It's the memory that dies

On a recent episode of Criminal Minds, Reid said that the music you hear when you're 14 is what sticks with you the most later in life. When I was 14, I listened to a lot of Live's "Secret Samadhi". I saw the band once when they opened for Nickelback (trust me, I wasn't there for Nickelback), and when I found out that Ed Kowalczyk was returning to the 'Peg, I was super excited. What I couldn't figure out was why he was playing at Cowboys. Touring bands rarely play CanadInns bars anymore!

Ed was fantastic. He started the set with "The Distance", and went on to play through some solo tunes. The set was mostly comprised of Live singles, which was awesome! Sadly, tunes from "Secret Samadhi" were totally absent, as were other songs from "The Distance to Here". However, I'm not complaining. Ed's voice was spot on and he was clearly having a good time despite the small crowd (he could barely keep the smile off his face). I hope he comes back, and plays somewhere like The Pyramid.

My real beef with this concert was the opening act. Nothing against Marc Labossiere; he's a good performer and kept the crowd entertained throughout his set of cover songs. However, I find it hard to believe that CanadInns couldn't find an available original band to open the night. In fact, I don't believe they tried (feel free to comment, person who books CanadClubs). All I could think about all through Marc's set was how many bands there are in this city, and which ones would have been better choices. I wasn't even being picky with my choices. The thing is, and maybe this is a crazy old-fashioned idea, it's a big deal for opening acts to get gigs with more established artists. Isn't it?

So WTF to CanadInns for an epic fail in putting any effort into this show.