Can You Hear Me Now?

I have to write about the house concert Friday night. I am just so honoured that I was a part of it.

My parents dropped me off, and a few people helped me inside… moving plants off the stairs so I could hold onto the railing and stuff. The house was enormous and beautiful. The concert was hosted by (wealthy) friends of Peter’s parents, and it was strictly their friends and family that were there. Many people over the age of 70, even 80, and a few grandkids under 10. Four generations in all, that I could see. And I had never met any of them. I was the only guest of Peter’s! I expected him to have a few other friends there, as he has some close ones in Calgary. I was shocked and flattered to be the only one he invited.

Caroline, the hostess, was a sweetheart. She gave me a big hug when I arrived and made sure I found a comfortable seat on the sofa. She brought me a glass of wine and a plate of food, which I gracefully declined (the food, not the wine!) because of my new regimen. She went back and filled a plate with raw veggies and chicken satay for me instead. She assigned her 8 year old grandson Jake to look after me, but he was too busy helping Peter to care about me hehe. Future roadie in the making.

Around 8:00 Peter started to play, and it was an amazing set. I can’t imagine a better scenario for a musician to play in than a group of people sitting quietly who came to HEAR you play. No background noise, no one talking, all eyes and ears focused on you. Considering the age range of the group, Peter chose a lot of his slower songs, many of which have incredible stories attached to them. Like the song he wrote for his sister when she got married, and the lullaby for her daughter, and the one inspired by the Laramie Project. One of my favourites is “Forgiveness”, which was inspired by the father of a man who was decapitated by Zarqawi in Iraq. You can read Peter’s story behind this song, hear the interview that inspired it and the song itself on this page. It’s really moving and thought-provoking.

There were about 25-30 people there. And you know, if I was having that many people over for any reason and was serving food, it would be paper plates, paper napkins and disposable cups all around. Not these people… the good china was out. Cloth napkins, tea cups and saucers, silver teapots, fancy wine glasses. Watching them begin clean-up afterwards, loading the dishwasher the first of many times, rinsing plates… I was feeling mighty proud of my lower-class lifestyle, because we’d be tossing everything into garbage bags and be done with it. Not as good for the environment, but better for my sanity. Heh

The food spread was amazing, by the way… everything from a huge variety of cheeses and breads, sushi, chicken satay, and quiche to apple blintzes, chocolate torte, cakes, pastries, etc. I never ate any more than the raw veggies and chicken I was served when I arrived. Go me!!

At the end of the night Peter drove me home, thank goodness, because getting a cab would be impossible. He has a GPS in his car, which has got to be the coolest thing ever. Him and Rob tuned it to the sexy British woman’s voice, so I got to hear her tell us where to go ever so elegantly. “300 metres… turn right. Keep right.” I guess it makes for some sort of female company during those long road trips, but I made sure to tell Peter “she may sound sexy, but you know she’s 400 pounds of white trash talking to you from her trailer with a baby hanging off each nipple and a boyfriend passed out in the other room.”

Oh yes, and Peter had written a brand new song that day, and made a quick recording of it. He played it during his set, and it almost made me cry too because I know exactly what/who it is about. He played the recording for me in the car, and then gave me the CD. “Here, you can have the very first recording of this song”. I can’t say anything more about it because there are other people involved and it is a surprise and they might read this so shhhhhh.

There was a bag of rice cakes in the back of the car, left behind by Rob during their road trip together. Peter gave them to me. I called Rob the next day to tell him how well I handled facing all that food the night before, so he could praise me and tell me how proud he is of me. When I told Rob that Peter gave me his bag of rice cakes, he laughed and said “it’s like passing the torch”. Hehe