Posted by 
The Capital Music Hall was a large venue right downtown on Ottawa’s Rideau Street, just across from Maverick’s and Cafe Dekcuf/The Whipping Post. It was a big room with a professional stage and lighting rig and was unquestionably a concert hall. It looked a lot like a House Of Blues or some such thing, and though it was open for several years I think I only went there twice.
One of those times was April 16th, 2004 to see Tortoise. I have no idea why I went to the show – I’ve never known much about the band and my ignorance lingers to this day – though I have a few guesses.
First, I wrongly thought for some time that a guy I went to university with was in this band and it could be that this was the evening I discovered I was wrong, after buying a ticket to support my old acquaintance.
But I doubt it; I’m pretty sure I had his non-membership figured out long before this.
It could also be that I got a free ticket and just walked down to the show for lack of anything better to do with my evening. This was on the tail end of my management days and I used to get on the guest list for quite a few shows, but the ticket stub shows a price ($16) so that might not be the case either.
Most likely I was lured by a group of my friends – among whom were many a fan of the group – to join them for a night out seeing what they claimed was a great band. I’m usually willing to give a band a shot based on such recommendations so this was probably the reason I went to the show.
It would also explain why I remember basically nothing about this concert; I likely found myself quickly uninterested in the band and spent the evening socializing with those aforementioned friends instead of paying attention to the music, likely to my own (and my friends’) disservice. In fact, when I think back to this show I picture seeing it in Montreal – maybe at Metropolis or somewhere similar – so foggy is my memory of the evening.
Actually, if not for this ticket stub I’d swear I’d only been to the Capital Music Hall once.
Todd Man Out 