And I caught the 1.20 back to St Pancras – I can report there are some interesting folk on those late night trains – including three guests from the concert – I enjoyed meeting you!

And so to London. Now the Borderline is like an old student union bar. Other than a few people who must have arrived mid afternoon to grab the handful of seats, it is standing room only for an audience (I guess) of 300+. And this was an audience of either Blue Rodeo faithful or homesick Canadians. And it was a singalong. The band had fun. The energy was great.

Luke Doucet opened with his solo show. His ex girlfriend must really dislike him by now!

Then Kacey Cubero – she is also headlining her own tour in England at the moment – and that includes Bedford later in the month. I thought she might sing a song or two with Blue Rodeo – but no. Opportunity missed?

And then Blue Rodeo. Now I think Luke Doucet was fabulous tonight. Some of his guitar work is outstanding and he appears very comfortable with the band and fronting alongside Jim Cuddy.

By popular request there had to be one Greg Keelor song – to try Diamond Mine was ambitious – maybe more coal mine than diamond mine – but it was fun, it shows off the band so the lyrics don’t matter so much and the audience loved it. Thanks to one of the audience for helping out on vocals!

But the Borderline has a 10.30pm curfew so time was limited. No Finger Lakes, Stage door, Rain down on me, Montreal or Mystic River. The encore was Try and a fabulous Trust Yourself.

That’s it – please add more comments or correct any of the playlist.

It was raining cats and dogs outside. It still is. Time to head back to the Desert.

PS - I know that technically Bedford is a town and not a city - but that would spoil the headline !

Blue Road Album Review

Album Review: Blue Rodeo — Blue Road
13 January 2009 - 2:53am
Paul Blinov, www.thegatewayonline.ca

If only most bands aged this well. After more than 20 years, Canadian country-rockers Blue Rodeo have put out their third live album, this time culled from an acoustic night at Toronto’s Massey Hall. It tops most sets by bands a quarter of their age.

Digging back through their discography to pull songs from their debut, 1987’s Outskirts, and then pushing onwards, the band stays close to the yearning, heart-tugging tunes in their musical canon, with a few forays into more upbeat country (“Crying Over You,” “Blue House”), and multi-vocal hymns (“Tell Me Your Dream”), which provide nice breaks from the, err, bluer tracks.

“5 Days in May,” is Blue Road’s first song, and also it’s longest and best. Rippling with drama, energy, and enthusiasm, it retains and builds intensity even during the few minutes of minimal, hushed strumming and jamming that comes near the nine-minute track’s half-way point.

Shimmering slide guitar pops up all over the album, along with dual guitars, drums, piano and the combined vocal harmonies of Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor. Crisp mixing keeps the entire ensemble from feeling muddled, letting each instrument sound out with clarity, and keeps audience interference to a minimum—a necessary feature for any successful live recording.

Together, it all blends into a solid recording of a great set. Plugged in or not, 21 years into the game, they’ve got their songs mastered just as aptly acoustically as they do with their amplified versions. Blue Rodeo have become virtuosos at being Blue Rodeo, and that’s quite a thing to be.
 

Links

Official Blue Rodeo site

Jim Cuddy site

Greg Keelor site

Wikipedia

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