http://alienatedinvancouver.blogspot.com/2009/04/art-bergmann-in-toronto... MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2009 Art Bergmann in Toronto, country music in Vancouver Damn, man, I wish I was in Toronto this weekend, to catch Art Bergmann opening for the Great Lake Swimmers on the 25th. Anonymous said... hey Allan, I thought you'd like to here a fan's thoughts about Art's performance in Toronto..before the show I felt some trepidation as it took place in a sort of genteel, sit down theatre environment..as well the fans for the most part probably didn't know anything about Art or his music, alot of them were early 20 somethings or older people more used to the acoustic music that the Great Lake Swimmers play..in comparison to the Richards show and what I have read, Art was more in the troubadour/songsmith mode and the focus was on his lyrics and some of his more delicate and moving/tragic songs..it was not a confrontational/punk sort of show..it was a very poignant performance..surprise !, he played guitar for the whole 9 song set, Chris Wardman backed him up...there were some of the usual between song commments, one about Mary Wollstonecraft and 1789 in the intro to "Our Little Secret" was quite memorable..by the end I think he earned the crowd's respect and received large applause several times..if you were an Art fan it was a moving and memorably stark experience..if not, his charisma/passion and the quality of the songs stood out and could not be denied..P.S In that environment and with that demographic it was great to hear the nervous laughter when people heard the perverse lyrics to "Sleep" and "The Hospital Song"...lets hope there is more shows !
