I had a look at the Devo/B-52s concert that went down in Pine Knob a day ago. Astonishingly, Devo was indeed the headliner and the B-52s opened for them! So I guess it is true when Fred said this was Devo's tour and they just tagged along. I wonder if they will alternate headlining duties, or it will mostly be Devo headlining on the remaining dates in the States. In any case, if you are going, pay extra attention to the times and the line-up. I know I would have been annoyed had we missed any of the B-52s' set. The other thing is that they seem to be performing a slightly abbreviated 12-song, 1-hour set, so indeed they didn't shorten it due to the rain (and they seem to have dropped 'Deadbeat Club' on this version of the tour, which is unfortunate).
The second bit of news is that I am back from Elvis Costello and the Imposters at Massey Hall. Massey Hall was again frustrating, with not enough leg room, so I sat sideways throughout the show. While I didn't have a pole blocking my view, the view from the sides is still pretty lousy. I could only see Elvis and his keyboard player. If I really stretched out, I could occasionally see the drummer and the bass player but not most of the time. And Charlie Sexton was off to the side and was completely invisible, except for 3 or so songs in the middle of the set where he came center stage. So not very pleasant, and I am definitely going to limit the number of times I go back. I'm not going to swear off Massey Hall forever (like History and Phoenix), but it is going to have to be a big event, like Tinariwen coming back again, to make me reconsider.
At any rate, I have to admit I just didn't enjoy the concert with only a few exceptions. Elvis was playing almost entirely material from the first 10 years of his career, and he wanted to rearrange them and play them differently as apparently he must just be bored with these songs, even though some of them are not in heavy rotation, while others are some of the biggest hits of his whole career. I wonder if he wanted to distort them so much that no one else would ask for them again. I thought what he did to 'Alison' was a bit weird, but I actually hated his new renditions of 'Watching the Detectives' and 'Man Out of Time.' It was painful listening to them. In the middle of the set, I did enjoy 'Almost Blue' seguing into 'Clubland.' And 'Radio Radio,' while somewhat distorted was ok. One interesting fact is that 'Deportee' was indeed a song he cut as a demo back in 1985, but he only started playing it live in 2025 (as part of the ramp up to this tour) while the lead up story (though too long) is clearly inspired by today's political scene, and indeed if Elvis doesn't cut back a bit on the acidic commentary on the mess down in the States he may find his visa gets revoked... Then at the end, he just ripped through 'Chelsea,' 'Pump It Up' and 'Peace, Love and Understanding.' That got the audience to their feet and was a decent way to end the show. There was no encore, which is becoming a bit more common these days. I just don't think I want to see him live again. He still messed around with song arrangements when he was at Budweiser Stage in 2024 (opening for Daryl Hall) but there was more for the general fans (and not just hard-core fans) to grab onto, but not really tonight. All I can say is I felt pretty alienated from a lot of what he was trying to do. Of all the shows I saw in Sept, this was towards the bottom, though Elvis does slightly beat out Devo...
On the classical front, I almost had forgotten that I am seeing Jonathan Crow* plays Mendelssohn next Thurs. It's my first TSO concert this season. Fortunately, the TSO emailed me a reminder or I might well have missed it! I had planned on going up to see Beethoven's 5th in North York in a few weeks, but when I tried to get a ticket, the only remaining seats were just too expensive for my blood. Then I saw that UT Orchestra was playing Beethoven's 5th. (I just never got around to seeing anything from UT's music school last season. I just got too busy and forgot to keep on top of their schedule.) However, when I went in to probe, I saw that they were playing at York University for some strange reason, which would be a real hassle. I guess the main hall (McMillan?) still is not ready, and they can't fit the entire orchestra in Walter Hall. Now previously they moved to a church at Church and King, but for some reason they are doing their concerts up at York, which probably means I won't go. At any rate, the concert is Sat. (i.e. tomorrow) and my evening is completely packed, so I couldn't go. I think there is a reasonable chance I will see Beethoven's 3rd and 7th this season, but not the 5th. (I did see Beethoven's 5th last season, sneaking in with one of the very last tickets to see Hart House Orchestra do it.) What may be more intriguing is that TSO doesn't appear to be doing Dvorak's 8th or 9th Symphonies (I try to catch either of them when they are on), though they are doing his 7th Symphony in two separate concerts(!), though I am only going to one of them.
I am a little bummed that once again I missed out on the U Vic book sale, which was last weekend. I will just need to set some sort of reminder next fall. The University College book sale is this weekend, and I should be able to swing by, though perhaps not until tomorrow. It was much more convenient last year when the Word on the Street Festival was not that far away at Queens Park Crescent, but it is now relocated to David Pecault Square, right next to Roy Thompson Hall and quite close to our offices, so I can go to a reading, duck into the office, and then go to a late afternoon reading. But I can't really run up to UC for their book sale, or at least as easily as last year. Then I also need to remember than in about 3 weeks, it is the Trinity book sale. So many books to read, and I can't help adding a few more here and there, though generally I am buying books that will go into the Little Free Library in the front yard. Or at least that is what I tell myself...
* Jonathan Crow was MIA for long stretches at the TSO last season. I'm not sure what that means for this season, though I know I'll see him in a few concerts and probably as a guest for one of the Amici concerts, though I have yet to book tickets to that. Maybe tomorrow...
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