I Mother Earth hit the stage at Massey Hall in Toronto in a veil of darkness and it pretty much stayed that way for the rest of their set with brief moments of front lights, but very brief. That being said, I Mother Earth played great and no one in the audience was complaining. The cheers from the audience were deafening and we even
heard some guy yelled out from the audience “you the man Edwin” which got a huge laugh from everyone in our section. Edwin even made a joke stating “every night is a new spotlight guy and I have to test him”. Promptly after saying that Edwin ran to stage left, and on cue the spot light guy followed. Unfortunately that was pretty much the only time the spotlight was used was when Edwin was speaking to the audience, numerous times you couldn’t see his face at all.
Edwin took a few moments after I Mother Earth played “No One” to promote World Vision saying “For less than the price of parking you can save someone’s life.” I love it when bands take a “cause” and promote it, trying to help them anyway they can by using their fame. After Edwin made this statement, there was a man sitting behind me with a little boy who was maybe 10 years old and said to this child “maybe we should look into this” to which the child exclaimed yes. That alone made my evening.
Jag Tanna took the spotlight and played a solo to everyone’s delight while Christian accompanied him. The room went fairly silent until the end of the solo, then huge cheers broke out for them. I have to say they make it look effortless to someone who has never played an instrument in their life.
I don’t want to give away the whole set list but I will say they played a few of our favourites including “Sunday” and “One More Astronaut” which they of course saved close to the end.
Now on to the headliners Our Lady Peace. I felt like I had stepped back a couple decades as soon as they hit the stage and I loved every second of it. Hearing them play “Innocent” brought back a flood of memories and to a simpler time. Our Lady Peace has not changed one bit, except, gotten better with age.
The sound in Massey Hall is not comparable to any other venue in Toronto, it has a warmth all on its own, that being said I found it a bit odd watching a couple of rock bands in a soft seater, but, they made it work. Everyone was on their feet from the first note of “One Man’s Army” to the last note of “Starseed”. When Our Lady Peace started “Is Anybody Home” thats when the fans at Massey Hall took their turn singing their hearts out as they danced to the music in their seats.
Our Lady Peace decided they were going to entertain us with a new song called “Drop Me In The Water” and Raine said before they started the song “you know how these things can go…”. The lady who was sitting behind me thought this was quite humorous. I have to say their new song sounds just like Our Lady Peace and as far as I am concerned don’t fix what isn’t broken. Not long ago I had the opportunity to interview Raine and his wife and he is exactly the type of person I wanted him to be, a bit funny and with some sass, he didn’t disappoint. Even after they played “Drop Me In The Water” and the cheers started he stated “you guys must be drunk” which got quite the laugh from the fans.
The night wasn’t all laughter tho, the evening was taken down a notch as Raine said this song is dedicated to a friend of ours who is looking for healing then started the song “In Repair”. Some of us need a little more “repair” than others. I found this to be a very special moment during the show. Then to top it off Our Lady Peace started Tragically Hip’s song “Grace, Too” it was amazing and the fans response to it showed it.
The favourites of the night were by far “4AM” and “Starseed” these two songs the fans cheered and sang their hearts out, and really, what is an Our Lady Peace concert without those two songs? Raine appreciation of the cheering audience didn’t go unnoticed “You guys are the reason we make music”. I am pretty sure no one left Massey Hall disappointed, I know I didn’t.
Once again thanks to the crew, because without them there is no show!
