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Celebrating Lucky Ron’s 25th Anniversary: Tuesday, February 1st

post by Andrew Lavigne

photo by Darcy Quesnel

Don’t miss Lucky Ron’s 25th Anniversary happening today, February 1, 2011 at the Laff!

The live stream was a little to ambitious to rangle and there were  some technical shortcomings – so there won’t be live streaming video but we will be video taping great stuff at #LR25 that we will make sure it gets to the internet soon!!

There’s tons going on:

You can sign up to be a Lucky Ron impersonator as part of the show! You can sign up by commenting on Facebook to specify if you’ll be singing, playing guitar, or both! You can sign up at the bar as well!

Ottawa Tonite will have this feature page for the event, and take a look at Ron’s LR Youtube channel here:

So come join in. We encourage you to create share and join in this celebration. Let us know if you want to participate and link your media!!

A little history of Lucky Ron Burke:

For 25 years, every week Lucky Ron has packed up his guitar, walked out his door to play for the people, every week! His set is filled with the same songs, the same jokes and the same crowd interventions week after week…it’s his energy every week thats fresh & infectious that keeps bring in the people. For example, after he plays the third song of his set, Burke will wait until the audience calls for “Number Four!”, which is Johnny Horton’s Battle of New Orleans. Other artists he covers include Johnny Cash and Stompin’ Tom Connors.

Burke has also performed in Ottawa-area groups such as Lucky Ron and the Rhode Island Reds and The Black Donnellys. Burke ran for mayor in the Ottawa municipal election of 2003, garnering a small number of votes, the campaign poster still hangs on the wall at the Laff!

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It’s THE SUPER AWESOME CLUB this Friday!

When it’s a SUPER AWESOME CLUB show you can’t go Wrong!

The SUPER AWESOME CLUB invites YOU to their annual club meeting Friday, January 7th at Irene’s Pub (885 Bank St. $8, 9:30pm)

Remember how fun last years SUPER AWESOME CLUB show was?  With the Plate spinning Lions and the Dancing Bear and the accidental basement meth-lab pyrotechnics?  Well this year will be Even Better!  We’ve got New HITS (“Pumpjob”,”Ray Gay”,”Droppin’ Bombs”) and New Toys and Jake promises to wear his new christmas sweater with a Giraffe on it.

The SAC Features:

WAYNE EAGLES – Guitar – Wayne is a Man amongst women, a devout worshiper of left handed tree-frogs, and an olympic shot-put favorite in the upcoming London games.  In the last 2 weeks Wayne has gone to outer space 3 times to beat up some aliens ultimately saving the human race from a tragic demise. 

Wayne says of the SAC: “I haven’t been this excited about a show since that time I filled in for George at the Shea stadium August 15th 1965.”

JAKE VON WURDEN – Bass – Jake has a near-mint condition Honus Wagner (short-stop) baseball card from 1909 that he will be giving to 1 lucky SAC fan on the night of the show.  Recently Jake, who has found extra time on his hands, joined a local Modern dance troupe and with the grace of a injured manatee has been scaring audiences to death with inept leaps and twirls… he won’t be showing off his “mad dancing skillz” at the SAC show… that’s a promise.

STEVE BOUDREAU – Keyboards – Steve just successfully completed a 2 hour seminar about how to “correctly lick the strip that securely fastens closed an envelope”.   After so much learning Steve is taking a quick vacation to Naraka to do some soul cleaning.  Steve has collected his toe nail clippings for the last 15 years, they will be on display at the show and, by way of a silent auction, will be available to 1 lucky SAC fan.

MATT OUIMET – Drums – Matt is perfect.  There is no fault in him.  He is Gallant, Intelligent, Handsome, Clever, Humorous, and very Caring.  He does however have a spotty criminal record and is not allowed near infants or the severely aged.  He has a few blemishes on his skin that ooze quite a bit, and he often bastardizes the english language so badly that he has been verboten to speak in many public forums.  Matt’s 4 illegitimate children refuse to go to the SAC show to support their father just as he refuses to support their upbringing.

Come on down to SUPER AWESOME CLUB show!

Tell Your Friends! Be there and Be Square!

love,

the SAC Management

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The February Bluebird North Series – Artists sharing stories and songs

It’s commonly said that the sad songs are the best and I doubt you would have found any argument at the NAC’s fourth stage during Ottawa’s  February Bluebird North show. This being my first Bluebird concert I didn’t know really what to expect.

Matthew de Zoete, Kelly Prescott, Steve Marriner

Played in by new host and local songstress Amanda Rheaume, folk and blues artists Lynne Hanson, Kelly Prescott, Matt De Zoete and Steve Marriner took to the stage and gave the crowd a wonderful acoustic set of their work.

Amanda Rheaume, all photos by Bryson Masse

The musicians performed one after another, each taking time to say a few words about the song and its inspiration. As in all good folk stories, the topics meandered from tragic to hilarious and often the two overlapped. The evening was put on by the Songwriter’s Association of Canada, so there was an emphasis on the “talky parts”. But, since I like that kind of stuff, it never took away from the show. Each of the musicians explained how they found motivation in their travels and relationships.

Of the idea behind her song More of the Same, Hanson told the story of her adopted grandfather and the loss of his wife to Alzheimer’s disease. The amazing raw imagery in the lyrics really grabbed me.

De Zoete looked to the past and his Dutch heritage, Prescott wrote about her relationships and Marriner even fit in an amusingly scathing song about a woman so bad he didn’t even have to date her. The take away message was clearly that if you want to keep a clean reputation, don’t piss off a musician.

I really dug the informal format. The full stage allowed the performers to converse and share jokes. While the theme of the music that night seemed to border more on the depressing, the laughs didn’t stop. It didn’t have the rehearsed feeling stage banter often has when you’re watching a group that you know has done this fifty times before.

If I could ask for more, all I would need would be more of the artists playing with each other’s songs. As when it happened, it was fantastic.

The night was special and unique and this is what will bring me back to future Bluebird North performances.

Kelly Prescott

Matt De Zoete

Lynne Hanson

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