httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QgO9Yfklpk
Some of you have lasting memories from concerts that went down in history. Some of them, likely from shows at Massey Hall. From Neil Young in 1971 to Bob Dylan in 1980 or, and boy I wish I was there for this one, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and The Quintet in 1953. Whether you’ve seen Gordon Lightfoot or Herbie Hancock, Van Morrison or Bob Marley…We’ve seen concerts we loved, that left us wanting more and even those that didn’t quite live up to our expectations. The good, the bad, the memorable and the forgettable…if you’ve been in those red velvet seats, there’s a good chance you have your own Massey memories. I’ve seen many shows at Massey Hall and there are certainly a lot of moments that stand out for me. But right here, right now, November 28th, 2008 takes the cake.
November 28, 2008, was the last time that Hawksley Workman played Massey Hall. I remember, somewhere in the middle of his set, Hawksley went quiet. I was sitting close enough to the stage to see his lips moving but there clearly was something wrong. It took a couple of minutes but before long he realized that we couldn’t hear him anymore. His mic and his electric guitar were not receiving any power at all. Since he was the only one on stage, he did what Hawksley does best, he improvised. Exchanging his electric for an acoustic, he walked to the front of the stage and continued like nothing had happened. Not everyone can pull that off but Hawksley has a range and strength of voice to envy and this power outage proved to be nothing but a minor distraction. As he belted out his now acoustic version of one of his rock hits, work was done to repair the damage to the sound system. Without missing a note, he switched back to the electric guitar, stood in front of that mic and rocked through the rest of the song.
Even now I think about that moment, which could have been an embarrassing faux pas, and I have goose bumps. His musicianship is so good, so natural, that he moves effortlessly between sounds, genres & even instruments. He is our chameleon. And the master of my favourite Massey Hall moment.
So what is your Massey moment?
Caroline Hall is Marketing Coordinator at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall
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