June 5, 2001 - Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, ON Posted By Mouse Sneaky-Peek Show at the Horseshoe Tavern, June 5, 2001 Okay, there was no way I was going to miss this show. After Ian's mention of a "game of horseshoes" on the official message board I immediately booked the 5th off work and called a friend in Toronto and asked if he'd come with me (recruiting new fans all the time!) So, Tuesday afternoon I hopped in my car, with my new copy of TPATG blaring away, and hit the 401. I got terribly lost in Toronto, and had to be rescued, literally, by my dear friend - but all was good because I was on my way to see BW. Despite my harrowing trip, we made it safely to Queen St. in loads of time. When we first got to the Horseshoe I had this horrible thought "what if they're not playing tonight and Ian was just playing some cruel, horrible joke" but then I saw Dave at the bar and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. And, by the time they let us into the front room I could already sense the excitement building in the room. After we got settled with seats and drinks, I started getting impatient. I mean, I saw them last summer (and 6 times before that!), but I was sooooo anxious to hear the new stuff I was ready to burst. I was really wishing there wasn't an opening act but that changed as soon as Blue Mountain hit the stage. They were really great. They played for about 45 minutes and I enjoyed every second of it. The drummer cracked me up. I swear he never changed his expression until the very last song where he let it all go. Anyway, I'm really kicking myself now because, in the excitement over seeing BW, I completely forgot to buy one of their CD's. I guess I'll have to order one online or something. BW hit the stage about 11:30. And, here I'm really at a loss for words. I'll start with the playlist: inhale ladylike that song mistake knee deep undersold the oaf breakthrough immigrant song fred blown wide open head in the girl Hmmmmm…how do I even put into words how great they were. They came out and you could just tell they were excited about the release of the new record. I've never seen all of them so shamelessly happy before. They were goofy and smiley and looked like they were having a great 'ole time. All of this despite blowing up the power system (yes, Ian, you did rock so hard you blew the place up), being given the wrong and mis-tuned guitars, Brian going missing for a while, Ian being under the weather, spontaneous feedback problems and some other miscellaneous technical problems. As I mentioned in the set list, they started with "Inhale" and the cheers were deafening. Everyone was singing along. I was so proud of them. I swear, I've got this maternal pride when it comes to these guys. I wanted to tap everyone on the shoulder and say "just look at my boys! aren't they great!" Instead, I just kept grinning stupidly at my friend – who, by the way, thinks I'm nuts now. It's the first time he's been subjected to my behaviour at a BW show. Ladylike rocked despite some initial technical problems. It was such a rush to hear a song I'd never before heard them perform live. And, of course, the place erupted when they broke into "That Song". From there on in, it was just everything you could ever want in a show. Forrest was in his glory. Dave was all smiles and grooves. Ian was Ian (has there ever been a voice like that?). And Brian was ALL finesse. And, to top off those performances, Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar showed up to play. That was a real treat. Watching the interaction between Gordie and Ian was great - two masters feeding off each other. Wow. I was so overwhelmed by what I heard that I'm having a hard time putting it down in words. BUK – NO ONE REVIEWS THESE GUYS BETTER THAN YOU. YOU HAVE TO PROMISE ME YOU'LL EMAIL ME A REVIEW WHEN YOU GET TO SEE THEM. So, until someone else has something to offer, I'll stop rambling and just offer some thoughts. I heard the longest EVER version of "The Oaf" (were you waiting for something in particular, Ian?) For me, they shone the most during "Breakthrough". Don't know why. Just did. They never got around to doing "Head In The Girl". Too bad. That was one I'd heard last year and really wanted to hear again. But, with Ian being sick an' all, it was probably for the best. I'll hear it again, I'm sure. I was kinda surprised "West Virginia" wasn't on the setlist. When I hear the record last week I said that was one I would LOVE to see them play live. Maybe some other time. Ian, if you're ever bored enough to be reading this, don't tease the guitar tech so much. He looked so stressed when you "fired" him. I wanted to go and give him a hug and tell him it would be okay! I wanted to stick around after to tell them what a great job they did with TPATG but I looked around at the masses of people wanting to do the same thing and thought "nah". Maybe I'll run into them somewhere else and let 'em know. If not, maybe they'll read this. Sorry for not being able to completely convey what it was like to be there. I need BUK for that. Hopefully, some of you will pass along some reviews so I can post them. We've got to spread the word about these guys!