May 21, 2004
Glass Tiger, Spoons belt out old fan faves

OTTAWA -- The '80s exploded under a foreboding sky at Major's Hill Park last night as two 20-year-old bands took to the Tulip Fest stage and did a pretty good job of saying: "Hey, remember us?"

It really is hard to believe Glass Tiger and the Spoons are still performing. How can they muster up the enthusiasm? Yet they did. And so did about 3,300 people who turned up to watch them.

When Glass Tiger lead singer Alan Frew asked the crowd how many of them were catching his act for the first time, a good portion cheered back they were. The youngsters even seemed to like the Toronto-based, Juno-winning and Grammy-nominated group from back in the day.

Tunes like Diamond Sun, My Town, Someday, I'm Still Searching and My Song, which Frew stopped to tell the crowd was written when the group was "blootered" on Guinness, really stood the test of time, as did their signature hit and closer Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone).

Others, like Thin Red Line and Simple Mission well, not so much.

Frew told the crowd the band was heading out on tour and planned to release a new DVD, to "let everyone catch up."

There will be a couple of new songs on the DVD, and Frew asked the crowd to "indulge" the band last night while they played a few.

The Spoons have fans of all ages, too. And predictably, they just loved hearing hits like Old Emotion from the Burlington-based band during their hour-long set.

"Man, that brings back some memories, when was that recorded, 198...?" lead singer Gord Deppe asked fellow vocalist and original member Sandy Horne.

"Three," she chimed in.

"That scares the bejeezus out of me," replied Deppe. "You guys remember the '80s, don't you?"

Turns out the Spoons hold up nicely, even though Deppe couldn't stop reminding everyone how long it's been since they were popular.

The performance was there, nice, comforting, a blast from the past. What else can you say?

There was nothing groundbreaking or surprising about it, maybe a bit comforting is all, that they're the Spoons, and all these years later they still like to sing and play guitar. And even under a sky dark with inevitable rain, people still groove to them, like the guy I spotted wailing on an invisible drum kit during Arias & Symphonies and two men who sang the words of When Time Turns Around to each other, except they didn't really know them that well.

When I first heard Romantic Traffic all those years ago I got even more excited about earning my driver's licence. I realized last night that, all these years and countless traffic jams later, I never did get a date out of all those lingering glances. But that doesn't mean it hasn't been romantic. And a little like listening to '80s bands you grew up to, I guess.

JAM! Rating: 3 out of 5