The Strumbellas were the support act for Blue Rodeo at Massey Hall this past weekend. I have never seen them before but have heard a lot about them, and I am glad I had this opportunity because they now have a new fan.
The Strumbellas have 6 members in their band but could very well have had 30 people on stage if I didn’t know better. More than once I found myself moving to the beat and as I looked around the room so was everyone else.
The crowd responded whole heartedly after every song you would have thought they were the headliners. The singer Simon Ward explained to the audience that he was using new in ear monitors and that he couldn’t hear a thing, this became quite the topic of the night. Simon said to the audience “New in ears and I can’t hear a thing so if you wanna make a wise crack at me go ahead cause I can’t hear anything… If you were singing along thanks”. One lady in the audience screamed “more” and Simon said “s’mores, I really can’t hear anything” which got quite a chuckle.
When they finished their what seemed like a 10 minute set The Strumbellas asked if it was ok to use their last minute for a quick picture and everyone who was previously sitting stood up to get in on the shot.
Blue Rodeo played to a packed house not one but two nights in a row and not only in Toronto but in Hamilton as well the previous weekend. They started their set off with “Trust Yourself” and played all their more notable songs but also a few new ones. Before they started “Superstar” Greg Keelor stated “We are going to play a few new songs, but not too many so don’t get scared” and to be completely honest all their new material sounded just like Blue Rodeo, I guess if nothing is broken don’t fix it.
One thing I did notice was that in between the songs there wasn’t much banter between the musicians on stage, the night focused more on the music. There was huge resounding cheers when they started
“5 Days In May”. Blue Rodeo managed to take us on a musical roller coaster ride from with an amazing piano and guitar solo to a more subdued song “Dark Angel” with just piano and vocals. The room went silent as the audience seemed memorized.
The crowd was content to sit and enjoy the show until Jim asked we all stand up while they played “Til I Am Myself Again” well except for a few fans in the balcony that stood up most of the night swaying arm in arm to every song that was performed.
Blue Rodeo ended the night by asking The Strumbellas to join them on stage for one last song “Lost Together”. There isn’t much I can say about Blue Rodeo that hasn’t been said before, but what I can do is congratulate them on receiving the Massey Hall Honours Award which was presented to them by the CEO of Massey Hall.
Once again I have to say thanks to the crew, because without them there is no show.
Thanks to Live Nation Ontario for media access.
