hell, even matt thought so, and was as inspired as we were

Last night was, well, the experience of a lifetime in many ways. As many of you are aware, Massey Hall is Canada’s equivalent to Carnegie Hall, so to have sold out an acoustic show there, let alone receive three standing ovations from a packed house, was an incredible experience, not to mention an honour.

I’ll not deny it, the beginning of the show was a little misdirected on my part. I knew that it was being recorded – I’ll get to that later – and so did my best to concentrate on what I was doing rather than just going with it, which is what I normally do. The ceiling of Massey Hall is also rather unique. Being that it’s rounded, it reflects sound in a very ominous way, which is fantastic if you’re in the audience but somewhat troubling if you’re on stage and using in-ear monitors. For most of the show my guitar sounded like one massive, humming chord, making it difficult to make out nuances that are usually rather easy to focus on. But that sort of thing is something that artists learn to deal with on the fly, and after a while I got the hang of how best to tackle it.

Something happened last night though that was extra special. Obviously, playing a sold out show at one of the most celebrated concert halls in the nation and receiving such a response is more than reward enough, especially after some thirteen odd years of making records and touring. But something else happen in the middle of last night’s show that was rather incredible. In the middle of a song last night, I looked out over the audience and a sensation shot up and down my spine that I’ve never felt before. It was a sensation that, when my brain finally processed it, left me with the feeling that I somehow knew I had twenty more years of making music in me. It was an enormous epiphany to have in such a setting.

photo by mr duane storey who is such a master of his domain that he even took a decent pic of me and christie.

which rhymes with voici