ROCKIN’ MEMORIES
Tributes to Holly, Simon and Garfunkel and other musical stars fill the concert calendar
The sad reality is that Montreal audiences will never again be able to catch rock ’n’ roll legend Buddy Holly in concert. Same for Tom Petty. And based on Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s comments of late, one shouldn’t hold one’s breath in anticipation of a Simon and Garfunkel reunion in the near future.
So the next best thing — sometimes even the better thing — could be to catch tributes to the aforementioned performers.
On that note, The Simon and Garfunkel Story comes to Théâtre St-Denis on Wednesday, Nov. 22 and Thursday, Nov. 23. Taylor Bloom is Simon and Ryan M. Hunt is Garfunkel, and they will be performing the folk-rock duo’s biggest blasts from the past — The Sound of Silence, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Mrs. Robinson et al. The show goes back to S&G’s early days as Tom and Jerry and climaxes with their Central Park reunion concert in 1981.
The long-running touring show Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story hits town next for an afternoon show Nov. 26 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts. Not only will fans be able to let loose to such Holly classics as Peggy Sue and Rave On, as performed by Michael Perrie Jr., but also on the bill are James Fairchild and Miguel Angel Brenes; they will croon tunes by the Big Bopper (Chantilly Lace) and Ritchie Valens (La Bamba), who perished with Holly in that fateful plane crash in 1959.
And excellent news for fans of Petty: Tommy Youngsteen pays tribute to the rock master Feb. 9 at Turbo Haus.
And what would this city be without a monthly tribute to Pink Floyd? Space: The Best of Pink Floyd, performed by The Wall Live Extravaganza, comes to Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier Dec. 2. Prepare to jump into a psychedelic dream machine replete with eye-popping projections, sets and costumes and a cast of 12.
The new year will begin on a particularly high note for fans of Genesis. The famed Quebec band the Musical Box will re-enact Genesis’s 1974 Black Show, Jan. 4 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
And this is just the tip of the tribute iceberg.
The reality is that two of the best local concerts I caught in the last year (and possibly decade) were tributes to the Band (The Last Waltz 40th Anniversary Celebration, last November at the Corona Theatre) and Leonard Cohen (last week’s Tower of Song show at the Bell Centre).
Montreal promoter Rubin Fogel got into the business four decades back and has long been aware of the popularity of tribute shows. He has had a hand in some of the most memorable, including Tower of Song, which he co-produced. He enjoyed success with homages to the Beatles and John Lennon solo. Now he’s doing the Holly, S&G and Pink Floyd tributes.
“Music is one of those few elements that brings us back to our past,” Fogel says.
“We all want to feel the way we did when we heard those songs and when we lived with that music for the first time. We reflect back to the romances we had. We reflect back to the lifestyles we had.”
TSN broadcaster Mitch Melnick will be donning his promoter’s chapeau when his Billy Bob Productions team mounts the Petty tribute. They were also at the helm of the Last Waltz celebration, as well as numerous tributes to Bob Dylan.
“People would like to see that Band tribute concert repeated every few years, but it was a oneoff special moment,” Melnick says.
“The Dylan thing was started as a bit of a lark when he wasn’t coming to Montreal for a period. I think the reason these tribute concerts are so popular here is that the artists they’re covering don’t come here very often.
“When was the last time Pink Floyd or Genesis was in town? The reason the Band tribute so resonated was because it was eons back when the Band last played here. When was the last time you were even in a bar and heard these songs come alive? People just miss the live experience of their favourite performers.”
No matter the memories, Fogel is quick to caution that it’s ultimately about business.
“As a promoter, I don’t necessarily look at this as a wave of nostalgia,” says Fogel, who will bring The Simon and Garfunkel Story to the Maritimes for three shows after the Montreal stop. “I get close to acts when I know that they are talented and worthwhile.
“Is it a bit of a crapshoot? Yes. But I always choose to work with people whom I’ve known over
the years, who are conscientious and who are doing this for the right reasons. Ultimately, it’s about putting together a quality show that will entertain and even inform.”
Melnick concurs with that assessment, but brings up an excellent point as to why audiences are so touched by the golden oldies of their youth.
“The world is in such a mess these days,” he says. “People just want to escape back to a time that might not have been, but that just seemed so much more simple.”