Ozric Tentacles At Metronome Sunday June 21, 2009 And Fireworks The Night Before
Words by Tim Lewis.
It had been a long couple of days. On Thursday morning while walking to catch the bus to work I felt my sinuses fill up. By the time I got to work a cold had hit full on. A fever started to try and burn it out and I felt terrible. I worked until noon then went home to sleep for the afternoon. I woke up Friday and felt no better so called in sick and spent most of the day sleeping.
Saturday I had big plans. I felt a bit better and got up in the morning and went to Penny Cluse for breakfast. Despite mass amounts of coffee I was still able to go home after and sleep for a few hours in the late morning/early afternoon.
I got up and ready around 3 and my parents came by around 4 and we were off to Montreal to the International Fireworks Competition at La Ronde. If I had not been needed as the driver I might have skipped it, but I was so off I drove. The trip went smooth and with dad’s new handicap plate we were able to park pretty close. It still took a while to get in as he is getting older and having a harder time walking these days.
We hung out at the park until 10 then Spain let loose the most staggering display of fireworks I’ve ever seen. They are always one of the best entrants to the yearly competition and this year was over the top. The elegant way the shells explode to the beat and whims of the music is an art project to behold. The whole show is like watching an artist paint the sky with fire. Here is a link if you want to watch a minute of it. Just click on video excerpt.
http://www.internationaldesfeuxloto-quebec.com/EN/programmation/fiche.aspx?Feu=221
When it was done we were able to get off the island pretty quick and got home just after 1am. I woke up pretty late and tired Sunday but also feeling like Saturday’s effort had taken a toll, and I was back to not feeling too well. I slept a bunch of the day but even by evening I was feeling almost painfully tired.
With little fanfare I knew that the English space rockers Ozric Tentacles were coming to Metronome that night. Of all of my friends, only Mike was up to it, so around 9:30 we went to the show. There were a dozen or two people in the place when we arrived. Burlington is so funny. If they know a band they will turn out in droves. If not, they usually won’t take a chance. Such was the case Sunday, and people missed out on something pretty cool.
The Flynn’s box office said doors at 9 and show at 10, but as show time passed ,there was no action on the stage. A few people slowly filtered in, and when the band finally went on, there were maybe 40 people in the club. I was really tired and not feeling overly well and the wait was excruciating. I held in there long enough for the lights to go down and the three-piece English rockers to take the stage. I was surprised that they were a trio with Ed Wynne on guitar and synths, Brandi Wynne on bass and synths (hmmm yet another wonderful woman bass player), and Merv Peppler on drums. The band started up the synths to create a flowing liquid sound and took off. They filled Metronome with the sound of music flowing like water while jamming tight rhythms and letting Ed’s guitar flow freely. It took so long to get there but once there, it was heaven.
They jammed on and on for a while. The projector from the soundboard added to the hallucinatory effect. Serge kept the sound fantastic, rumor was that they sounded better than BB Kings the night before in New York City. Somewhere in the middle of the set the Ozrics were joined by their friend Simon on keys.
There are no lyrics to Ozric songs just synth laden musical journeys. It had been a while since I listened to them, and they have almost 30 albums of material. I did not recognize any of the songs, but loved the place that each and every one brought me.
Well, that is to say, I loved it for a while. I made it just over an hour until the exhaustion took its toll. I moved back to the bar to prop myself up for a while, then just had to leave.
The clock tolled midnight as I left the club and began the walk home. It was a lot of effort but I was glad I made it and once home I hit my pillow like a rock.
#OzricTentacles
This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.