We got two of the security staff, one man one woman, right in the thick of it down the front for Betcha and they had a blast.
I've never seen that happen before. Nice venue and staff in a lovely town.
H
OMG!! Hughie... hello, hello,
hello!
It's been far too long since you've popped in here to post! I'm
so thrilled that you did, because your story / recollection is truly fantastic! Deserves to be shared.
Hopefully that lady and gentleman become the travelling sort and that you'll get to bump into them again, somewhere down the road at future a NMA gig or two. That'd be a wonderful chance occurrence.
I've only ever been to eight proper NMA gigs and only one
Jes '
n Dean gig. Three were overseas in the Mediterranean, and the rest were here, in Canada.
Aside from seeing those magnificent human towers / pyramids one can regularly spot and marvel in wonder at, at NMA UK / European shows, the best I've ever seen at an NMA gig in Canada, was a lone woman steadily knocking an empty beer bottle on a wooden railing / ledge to get the band to do an encore. The room was relatively quiet before she started doing that. Just the murmur of talking, not many chanting. However, once that lady repetitiously bumped glass to wood, it caught on like wildfire by many the other audience members. About half the crowd was doing the same thing. It got louder and louder between the cheering and the knocking / banging of beer bottles against the wooden railing / ledge. That it even took the band, particularly Mr.
White as well as Mr.
Tee, by odd and instant surprise!
We're not usually a rowdy bunch, over here. I'm not sure if the band,
Dean /
Tommy were surprised or actually worried that things might get out of hand / dangerous. But everyone handling the bottles was completely careful, respectful. No one got injured in any way.
I appreciated the lone lady doing that, because it brought a much needed tiny jolt of life back into the gentler, tame, and somewhat shy Canadian crowd... in comparison to what I've seen in Europe! Both great, yet very, very different kind of NMA crowds. They react to the music, etc. quite differently. I love this truth. Not sure if things have changed at all here in Canada, with regards to audience reactions to the music. I guess I'll find out someday, if and when NMA ever make it back here for a few dates or so. No rush, but I genuinely hope that NMA/JS&DW/JS can make it back here again. Sadly, NMA skipped Canada on the 30th anniversary tour. Their last gig here was back in 2009. Wow, it's already been thirteen years, and I thought waiting ten was long... June 1993 to 2003.
As that utterly sacred line from "Hard Way" goes,
'Come back, when you're ready... ahh!' I'll keep that candle of hope afloat, aglow and flickering, as long as I possibly can, 'til my last breath, if need be... as if that even helps the situation or probability of any kind of NMA/JS future Canadian concert date, at all. But it's all I can think of, to do. Thank heaven for the internet, and all of their collected albums / DVDs. Thank heaven, I thank
heaven every single day, for even just one more song or one minute more.
I'm not sure if you follow any NMA/JS interviews at all, Hughie, but I recall one of the most beautiful stories
JS ever told... I can't recall on which North American tour it happened, but the band had been gigging in the States. They found themselves at some diner in the middle of nowhere. All the people who were in the place weren't really interacting with each other. Cold faces, shoulders, silence. Then someone got up, went to the juke box, chose a tune, (forgive me, I can't remember if it was Otis or not, but it was definitely a male soul singer).
Anyway, the song kicked in, and instantly it changed to mood of the entire diner. I liken it to a flower opening up, in bloom. Everyone began to engage in some kind of beautiful interaction; whether it was tapping their foot to the tune, talking to the person / people sat the same table, smiling at each other, humming along, whatever, etc. Music brought that diner to life. And for me, that lone lady at the Canadian gig who lead the beer bottle to tap and
'knock on wood', was for me, just he same kind of bloom. We're stange creatures, we humans, but deep down, there's worth and beauty of some sort just the same.
Anyway, Mr.
Sullivan tells it so much better than I do. I wish I could recall the interview in which Mr.
Sullivan shares that beautiful story, but I don't remember, it was quite some time ago. All I can remember
is that I came across it online somewhere. I just can't remember if it was in a podcast, a video, or printed interview. My memory isn't what it used to be, too much head trauma, from when I was a young child.
I hope Mr.
Sullivan writes a book someday. I know
JS made "Surrounded", but I'd so,
so,
SO love to see him write a book. Mr.
Sullivan comes from an extremely talented and gifted paternal lineage. It would do them all proud, if he were to. I feel it in my bones, that it would. I sense it, I know it.
'I will get down on my knees, and I will pray...'It was me that led the woman security staff in,
she was great had a huge smile on her face.
Cheers
jc
JC you are fcukin' AWESOME!!
You hooked a lady! A female!!!
Why can't I ever get one into NMA/JS... it's pissing-me off already! ugh!
Thrilled you jumped in here with that extra crucial and finite detail, JC.
Please forgive the language, I tend to swear when I'm either really happy,
or mad... the latter, of which is quite rare for me, while online. Enjoy your evening, gentlemen... for you both helped make mine.
Today was a good day, indeed. I hope it was good to you all, too.
Thank you... everyone, everywhere, always, EVER.
lol, and I still haven't slept or eaten anything yet!
Very odd, I am today... very odd.
