It Has To Be Perfect

Blue Rodeo blew me away on Friday night.  With such a rich and vibrant musical history behind them and 25 years in, they still have a long melodic road ahead.  It was a last minute decision to buy tickets despite a longing to see this show.  I’m glad we went with our whim and snagged the last two tickets to sit side by side.  It was a full house, all ages but every single person in that arena knew every single word to every single song and that is the beauty of this band.

Blue Rodeo’s music is a precise blend of country twang and Canadian roots rock.  Their songwriting, ballads in particular are both crafted and delivered in such a fashion that when they are pulling on your heart-strings, they are also pulling tears from your eyes.  Jim Cuddy has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard.  When he sings I am often covered in goose-bumps and that is only amplified when he’s live, in front of me, filling the room with melodious gold.

Friday’s show was their Halifax stop on their 25^th Anniversary tour.  That means, when they started out I was somewhere around fifteen years old.  Hard to recall a time when Blue Rodeo wasn’t present on the soundtrack of my life.  I used to sit with my cassette player, headphones on and suspend into their songs.  Get lost in them and allow them to take me over.   I loved them from the start and they have only gotten better, more refined and lovelier. 

I mused to my best friend on the drive home from the show how their music makes me feel incredibly proud to be Canadian.  While I firmly believe their music has the ability to reach across boarders and oceans, there’s a tiny secret riddled in their music that only someone Canadian can truly translate and appreciate.  They are one of the greatest gifts our vast country has given and judging by the previews of a few new songs, their next record will only be another extension of their importance and presence in the scope of Canadian music.

As always, the most impressive moments in any life show for me is when the audience sings with or out-sings the band.  ‘Lost Together’ remains my all-time favorite Blue Rodeo song and it was absolutely earth-shattering to hear a sea of people sing the whole thing in unison (making it the most moving point of the evening for me.  Jim Cuddy’s impassioned rendition of ‘After The Rain’ could have gone on for the duration of the show and I wouldn’t have minded at all, it was poignant and soul satisfying.  Who needs a house of God when all of your prayers are answered in song?

I was thinking about this yesterday, in less than six months I will have seen so many incredible shows, all Canadian gold.  Let’s recount:  The Sheepdogs, Yukon Blonde, Big Sugar, Gloryhound, Blue Rodeo, Tragically Hip and yes kids, yours truly is FINALLY going to see the one and only Leonard Cohen.  Impressive list for a short period of time, yes?  It is widely known that both Gord Downie and Leonard Cohen are both HUGE influences for me.  Heroes.  That I will share air with both of them this year is monumental.  I couldn’t be happier.  And in part, these two shows can only aid in putting me back in my happy place.  Personally, it’s been a long rocky road getting back to it but with the assistance of the written word, music and a better attitude, I am pretty much there.  Leonard’s show is a bucket list item for me.  I can’t wait to frame my ticket stub and display it on my rock wall.  Mission thoughtfully accomplished. 

I did a tiny bit of writing this weekend but nothing of the creative variety.  Along with another challenging task, I strung a few words together to help with a band bio for my brother’s upcoming gig at the Annual Tour Tech Party (which I’ll miss as it’s the same night of the Hip).  They are closing the main-stage this year being shared by Saga, a rock quintet from Oakville, Ontario whose song ‘On The Loose’ (for me) is their most notable song.  It’s a fantastic event, the Tour Tech Party, an AIDS fundraiser.  It’s well organized and a ton of fun.  Two stages, countless bands, lots of schmoozing and beer.  I’m really disappointed to miss it this year.  They’ll blow the roof off as only they can.

It’s a Monday, cold and windy here in Halifax.  Snow is looming along with frigid temperatures to last well into next weekend.  Time for a piece of poetry, word play to warm the bones.

It Has To Be Perfect

more time is required

to omit needless words

amend the text

sit on it

sleep on it

walk it around

&

read it again

new revisions

on an old story

additions

deletions

paragraph

changes in bold

highly subjective

possibly dishonest

irreconcilable ambivalence

editing

a head start

to suffering

**

Ahh, that felt good.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I received the third and final rejection from the Year Write submissions.  Upward and onward!  There’s always next time. 

Happy Monday, folks!

In propinquity,

Nic

PS - Did I mention that I am over the MOON about seeing Leonard Cohen!?  In case you didn't pick up on it, I am!