Saturday August 24th

Anne Murray

Fallsview Casino, Nov 2004

The long line up to enter the Fallsview Casino in Nov 2004 was well worth the wait to see Canada’s own multi award winning (for an extensive list of awards see http://www.annemurray.com/pages/awards.htm) superstar Anne Murray.

The Fallsview Casino is a 1500 seat theatre where there is no such thing as a bad seat. Quickly becoming a popular hall for entertainers of all genres, this is a great location with lots of parking. Kids are welcome at their events as the entrance is separate from the actual Casino.

The stage was set up very elegantly with black curtains and bright lighting. An orchestra was set up on the right of the stage to seat the members of the Niagara Symphony. Anne came onstage dressed in a white suit and black shirt, which added to the elegant decor in the theatre.

The evening was off to a humorous start as she teased that A.M.740 out of Toronto plays so many of her songs that fans were wondering if the A.M. stood for Anne Murray. Anne Murray740.... has a nice ring to it!

Anne’s first song, “Put A Little Love in Your Heart”, quickly showed us that she is still one of the strongest vocalists around. “Somebody’s Knocking”, was next followed by “Dreaming”. Anne’s voice was full of warmth and feeling as she sang directly to the audience.

After “Time Don’t Run Out On Me” (on her Heart Over Mind CD), she took a break to comment on the prices of tickets for the show. She teased that for $84.50 a seat she assumes the audience is expecting a “wardrobe malfunction”.

ANNE MURRAY has a great sense of humor and also while singing had most members of the audience swaying. Those that weren’t swaying were bopping their heads to the beat of the music. With a sold out show tonight, and another tomorrow night she commented at least she had a short drive to work.

Her next song, “Another Sleepless Night”, starts off slow and after the first verse picks up into an up-tempo song that the lighting and the crowd danced along with. At this point it really makes you realize how much pre-show time must go into a performance of this magnitude.

Anne told us of some emails she has received from fans. One of them asked if she was Canada’s Treasurer. Anne guessed that the fan had heard of Anne being Canada’s Treasure, and got a little confused.

“Oh Yes I Do”, was another song to show the talents of back up vocalists. It also shows how great back up vocalists can compliment the stage as well as the show itself. The entire band was dressed in black so it complimented the look of Anne being in white, as well as their voices being the perfect compliment to hers.

“Dream a Little Dream of Me” captured the audience’s attention fully (not that it hadn’t been captured already), as every one seemed to reminisce about this classic.

Anne Murray’s newest CD is called “I’ll Be Seeing You”, and is a collection of old favorites chosen by Anne herself.

Anne received gifts from the audience including teddy bears and flowers.

During “All of Me” Adan had a chance to show us his fiddle playing skills. After a hypnotizing solo the audience roared with applause.

At this point in the show Anne gave the orchestra and some band members a break to treat us to some of our favorites unplugged. Joined by Adan Mercer from South Africa, who has been playing with Anne for 29 years, Debbie Shaw “the best back up vocalist around”, who has been with Anne for 25 years and George from Moncton NB, whom Anne has known since 1969, Anne treated us to “I Want To Sing You A Love Song” and “Something To Talk About”. Requests were invited from the audience and “Animal Crackers” seemed to be a favorite of many. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” had the audience mesmerized again followed by the ever popular “Snowbird”.

Anne brought back Gary Craig, her drummer from Toronto, Peter Blakely from Nova Scotia on bass, and the conductor and arranger Steve Sexton from Unionville, back on stage as well as the Niagara Symphony for the rest of the show.

“You Needed Me” was followed by “Daydream Believer”. Anne Murray makes performing on stage seem effortless and takes a few moments mid song to wave to fans. “Could I Have This Dance” was next and the audience was invited to sing along. As the lights went up, the music stopped and the audience replied enthusiastically.

Anne asked the audience if they would like one more, to which the response was no… lots more. She said she would, happily, but the audience did need time to gamble, and then teased again about the $84.50 ticket price. She sang us one more song before she left the stage.

She returned for a much-anticipated encore to sing us “Danny’s Song”, and “Just Another Woman in Love”.

It was really awesome to be able to see Anne Murray live. I had my sister with me, who had heard the name of Anne Murray but wasn’t positive who Anne is, but was singing and dancing along like the rest of us in the audience. Anne’s website has a lot of information about Anne and the amazing career this wonderfully talented Canadian artist has had. You can check it out at www.annemurray.com.

Special thanks to The Fallsview Casino, and their amazing staff. http://discoverniagara.com/fallsviewcasino/

I can’t wait to see who is coming next!

Photos by Genn Walton

Written by Genn Walton & Melanie Marshall