I was invited out to catch Rik Emmett of Triumph last night by an old boss and friend, Robert Thompson. Well, he’s a long-time friend, not an old one. You know what I mean. Alexander Bosika, he of Mobile Monday, joined us for the evening. Turns out that the former Triumph lead is doing the blues/americana style thing with a partner, Dave Dunlop, and their tour took them to Emmett’s old neighbourhood and the Hugh’s Room bar and restaurant out by Bloor and Dundas. First, Hugh’s Room.
This venue is actually quite good, to my surprise, as I hadn’t even heard of it before. They’ve had a great string of talent coming through, and I’ll be heading back on March 30th to catch Kelly Joe Phelps with the guys. You buy a ticket and it gets you a seat at a dinner table, at which point you can eat and drink some good eats and drinks while you enjoy the show. An interesting concept, but certainly a comfortable way to take in some light rock music.
The show – very good! I’m very unfamiliar with Triumph or Rik Emmett so it was all pretty much new to me. I did recognize a few of the tracks, and they did a cover of All Along the Watchtower that I enjoyed. Both slugged away on acoustic guitars and are quite accomplished, bantering between songs and sets and generally having a good time. Robert was kind enough to make the evening on him so I utilized the money I’d saved to pick up their Strung-Out Troubadours album and a bootleg of a show last month in Philadelphia, which I’m listening to now. Good stuff.
I’m not sure if any of you folks are blues fans, but if so I encourage you to give me the heads-up so you can join us for Kelly Joe Phelps. He’s likely the best, or one of the best, slide guitarists alive today and well worth seeing.
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