Chris Brown and a Spin Doctor

Thursday at the Black Sheep Inn it was Chris Brown (Bourbon Tabernacle Choir) joined by Eric Schenkman (Spin Doctors), Sarah McDermott, Anton Fier, and Elijah Abrams (The Abrams Brothers). It was their first time playing together as a band (Open Heart Society) and I'm sure it won't be their last.

The opening act for the night was The Jack Grace Band hailing from Brooklyn. Well technically it was just Jack and Daria less the band. They put on an entertaining opener, very Johnny Cash like, and if I'd timed it I just may have been able to confirm my suspicion that they actually played longer than the headliners. ;) And of course Luther Wright was on hand to join Jack on a couple of tracks.



By night's end, Open Heart Society had put on a good show. My only complaint was that it could have been 3 or 4 songs longer. Oh and after a taste of Eric jamming out a raunchy rocking version of "Back Door Man" in the rehearsal, I was expecting him to step up to the mic at least once to let go. Oh well, next time maybe...

Hillside gets Bourbonized!

Today was the day that The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir would rejoin for a one night concert after a 13 year hiatus. We were pumped.

Saturday morning Glenn and I waited around for some more friends to show up. Rich drove in from Peterborough, Al from Bobcaygeon, Steve from Bowmanville, and Kevin even made a lunch time appearance after a long haul from Cambridge. A total of 16 hours of driving (map) PLUS 8 hours of flying Glenn from London, England and yet another 2 on the train. Gas prices and carbon footprint be damned! This was a one time Bourb reunion, you just can't put a price on that.

We arrived back at Hillside around 5:30 but unfortunately missed Plants and Animals who I had hoped to see after catching the end of their Ottawa Bluesfest set a few weeks earlier. Oh well.

Next immediate item on the agenda. Beer. After all it was a hot day even though they had called for rain. So over to the Lake Stage for some refreshments while we waited for Po' Girl to hit the stage.

Po' Girl is truly a multi-talented band. Tonight's line-up consisted of Allison Russell (clarinet, banjo, guitar, vocals), Awna Teixeira (bass, banjo, accordion, washbucket bass, glockenspiel, bicycle bell, vocals), Benny Sidelinger (guitar, keyboards, banjo) and Austin Cooper (drums). Missing from today's show was Diona Davies (violin, vocals) and Trish Klein (guitar, vocals) who I originally caught back in October 2003 when they opened for Chris Brown and Kate Fenner at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa. They were amazing then and they were just as amazing tonight.





I even managed to have my photo taken with Allison before the show. Don't we look like two long lost friends? So relaxed.



After a thunderous applause we headed off for some food. Steve, Al, Glenn and I all opted for some tasty Caribbean dish while Rich settled for something less daring. This turned out be a poor choice for Rich as he was later unarmed for the warfare that ensued.

As soon as The Sadies finished their set, Rich, Steve, and I all headed for the very front of the stage (aka stalker's row). Sweet. Glenn and Al choose to have an extra beer or two and watch it from a little further back.

A quick intro from the Hillside Art Director explained that he was the reason behind this one night reunion of the Bourb as he dreamed of bringing them back to help celebrate Hillside's 25th anniversary. Thank you Sammy.





The show was every bit as amazing as I remembered. Dave Wall was in top form with his high energy performance and wide ranging vocals. Kate and Chris were great too but I've been keeping up to speed with their post-BTC careers so I expected nothing less. Andrew Wakeman was in fine form on guitar and although Gene Hardy didn't pull out the musical saw he did do an amazing job on the dual saxophones.




Thanks a million to the Bourb for pulling this together, it couldn't have been easy. I just hope it's not another 13 years before the next show... BUT if it is, I'll be there!

PS: The show was videotaped by the Independent Film Channel to be aired sometime in this fall. DVDs to follow, or so we were told by the camera dude.

Chris Brown and Kate Fenner

Saturday night I headed out to the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield Quebec to see Chris Brown and Kate Fenner. I've been following these two since about 1988-89 when I first saw them perform with The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir. The Bourb was an electrifying 9 piece band playing some kind of cross between funk, rock, and R&B.

Tonight they were promoting their new solo CDs. Pretty mellow stuff which worked great for me after my crazy moe.down weekend. The venue is incredibly small and intimate and I even had a chance to talk with Kate before the show and then Chris after.

Not the Bourb in any shape or form but definitely two very musically talented individuals.




The second to last track was a nice mellow 7 minute version of Chris Brown's "Superior". The grand finale of the show was when Chris and Kate were joined by Luther Wright (of Luther Wright and the Wrongs and formerly of Weeping Tile of which Sarah Harmer was lead vocalist) on the track "While You Sleep".



A great finish to a great evening.

Download the bootleg of the show here (then go buy their CDs)...



Cut me some slack on the boot too, it was my first ever and I borrowed the recorder from a friend. Setting the levels was next to impossible so I gave up.

Click here for a little slideshow of the evening.