033116 Preservation Hall, New Orleans, LA
In so many ways, the Preservation Hall band just screams “New Orleans!” and it screams it loud. When you walk into the small, square room you’d swear that jazz had been living there forever…
Author: Todd Snelgrove
I've been having a lot of fun these past fifty-odd years. I've busked and bicycled through more places I can count, taught music and caught dengue fever, managed a band that toured all over North America and worked with Canada's National Orchestra for two decades. I've traveled countless miles to see a thousand concerts, played hundreds of gigs, won in Vegas and lost in Estonia, worked as a concert promoter, university instructor, janitor, and entertainment writer, seen the Grateful Dead and hiked the Dogon Valley, ran the stairs of the CN Tower and pedalled across Scandinavia once and Newfoundland twice. I've visited the graves of Alexander the Great and the great Robert Johnson, drunk excessively with some of the best and worst people you can imagine, and I've slept in some very, very weird places. Several years ago I started writing some of it down, and much of it is collected here for your perusal.
032407 NACO plays The Wizard of Oz, Ottawa, ON
I went to the show, Dorothy and her pals were victorious, that sneaky little wizard learned a thing or two as did that wicked old witch, the orchestra was as great as usual, and of course those flying monkeys freaked me right out…
032219 Reign of Fire; C4 Wrestling, Ottawa, ON
On March 22nd, 2019 I was just sitting around the house twiddling my thumbs and minding my own business when a message came in from a friend:
“Last minute heads up…” it read, “I’ve started going to a monthly minor league “professional” wrestling event…”
And just like that he had my undivided attention…
Romania: Autumn, 2016
A mother and son rent a car and circumnavigate the land of Vlad the Impaler. Forts, castles, churches, vampires, historic old towns, caves, monasteries, and the only time Dracula’s Castle ever hosted a rave.
031612 Senators vs Canadiens, Ottawa, ON
Seeing this ticket stub from the March 16th, 2012 game between the Ottawa Senators and their despised rivals the Montreal Canadiens has jarred a memory free from my clogged mind (which I suppose is the main objective of this typing exercise). No, it’s not that the game ended with the Sens winning…
031515 Phil & Friends, Port Chester, NY
On March 15th, 2015 I went to the wonderful Capitol Theatre just this side of NYC to celebrate the 75th birthday of my favourite living bass player – Phil Lesh – with a concert by…Phil Lesh…
031417 Senators vs Lightning, Ottawa, ON
On March 14th, 2017 I drove out to my hometown rink to watch the Ottawa Senators take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Being mid-March the weather was starting to warm up a bit but with the thermometer still hovering around ten below zero my journey from the parking lot to the front door of the venue was fast and targeted…
031120 Angela Hewitt, Ottawa, ON
This is the last concert I saw. Covid was just ramping up when I attended this wonderful show featuring Angela Hewitt playing the music of Bach, and while I enjoyed it immensely I sure am looking forward to seeing another concert sometime soon. Not since I started going to concerts at the age of fourteen have I gone a year without sharing a live musical performance with thousands of strangers, and I’m dying to do it again.
Code Grape, or Let’s Get Together, Canada!
Sure, I understand that Canada’s vast size and varying demographics demand tailored responses to the pandemic. I’m not saying that we should all simultaneously be at the same alert level, but wouldn’t it be nice if the next time someone tells you their province has moved to Code Plaid you knew what they were talking about?
030909 The Allman Brothers Band, New York, NY
I was in line for a Jack & Coke when the music started. I could hear that it was Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes playing the great Duane Allman instrumental track Little Martha. Drink in hand I flew up the stairs and caught the last bit of the opener as I was finding my seat…
Todd Man Out 