[2021-09-24] A cool soirée
Chris and I returned to Lansdowne Park this evening for Bluesfest. We caught the entire Barenaked Ladies performance and half of the Jan Arden set, before the cold, damp weather chased us back to our car and our home.
The Barenaked Ladies were more entertaining than I had expected, making jokes between songs and engaging the crowd in a singalong, purportedly to warm us up so that we'd be ready when Jan Arden asked us to accompany her. But the audience needed no encouragement to sing when the band started playing "If I Had $1000000." The crowd was equally appreciative of the band's performance of the theme song to The Big Bang Theory.
For me, the highlight of the night was the Barenaked Ladies' cover of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love," which was preceded by a cover of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer." The Zeppelin cover was worth the price of admission, which, admittedly, was nothing since we volunteered for the privilege of attending the festival for free, but you get the point.
This was my first time hearing both the Barenaked Ladies and Jan Arden live. Arden's voice was exquisite and powerful. It's no surprise that she was recently inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Going out in the evenings is not common for Chris and me, and while it conflicts with the hours I would otherwise devote to writing my posts for Jenesis, our little soirées are time well spent.
