Daily ticket stories
Early in the new millennium a bass player named Mike Milligan landed in Ottawa and my good friend Wayne scooped him up right away and they started gigging together. Mike was one of those curious doublebass players that can hold your attention all his own; heck, the guy even had a solo bass album out. That’s gutsy…
On February 25th, 2016 I went to the National Arts Centre for We Are The Champions; The Music Of Queen. It was part of their annual Pops series and despite the title of the show I knew exactly what I was in for…
On February 24th, 2016 I went to see Harry Manx. The ticket was a birthday gift from m’lady and the gift also included a copy of Manx’s most recent cd. The presents were very apropos; not only was I generally a fan…
This was the first of two nights for this one-off project (oxymoron intended), a congregation of eclecticity under the helm of an equally eclectic record producer best known for directing tribute concerts to an incomparably eclectic string of artists that includes Tim Buckley, Randy Newman, Bill Withers, Walt Disney and the Marquis de Sade…
The National Arts Centre Orchestra playing the Cole Porter songbook is the very definition of a Pops concert. Hearing such skilled musical technicians trained so well in the classics pull their bows over one of Tin Pan Alley’s greatest heroes is precisely the sort of thing…
Oh, how I wish this ticket was as it appears to be! I can’t tell you how excited I was to have bought a ticket to see my jazz hero, the great, incomparable Oscar Peterson, at a Valentine’s Day show (almost) right at home at the National Arts Centre! And box seats no less! I was dancing on the ceiling, until…
Right around the time I was starting to scramble for a Secret Santa gift for my guitar-playing friend Dave I received an email announcing Ottawa’s upcoming annual Chamber Music Festival…
For some time I had planned February 10th, 2011 as the official end of the Rock & Roll Field Trip. After a pilgrimage that saw m’lady and I visit the homes of Son House and Mississippi John Hurt, the graves of Duane Allman, Elizabeth Reed, and all three tombstones attributed to Robert Johnson, at least three Music Hall’s of Fame…
After a stellar show the night before (following a less-than-stellar show the night before that) on February 9th, 2019 I committed to see Kevin Breit’s third and final show at the Ottawa Jazz Festival’s brief winter fest. The last-minute decision to attend the show was augmented by my promise to Kevin the night before that I would…
On February 7th, 2017 m’lady and I drove to Montreal to see the Drive-By Truckers. Before the show we had a drink in our hotel lobby bar and decided to walk to the show. It was fairly mild for a February night and the walk was relatively short and quite pleasant…
