Behind The Scenes Of My Night at Massey Hall
Hello my lovelies
Last night a dream come true when I played at Massey Hall. Although it was only two songs, it felt like a big milestone. This was part of the Andy Kim Christmas show, the yearly concert where he gathers Canadian celebs and raises money for CAMH, the Canadian Association for Mental Health.
Originally I wanted to do “Queen” and “The Final Countdown”, you know the Europe song. I figured, if I want to be really authentic, I’ll do hair metal at Massey Hall. There was some kafuffle with the keyboard player, Peter Nunn and the Europe song proved too difficult for everyone to wrap their head around. Plus, we’ve been ensnarled in weather here…so getting to rehearse has been impossible.
So, I chose “Summerlong” and “Queen”.
With parents getting older and life being what it is, I could not bring Michael. He had to stay behind with our son. I brought Aoife though…and I’m so glad I did.
She got to see me sign some autographs outside Massey when I arrived (that hardly happens anymore) and then she got to meet everyone backstage and everyone was so kind. Billy Talent signed her monkey toy she got from our arcade adventures and she got to hear about how they raced her all-time favourite band My Chemical Romance at bumper cars. I must say, this emo phase she is in is not one I can relate to, but she is living in 2005 for sure.
Before playing, I had that moment of fear set in. The who’s who of Canadian music - the Barenaked Ladies, Alex Lifeson from Rush, Roch Voisine, Broken Social Scene….they were all there. I asked Michael to send a pep talk which he did my voice memo, reminding me that I belong here. It’s not that I don’t believe I do, but I’m so out of practice with mingling with these folks…I mean, it was a homecoming of sorts when I arrived, it felt just like 1998 all over again. But I’ve been DOING MY OWN THING for so long.
In a way it was nice to be able to take stock of the change. I am not that same pixie-haired girl. And I’m happy with who I am. And if it got delayed a bit to raise my amazing kids, it got delayed. I mean, what is success anyway.
Soundcheck
Queen went great - I was being mixed by Marty Kinack who…if you are an ultra-Emm nerd you will know he was part of Transistor Sound and Lighting Co who did those early versions of Summerlong with me in Winnipeg pre-Public. Marty was at the soundboard! There were maybe a few audio issues with my voice but it worked out eventually and I could hear it come out of the mains and fill up the hall. I wasn’t nervous in those moments. Singing Michael’s words, singing mine…remembering what Queen is about…it was magical.
Then I got up to play Summerlong. I took a moment to pause and enjoy being there. The crowd erupted. I was so touched.
Then….being the Mercury in Retrograde that it is, my bass was NOT TUNED by the tech properly when I went to play the first B note in the tune. UGH. I go into tech survival mode when that happens. Questions I ask myself:
Can I tune it while I sing?
NO, was the answer, the tuner was way back by the drum kit.
Can I stop singing to tune it?
NO. No spaces.
Can I stop the whole song?
UGH. That’s a disaster and I knew how tight the timeline was for the night.
So, I put the bass down. My beautiful champagne gold bass that I had lugged in on the train, I put it the EFF down and just sang. Luckily, JK, the kindest bass player and grooviest suit-wearing gent in Toronto came onstage and picked up his VERY IN TUNE BASS and played the tune. I was so grateful.
I wasn’t thrown too much….maybe it made me look a little silly….but we played the song and that’s all that matters.
I was so happy to have this experience. We all got up at the end of the night and sang “Rock Me Gently” with Andy. Aoife even came up. I think she was slightly mortified but she had no choice!
And thus ends my magical night at Massey. I vow to be back…and I was reminded how much I love the piano. I know I am embarking on this metal band that some of you are a little skeptical about but today, after the glow of Massey Hall, I thought, why can’t MY metal band be all the Emm things? The rock, the bass, the piano, the big choruses, the glam, the vulnerability? Just bring it all back.
I love you all. Never stop dreaming.