Posted by 
On November 1st, 1995 I went to the wonderfully nostalgic old rundown Ottawa mainstay Barrymore’s Music Hall to see a performance by Robben Ford, with Sonny Landreth opening the show.
Haven’t heard of Robben Ford or Sonny Landreth? Then you’re probably not a manic guitar geek (or married to one). Standing as I was at the precipice of obtaining my Bachelor of Music degree in guitar performance I was the very definition of a guitar geek, and I was there to see the pair of Guitar For The Practising Musician cover models with a crew of fellow guitar geeks (and one drum dork): Wayne, Doug, Brendan, and Lorne.
At the time Wayne was my guitar instructor (and budding good friend), an extremely friendly low-key man about eight years my senior who had started life as a local guitar hero and could shred modes up and down a set of strings faster than Steve Vai could pout for a press photo. Nice guy, great player, and we’re still good friends.
Doug was a fellow music student and had been a classmate of mine on a few occasions, but despite our obvious common quirks we were only just then starting to play together and become friends. We would soon go on a five-year stint that saw us jamming together and learning from one another almost every night for hours and hours on end (free time that came from – and whose use perpetuated – both of us being hopelessly single). Doug grew into not only an exceptional guitar player but a heck of a singer and songwriter taboot. He was and remains one of my closest friends and allies.
Lorne was Wayne’s longstanding drummer and Wayne’s very best friend. He was a heck of a drummer who spent a lifetime teaching at Metro Music, sharing his wealth of skill, knowledge and discipline to a whole new generation of local drum heroes. He wasn’t one to talk at or during a show (ever) and I only ever saw him at shows so I never got to know him very well. He passed away a long time ago.
Brendan was also a fellow student at Carleton U but I believe he was only enrolled part-time. Either that or he dropped out along the way (or both), I don’t really recall. He was a solid player and a pretty nice guy. I rehearsed with him and his drumming brother for a while, but we never got to the point of gigging. We eventually worked together at a music store but never really hung out too much. He eventually painted his fingernails black and fronted his rather good indie rock band in local basement bars wearing thick swaths of glam-style makeup, the first and only one of my friends that I’ve seen do that. Rock and roll takes all kinds.
Brendan was such a guitar geek that he was at this show with his dad, who probably only had spousal-level knowledge of the two guitar-slingers widdleying the stage that night.
Speaking of which, it was probably a great show. I don’t really remember, but it must have been. And just as surely, we guitar geeks stood there analyzing and critiquing the show, whispering a constant flurry of giggling quips and barbs to one another as we all stood staring up at the stage, inwardly thinking “I could do that better” at every solo, some rightly and most wrongly.
Luckily I’m such a guitar geek that I would go on to see both Sonny Landreth and Robben Ford again, and on occasions where I somehow managed to concentrate more on the music than on myself and my cohorts.
And yeah, they’re both pretty good.
Todd Man Out 