Kenny Rogers: One Of The Greats

Though I'm not really a country music guy, Kenny Rogers is a timeless artist whose music appeals to many different tastes. I've had the opportunity to see Kenny twice, in 1992 at Edmonton's Northlands Coliseum and the next year at Red Deer's Centrium (about an hour and a half bus ride away)

And if those shows were a little more Vegas-inspired than I might have liked after hearing stories of the legendary 1985 Kenny/Dolly/Lee Greenwood tour (which I didn't get to see), the man still knows how to perform, and satisfy a crowd.

Note on Darius Rucker: I kept saying back in Hootie And The Blowfish's mid-90s heyday that Let Her Cry
was a country song in disguise. People laughed. Now I feel vindicated.

In closing, a bit of traveller's wisdom:

Any Humpty's restaurant anywhere, even those normally open 24 hours, will be cleaned at 11:00 Sunday night.

After which it will probably close for the night, as the one in Red Deer did.

So don't arrive at 10:45 to wait for your ride back to the city.

Have a good night!

MTMG

November 1, 1990

I hope the Dixie Chicks and their fans had a blast tonight at Rexall Place. But I couldn't help remembering that I was at the then Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton on November 1, 1990, watching the New Kids On The Block perform a sold out (17 000 +) show.

I have two words for you: Sonic. Boom.

And it wasn't that the New Kids themselves made ears bleed, but rather the deafening screams of the 16, 991 preteen girls and young women present (yes, I do think I was one of only ten men in the building that night)

But here's the thing:

1) I dug a couple NKOTB tunes back in the day.
2) It was the closest thing (atmosphere-wise) to Beatlemania I'd ever experienced up to that point. Of course, I've since learned that 400 in a casino can sure sound like 17,000 when the Bay City Rollers or Herman's Hermits are onstage. Am I also Mikey The Retro Guy? Yes. Get over it.

3) I have in storage, unopened and in the wrap, a copy of the NKOTB Christmas album.

A big thank you to Penelope's Mom, my sister Jacquie, for standing in line for a day and a half so I got a ticket. And also to the friend I had with me that night, who made sure I was able to navigate my way through the throngs after the show.

Happy weekend everyone!

MTMG