Trick
Pony @ Casino Rama
Thursday
June 19, 2003
The summer concert scene
in Ontario wouldn’t be complete without the by-now famous lineup
presented by Casino Rama, with someone to fit every genre preference.
As you know (or you wouldn’t be reading this) our preference is
country – and country fans would be in for a treat this year.
With artists as diverse as the legendary Randy Travis, Vince Gill
and Brooks & Dunn to the newest and brightest like Rebecca Lynn Howard
(appearing with Patty Loveless) and the hot trio of Trick Pony
(substituted in the weeks before due to the cancelled appearance of Rascal
Flatts originally scheduled for the June 19th spot) we were
eagerly waiting for the chance to head back up and cover some incredible
entertainment. Luckily that
opportunity presented itself in time for the Trick Pony show and if any of
you were awestruck by their performance in last year’s Neon Circus tour
we know you hot footed it up there for June 19th.
The venue is first class, with the large hall known for
its unique sound system…every seat in the house is treated to the same
sound quality and volume due to the latest in audio design. The stage is large and well appointed; with some of the best
lighting I’ve seen provided for the photographers out to cover the show.
That means a lot when the stipulations are usually ‘no flash, in
house lighting only’. One
thing about Trick Pony is the lack of ‘effects’ needed to keep you
entertained. They can do it
all themselves, with no problem whatsoever.
So for those of you expecting some fireworks or confetti cannons,
I’m afraid you’d be out of luck.
The shows at Casino Rama start promptly at 8 PM due to
the lack of an ‘opening act’ and it’s a very comfortable time for
anyone traveling some distance. Right
at 8, the house lights began to dim and the restless crowd became
attentive as the two ‘other’ band members took the stage.
Bursting out into the light like they couldn’t wait to get going
and with a big hello from Ira, the trio launched right into “On A
Mission”, the first single from their most recent album.
For anyone concerned about Heidi’s vocals due to the
much-publicized surgery earlier this year I can tell you she sounds better
than ever. Plus this lady
looks as good as she sounds. “We came a long way to ask one little question,” Heidi
began during the break. “Are
you ready to PARTY??”
The roar from the three quarters or so full house told
her what she needed to hear and she affirmed that they’d come out a long
way to be with us, and “Thanks for having us Ontario”.
“Party Of One” from their first album, the self-titled “Trick
Pony” was the next song out and kept the pace up.
As each member of the band crossed from one side of the stage to
the other their fun loving style began to come through, with Keith
pretending to kick Heidi as he passed behind her during the song. The next tune out was another from the new album, this time
Keith taking the lead vocal on “Love Is A Ball”.
Not one to let anyone take it easy, Heidi had the crowd stand up
while saying, “We’ve been lucky to have played in Canada before, and
we know that it’s not usual for the crowd to stand up during the
show…but this one time we want y’all to get on up, and clap your
hands…”
As the house lights came up everyone rose to their feet
and clapped along. “Now
that right there…is why we came to Canada!”
Heidi yelled out. “Party
with the Trick Pony crew…on ‘A Night Like This’.”
And on they went, into the song with Heidi adding “You’re just
what we need tonight y’all!” A
roar of appreciation filled the room following what must have been
everyone’s favourite. “Rain”,
again from the new album, provided a calmer moment for the group with a
really beautiful song and letting everyone catch their breath.
And how do you follow a moment of tranquility? You let Ira go next…(yeah right!)
He mentions that they hadn’t been back to Canada
since last year’s Brooks & Dunn Neon Circus tour and it’s great to
be back up here. He thanked
everyone for making the first album platinum and for the great response to
the new one, especially those in country radio.
And how do you follow that? “You
Can’t Say That On The Radio”, of course.
I’m going to take a moment here and describe what you
saw at the show, not just what you heard.
Now everyone knows that Trick Pony are three very attractive
people, but I gotta tell you that their photos (good as they are) don’t
do them justice. It’s the
aura that comes flying at you from across the room that does it…Heidi is
a tiny fireball that never seems to be in one place for more than a few
seconds, blonde hair a’flyin and her smile shooting out all over the
place. Ira is always darting
around, into this and into that, that large genuine ‘what can I get into
next’ grin on his face from under whatever wild hat he’s chosen to
wear that day. And Keith?
Best way to describe him is ‘smoldering’…peeking out from
under the brim of his hat with a smile that lights up his eyes and with
his dark, rugged looks contrasting perfectly with the blonde firestorms on
stage with him. For this show
Heidi was ‘casually attired’ in a pair of low rider, faded jeans, a
little white T-shirt and (at the start of the show) a cropped, faded jean
jacket. And a little metal
belt along with a ‘straw’ cowboy hat.
Ira was decked out in a pair of jeans, a wild print shirt and a
light coloured jacket under a slouchy ‘fedora’ hat, with the usual
funky glasses completing the look. Keith
wore his usual dark hat with a (very) fitted outfit of brown trousers,
faded or ‘sandblasted’ looking in the front and darker on the sides
with a matching shirt under a light leather jacket.
In due time of course the jacket came off of Heidi (as did the
belt, but I’ll get into that later on), the jacket came off of Keith and
Ira parted with his belt too (again, we’ll cover that one later on).
Is this trio hot? Oh
yeah!!
In the middle of the previous song Heidi (who seems to
have a problem keeping belts on in Canada) found herself with a broken
belt and ended up taking it off. “So
much for that belt,” she remarked to her partners.
As everybody laughed she looked around for somewhere to put it,
then offered it to someone in the front row.
“I’m afraid it’s broken…” she began, but I don’t think
the person she handed it to minded one bit.
That’s all the encouragement Ira needed, and he pulled his shirt
up and in one swift move had his belt off too.
“Let’s keep going ‘til we’re all naked”, he suggested to
the other two…and was rewarded with another roar from the crowd.
As he stood there with his belt in one hand he looked out into the
crowd and said, “Well, come and get some…”
No sooner did the words leave his mouth than women
began running down to the stage from every which direction.
He looked around with a large grin, and then reached out to hand it
to one of the outstretched hands in front of the stage. Out of nowhere a lady ran up, snatched it from him and ran
off, leaving the other women looking around in surprise and totally
cracking up the group on stage. “Did
you notice all those women?” Keith
called out. “They’re all
dressed like Heidi…” True enough, most of them wore jeans and white
T-shirts, prompting Heidi to say “And no, we did not call each other and
see what we’d be wearing.”
Heidi noticed a lady in front of the stage in a
motorized wheelchair and pointed her out to Keith, and he took a minute to
climb down the stairs to give her a word, a hug and no doubt a little
keepsake before he climbed back up to the stage.
As the group got back into ‘show form’ Ira announced he wanted
to tell the “Pelican Story”, as it’s a perfect tie in for the next
song. Heidi looked horrified, and implored him not to tell that
story…Ira said it was okay, there weren’t any kids present as
they’re in a casino so it would be fine.
“What are the critics gonna think if you go telling ‘the
pelican story’,” she asked. “You’re
givin’ your clothes to people in the front row and you don’t want me
telling the pelican story?” he
asked her. Heidi and Keith both burst into laughter at that, so Ira
called over to Keith, “Throw out that leopard thong that you’re
wearing…” to which Keith replied, “These trousers are so tight if I
had anything like that on you’d likely see right through ‘em.”
Well, you can rest easy guys.
All I’m going to say is it concerns a pelican, the state of
Wisconsin and Waylon Jennings…and it’s one pretty funny story. And yes, the next song was “Big River”. Heidi said one thing that they all noticed about Canada was
that we liked ‘real country music’, meaning the old stuff, and it had
been their honour to have Johnny Cash and Waylon play with them on that
song. If you’ve never been
able to see Heidi play the harmonica (and yes, that’s her on the
recording too) you’ve been missing a real treat.
That girl not only sings her heart out but when she plays she puts
her whole body into it, tiny as she is.
Keith was strumming, in a kind of reflective mood, and
mentions to us that he’s always liked Gordon Lightfoot.
A round of applause greeted that, and he gave us a few lines of
that song…Ira was diddling around on his side of the stage and Keith
looked over at him. “No,
they don’t all go like that…” he says to Ira.
Ira says back to him, “Now, do it like Elvis.”
And Keith did, for the next few lines his voice turned into Elvis,
and Heidi started laughing again. As
Keith continued strumming he looks out at us and says, “We got off the
plane to come out here and, y’all must know this – you’re in the
middle of nowhere.” Everyone laughs as he continues, “Heidi took a nap and woke
up three times, asking ‘Are we there yet?’”
The next song was Keith’s and was devoted to Waylon.
During a long ‘musical interlude’ (which is why I can’t
remember the name of this particular song) Keith came down into the
audience, then up the aisle next to us, then sidled into the row directly
opposite us to stand on an empty seat in the crowd (while he continued
playing). He reached out with
a guitar pick to a lady sitting right in front of him, and as she reached
out he pulled his hand back. When
he reached out with the pick again this time she extended her hand, palm
flat, so he could place the pick in her hand.
With a large grin he did, and then he came back into the aisle next
to us. And that’s when his
attention was snagged by the very lovely Linda Martelli (from 820 CHAM)
who was sitting next to us and was trying to get his attention.
He leaned into our row to hear what she was trying to say, and yup,
he was right in front of me…and I only wish I could remember what song
it was he was doing at the time. But
it’s gone. Sorry…(grin). That particular scenery would have wiped just about anything
out of my head, I must confess…
Back to business.
Todd from Calgary (yeah, Canadian on board!) was keeping the guitar
busy and Brian rounded out the group and as the introductions were
concluded Keith noticed Heidi was started fidget.
“You doing okay?” he asked her.
“No,” she replied. “My
pants are saggin’…” as she hitched them up at the same time.
Keith and Ira exchanged looks over her head and one began singing,
to the tune of “Oh Christmas Tree”.
“Oh saggy butt, oh saggy butt, Heidi’s got a saggy butt…”
with the other joining in and the lady in question breaking down in
laughter. She obligingly
turned and wiggled her behind for the crowd.
As the laughter died down she stated into her microphone,
“We’ve not stuck to one thing that we normally do out here.”
“That’s true,” Ira added, “We’re having a good time.
All we’ve stuck to is ‘Go out on stage’”.
The Trick Pony trio intros were next, and first Heidi,
then Ira, and then Keith were brought to the crowd’s attention. Heidi took a minute to say to the crowd, as she pointed at
Keith, “Will you believe this young fella’ s got four children?”
“He started when he was eight,” Ira added, concluding with,
“I won’t go there.”
Ira remained on stage while the others filed off and
nothing brings home the fact that these three are ALL complete
entertainers who were fortunate enough to find each other, but capable of
carrying the show alone too. Ira
felt first off, he had to comment on the ‘customs’ issues.
“That customs, it’s just wrong,” he stated.
As the laughter died down he added, “All Keith did was joke about
body cavity searches…I asked the guy could he at least take off the
Superbowl ring?” He next
went into the subject of playing in casinos.
“Every time we play a casino, I feel like part of the rat
pack…” and continued on in a Sammy Davis voice a few lines of a song,
while he moved his feet like he was dancing (while still seated in a chair
with his guitar on his lap). For
a more serious message he next performed his solo from the new album,
“The Devil And Me”.
The jokes continued as he remarked how they, “…only
know about five songs, so this is my portion, and we have to stretch it
out to 90 minutes.” During
the course of his monologue, he makes another comment that has everyone
cutting up and Heidi comes to the side of the stage to throw something at
him. “What, pelicans
again?” he asks, as he
looks up at the lights.
With all present and accounted for again Keith heads
off into “Just What I Do”. The
crowd is expected to join in at parts and the lights come up so the trio
can see us. The opening
chords of “Pour Me’ had the room erupt and suddenly Keith stopped.
“What’dya think?” Heidi
asked him. “I don’t
know…” he replied, but they started off into it anyway.
When the next song ended the thank you’s began and off they
went…the musicians stayed put though, so you figured they’d be back
out again. “Take It To The
Limit” was their encore song, and following this they really did leave. It was an amazing show, which coupled with the incredible
surroundings of Casino Rama left you feeling like you’d been a part of
something very special indeed. If
you have thought about attending a Trick Pony show but weren’t sure I
must tell you – DO IT. You’ll
never be sorry. And the same goes for any show at Casino Rama that may
have caught your eye.
Along the way in our travels we ran into friends and a
happy coincidence, we all sat near each other.
Lindsay Ontario singer Donny Anderson (with some family members)
was in attendance, as was the aforementioned Linda Martelli and Michelle
Quinn from Hamilton’s 820 CHAM. Enjoying
a fantastic show is always better when you can share it with friends, and
we have to thank the staff at Casino Rama for outdoing themselves yet
again. Personalized attention
is what they’re famous for, so thanks to all of you for making a great
show even better.
