On Valentine's day, I played at Factory Theatre, one of Toronto's best playhouses and intrepid backer of great new Canadian works. The gig was for a band, but since the building is ancient, there wasn't enough energy to plug in, so Jeff Daze & David Pontello and I whipped up an all acoustic band featuring David on light drums and Jeff on 2nd guitar.
The night was Russian-themed - featuring Factory's new play, aptly titled "The Russian Play" and we were set up in the casino/food/bar room in a corner. Playing acoustic is challenging because you've got to project to be heard over the drums (not to mention the over 100 talking people in the room) but it's also kind of freeing because I get to dance around and sing over people's shoulders, etc.
We weren't the only musicians that night. Also on the bill was James Gray, former keyboard player with Blue Rodeo, wandering around with his accordion. He introduced himself early and said he'd come back and jam with us. Word on the street is that James and Blue Rodeo didn't part ways amicably, so jamming on Lost Together (although it would have been very cool) didn't quite feel right. James came back though in the middle of One Week, which he punched up with accordion and then later returned to jam on my tune, Caroline - which in my repertoire is pretty close as anything to a Blue Rodeo tune. Lots of fun. Who knew accordion could be so awesome? Besides Blue Rodeo... and James... and Spirit of the West... and Weird Al Yankovic... okay, so everyone knew, but I didn't and it rocked.
We played for a loooooong time, using up every song we'd rehearsed and then some, even throwing in my new tune "My mother's lesbian Jewish Wiccan wedding" and, to tie in with the theme of the night, an unrehearsed "Back in the USSR." Jeff provided sweet harmonies and noodling and David's drums kept the card dealers tapping their hands on their tables. I just tried not to lose my voice. Shouting over 100 people is not the prescribed method for excellent vocal delivery - but it seemed to go alright - although a late night request for Subway Sparrow proved that my low range had left the building for the night. Later we scored a gig for a 50th birthday party and Lynn from Factory took our information for more shows. Plus between sets we got mashed potatoes with gravy and cheese in martini glasses - and nothing says awesome night like fancy poutine.
