Music N' Other Drugs

My Aunt Ruth died on June 11, but I couldn’t not feel as if she was with me during the Trans-Canada Highwaymen’s recent gig at the West Herr Riviera Theatre. She gave me my first copies of Barenaked Ladies’ “Gordon” and The Pursuit of Happiness’ “Love Junk” on CD when I was a kid, so the fact that Steven Page and Moe Berg had joined forces for a supergroup would’ve piqued her interest. There were few pop culture touchstones she loved more than CanRock and K-TEL record compilations, and this show embodied the best of both.

Rounding out the lineup were Craig Northey from Odds and Chris Murphy from Sloan, which meant that those of us in attendance were going to get a hearty fix of eras that exemplify how much more satisfying popular music used to be. Their banter wasn’t scripted, their camaraderie was real, and they played live without a backing track to speak of. The fact that they also took turns on the guitar, drums, and microphone spoke even further to their collective level of proficiency.

“It’s All Been Done,” “It Falls Apart,” and “Hard to Laugh” were executed flawlessly, but the apex of audience exaltation came during a feisty take on Sloan’s “Underwhelmed” in which Murphy took two victory laps through the theatre. He embraced the moment, and the fans matched his intensity note for note.

As for their covers album released last year, Page nailed the vocal on The Guess Who’s “Undun,” Berg captured the tenderness of Lighthouse’s “Pretty Lady,” Northey jammed on April Wine’s “Tonite is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love,” and Murphy reminded people why Michel Pagliaro’s “Lovin’ You Ain’t Easy” is a lost classic. They were four guys whose hangout just so happened to attract a crowd, so the lack of rigidity only added to the evening’s overall impact.

While a show such as this might not play as well in the rest of the country, Western New York’s proximity to the border made it a no-brainer and the hope is that The Riv remains committed to booking more Canadian acts in the future.

Somewhere, my Aunt Ruth is smiling.

http://www.transcanadahighwaymen.ca