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December 17-18, 2006 - Oakville, ON The last two of 2006! We're in Oakville at the Centre for the Performing Arts for two back to back shows. It's a great theatre with just over 500 seats. Again we had two sold out shows with some of the most energetic fans we've seen. These folks were primed for a great show and as always Natalie didn't disappoint. She actually gave the audience a dance lesson both nights! Natalie had everyone stand and she showed them a couple of steps to do if they felt inclined! It's an awesome site to see a whole audience up and dancing! As we are so close to Christmas I think that everyone on stage was in a great "head space". As a result these were two great shows and the audience was also treated to quite a few stories by Natalie. I have to mention too that the lighting in this theatre is pretty incredible. When you have great lighting it really adds to the overall show.
Well folks
that's it for 2006. It's been an incredible year for everyone in the
MacMaster camp. When I think back to what we've accomplished this year
it is hard to believe. Since I came into the band in June we've been to
France, toured with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones along with the Del
McCoury band, toured all through the United States and parts of Canada,
filmed a DVD in Cape Breton, as well as played on a track for Hayley
Westenra's new album. I'm probably missing a lot of other special
moments but there has been so much this year that has been so positive.
Once again we would all like to give a huge thanks to all the people
that came out to the shows. As Natalie would say, it wouldn't be much
fun if the people didn't come out to the shows. As well the thousands of
crew members, caterers and volunteers. Nothing would happen without all
these people. |
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Last but not
least a huge thanks to Natalie herself and all my band mates, Brad,
Matt, Mac, Miche as well as our tour manager Chris. What a great team. I
can't forget Barbara who is keeping things moving smoothly, Donnell for
his great management skills and for being a great friend as well, and
you wouldn't be reading this without the exceptional skills of our
webmaster Cheryl. (I hope I didn't miss anyone. If I did please let me
know!) Merry Christmas to everyone and all the best in 2007! Mark
January 23 as the first official date for Natalie in Seattle and
February 8th is the first day of the 2007 tour. ............................................................................................................................... December 16, 2006 - Markham, ON Tonight's show is at the Markham Theatre for the Performing Arts. Great little theatre with just over 500 seats. As their website says "There isn't a bad seat in the house" and I believe it!. Again we had a capacity show tonight. It was one of those nights where we "let our hair down" (those of us who have it!) and had as much fun on stage as the audience did in their seats. I think it definitely has something to do with Christmas just being around the corner. The spirit of the season is affecting us all. A big thanks to all the people who came out to the show as well as all the local crew who have been helping us out with these shows. See you for the last two of the year in Oakville. ............................................................................................................................... December 15, 2006 - Brampton, ON Another sold out show! In fact once again we had special guests come out to see us and we had to seat them at side stage. What a great theatre. We're at the Rose Theatre in Brampton and these people have gone out of their way to decorate the lobby for Christmas. The highlight is the Christmas tree that is actually made out of poinsettias. Absolutely beautiful. The show was another great one. There was almost 900 people stuffed in that theatre and they were all primed for a great show. Natalie definitely didn't disappoint them. She was full of energy tonight and as a result the whole band was there with her. Next we head out to Markham for the next show. ............................................................................................................................... December 14, 2006 - Guelph, ON
We're at the
beautiful River Run Centre
in Guelph. What a great theatre. With close to
800 seats its a great
place to do a show. Tonight's show was completely sold out. In fact
there were extra chairs brought in to take care of the extra tickets
that were sold. In fact some of our guests that were invited to the show
had to sit at the side of the stage because we couldn't find them a
seat! However the major concern tonight was Natalie herself. She has the
flu really bad and had an extremely rough day because of it. In fact
pretty much up until show time we didn't know if there was going to be a
show at all! But she pulled it through somehow. We had her husband
Donnell ready side stage just in case she needed to run off stage but
not only did she not have to do that but she did all the dancing too!
Natalie has to be the toughest person I've ever met! Next we're off to
Brampton. Hopefully the flu bug will have realized ............................................................................................................................... Dec 9-10, 2006 - St. Catherines, ON It's nice to have two sold out shows in one city. The Brock Centre for the Arts theatre is located at Brock University and it's a great place to play. The site lines for the audience are perfect with not a bad seat in the house. The crowds for both shows were very appreciative and the response was awesome. Natalie was in her element on this stage and gave her all for the people. It was also a great couple of shows for all of us in the band. At the end of the first nights show there were 6 young gals on stage with Natalie dancing up a storm. Its nice to be up close and personal with the audience once in a while. Now we're off to Toronto for 3 days of R&R! Hard to believe this year is almost coming to a close with only 5 more shows. It's been a great year with some very special memories. See you next in Guelph. ............................................................................................................................... December 08, 2006 - Barrie, ON Welcome to the Gryphon Theatre in Barrie, ON! This is an interesting theatre. It's close to a 700 seat theatre on the campus of the Georgian College. It has a cool feature in that there are 3 separate "extra" areas that can be closed off or opened up depending on the theatre's needs. The funny part to us is that someone in the middle seating area can't see anyone to the areas on their left or right. Your best friend could be in one of the other areas and you wouldn't know they were there! This show has been sold out for quite a while so it was exciting to play for a crowd that was so quick to purchase their tickets. We knew we were in for a good show. From the moment Natalie walked on stage the crowd seemed to hang on her every note. I think I even saw a Nova Scotia provincial flag in the audience! A big thanks to all the staff of the Gryphon Theatre for all their help and a huge thanks to all the people who came out to the show. Your support is always appreciated by all of us on stage. See you for two shows in St. Catherines... ............................................................................................................................... December 7, 2006 - Keswick, ON We are at the Stephen Leacock Theatre in Keswick, ON today. It's a smaller centre but has one of the cooler theatre's on this tour. Very small at just under 300 seats but incredibly intimate. Basically there is no stage, we are on the floor and the seats rise around us in a half circle. From where I stand a person sitting in the nearest seat could literally reach out and touch my elbow! We came out for the show and I have to admit I was a bit uneasy with the audience being that close. I'm used to a large stage and the front row being lower than the stage. It took a few tunes for me to settle in and appreciate the surroundings. Turned out to be a great show. The audience were very appreciative and vocal in their support and Natalie was more relaxed than I've ever seen her. It felt that we had more of a connection with this audience than we could achieve in a large theatre setting. Overall a wonderful and memorable show.
I forgot to
tell you that we are working in a
new keyboardist. With
lots of practice she should be ready for her first show in a few years!
... See you in Barrie, ON.... December 6, 2006 - North Bay, ON Well winter is definitely here! We drove up from Toronto today and it was pretty miserable! Lots of snow and wind along the way but we made it safe and sound.
We're
here at the Capital Centre
in North Bay for tonight's show. What a great theatre.
The interior has these 6
beautiful window type features (two can be seen here at each side of the
stage) that add a wonderful feeling to this theatre. We're off to Keswick tomorrow and they say it's going to be -20C tomorrow! Time to get the snow suit out! ...............................................................................................................................
December 4, 2006 - Brantford, ON It's going to be an exciting day. ............................................................................................................................... December 2, 2006 - Mississauga, ON Back on the road again! We're out here in Mississauga at the Living Arts Centre for the first show of our December tour and what a great place to kick off the tour. Natalie has played here several times and she told me that in the past the people have been extremely supportive of her music. As always, she was correct! The venue is a beautiful theatre that seats just over 1300 people and as far as I could tell it was pretty much full! I know I say this all the time but the energy coming back from the audience really helps us take the show up a notch and tonight the energy was over the top. We were also excited because we got to throw in a couple of Christmas tunes to get everyone in the holiday mood. Natalie came up with a great medley of Christmas tunes for the first half of the show. Then in the second half Brad sang a beautiful version of The Christmas Song (you know, the "Chestnuts Roasting by an Open Fire" tune). And as well after the encore we sent them home with a short little Christmas ditty to keep them in the mood! Again thanks to all the crew and volunteers at the theatre and also a big welcome back to our road manager and sound tech Chris Hibbins. He became a father this summer and has been at home most of the summer and fall with his wife and new son and hasn't been out with us for quite a while. Nice to have him back. ............................................................................................................................... November 11, 2006 - Richardson, TX Well it's the last show of this leg of our tour. We're in Richardson, TX at the Eisemann Center. Once again we're lucky enough to be playing at a beautiful venue. It's a 1500 seat venue and not a bad seat in the house. Sell out crowd again tonight. Being the last show of the tour we were all primed for a great show and the crowd loved it. Everyone played great and were well rewarded by the audience. After we had to pack up and get ready for a heavy travel day tomorrow. We're all flying out at different times for a couple weeks off until the next tour in December. Thanks to everyone who came out to the shows, the venue staff, and our faithful soundtech, Trevor Nash. See you in a couple weeks. ............................................................................................................................... November 10, 2006 - Houston, TX
Can you
believe we're doing an outdoor show in November?? Well we're in Houston,
TX and it's warm out. In fact it's really warm out! We're at the
Miller Outdoor Theatre
and it's a great place. Every concert that is put on here is free to the
audience! The city picks up the tab for all the great entertainment here
and there is rarely a night where there isn't something happening here.
The covered part of the theatre holds just over 1500 and the big grassy
hill behind holds about another 4500 so it can get pretty full there.
We started out our show in great form. There were probably around the
1500 people mark and they were loud and energetic. Unfortunately the
weather was loud and
energetic as well. As we were giving the crowd a show, we were
also getting a show from mother nature in the form of
lightning! The sky's held
out until our last number and then the rain came. Luckily the people who
where sitting on the grass So next stop Richardson, TX for the last show of this leg of the tour. Can't believe the tour is almost over. See you there... ............................................................................................................................... November 9, 2006 - Baton Rouge, LA Louisiana definitely has a distinct style to it. Whether it be the people or it's architecture you know your in a cool part of the world. Not to mention you are right beside the mighty Mississippi River.
We are in
Baton Rouge tonight. Cool
venue in that it's really small and intimate but it still has that
theatre feel. The venue holds somewhere between 300 and 400 people and
it was completely sold out. It's always a great feeling to walk out on
stage to a crowd that is ready to be entertained and also ready to let
you know they Thanks to all the folks who came out and we'd love to come back to this region again. Also a big thanks again to the venue staff for treating us so well. Off to Houston tomorrow. See ya there... ............................................................................................................................... November 5, 2006 - Boulder, CO
Did I
already mention we love a sold out show? Well we're here in beautiful
Boulder, CO at the Macky
Theatre on the University of Colorado campus. This place is
huge with just over 2000
seats and has a very distinct university "feel" about
So yes it
was a sold out show tonight. The audience was primed for Natalie and
there were even some people originally from Cape Breton there! Of course
whether there is 2000 people there or 200 she gives the same energetic
show but when you have that many people out there giving back that much
energy, it really takes the show over the top. Thanks to all the people who came out to the show and a big thanks to all the staff at the venue as well for their great help. Now we have a few days off until the next show in Baton Rouge, LA. See you then.... ............................................................................................................................... November 04, 2006 - Aspen, CO Wow what a great drive from Durango to Aspen. Very unique scenery along the way. Once we got into Aspen and stopped the bus the first thing we saw was the massive ski hill. It must be beautiful when there is snow in the town itself.
We're
at the historic Wheeler Opera
House. It's an incredible building that was built in 1889. The feel
of the inside takes you
right back in time to what it must have been like back then. It's a
small theatre with just over 500 seats and has The audience was a bit light tonight with only about two thirds of the theatre filled but they were loud! We even had some people there that visited Cape Breton a month ago for the big Celtic Colours festival and saw Natalie at the DVD taping. Oh yea, before I forget, and I know I sound like a broken record, the catering tonight was exceptional. I think all of our stage clothes are getting a little tight from all the great food we've been having. Again thanks to the catering staff, the venue staff and most of all to the people that came out and supported us. Off to Boulder next. See you then. ............................................................................................................................... November 2, 2006 - Santa Fe, NM Wow what an incredible place. The first thing that hits you when you get here is the beautiful architecture. You really understand the whole design style that people refer to as "Santa Fe" style. Absolutely stunning. The Lensic Theatre itself is a work of art. Both outside and in. And from an audience point of view they have probably the most comfortable seats I've ever seen. So I have never experienced an audience like tonight. Every night Natalie tells the audience to throw out the "etiquette" of the theatre and to dance and do whatever they want. Well this time they did! We had so many people down in front dancing up a storm. At one point Natalie brought up this little guy, Wakim (I hope I'm spelling that right!), to dance with her. The little guy stole the show. Next thing we knew we had dancers of every age drivin' 'er! What a fantastic show. Afterwards while we were getting ready to head out Natalie came out and visited with some of her little fans. They were thrilled to meet her and she was equally thrilled to meet them. Thanks Santa Fe for a very memorable night. See you next time. ...............................................................................................................................
Okay we're in New Mexico and it's cold! Of course we're also over 7000 feet up so that makes sense. The Spencer Theatre is about 12 miles out of Alto on this plateau with an incredible view of the surroundings. It's a small theatre of just over 500 seats but it's all state-of-the-art. The lobby is absolutely beautiful with lots of glass art everywhere. It was a close to capacity crowd tonight and they were ready! Natalie hit the stage and the audience was with her right from the start. There were even a few pockets of really exuberant fans throughout the theatre. We always appreciate that! After a standing ovation and a encore we all headed backstage for homemade pizza! What a treat! On the way out to the bus they had us sign the "wall of fame". Great venue and great staff. Thanks to all. Now on to Santa Fe.... ............................................................................................................................... October 28, 2006 - Turlock, CA Well we no sooner parked our bus than a kids football game broke out right beside it! We're in Turlock, CA at the Turlock Community Theatre. This is a nice 1000 seat theatre with one of the most colorful ceilings we've seen. Okay I know I talk a lot about the catering for these shows but it was all we could do not to kidnap the catering staff and take them on the road with us. It was probably the best so far or at least in the top 5 best meals we've had. On with the show. It was a good show tonight. The audience wasn't as wild as we usually have but they did enjoy it. It seemed all the rowdy people were on the top deck. Couldn't see them but we sure heard them!! Thanks to those folks. We like when the audience gets involved in the show and "let their hair down"! Now on to Palm Desert, CA for a couple of much appreciated days off. (Don't tell anyone but I hear it's around 90F down there! Time to hit the pool!) See ya next time. ............................................................................................................................... October 27, 2006 - San Rafael, CA
Today
we're at the historic Marin
Veterans' Memorial Auditorium in beautiful San Rafael. If anyone was
listening to pop music in the '70's this is one of two theatres where
the biggest selling live album was recorded, Peter Framptons "Frampton
Comes Natalie played the fairgrounds here for an outdoor show many years ago but it was her first time in the theatre. Once again the crowd was fantastic. The place was about 3/4 full and they were a bundle of energy. As soon as we hit the stage the audience came alive (no pun intended - see first paragraph!) and didn't allow us to settle down until about an hour after our encore! This is an audience that performers dream about and it showed in our performance. We all had a great time and Natalie was definitely touched by the warmth and energy coming from the crowd. Once again a big thanks to all the crew and volunteers that helped out. We couldn't have put on the show without you. See ya next show... ............................................................................................................................... October 26, 2006 - Chico, CA Okay let me just say no offence to our northern fans and friends but when we stepped off the bus today in Chico, CA to 80F weather it sure felt good! Can't beat the California sun! So this is Natalie's 4th or 5th time to the Laxson Auditorium located at the California State University. It's a lovely 1200 seat theatre with a lovely interior design. As always sound check went smooth. Mac is loving playing a grand piano every night. You just can't beat the sound of a real piano. After a great meal (complete with pumpkin cheesecake - must be getting close to Halloween!) we prepared for the show while the theatre filled to almost capacity. The crowd was incredible tonight. We actually had people dancing in the isle! It seemed that the extra energy from the crowd made us all play with more intensity. By the time the encore came around the joint was really jumpin'! So tomorrow we're off to San Rafel, CA. See ya there! ............................................................................................................................... October 25, 2006 - Klamath Falls, OR Well we got to experience our first snow of the year! On the beautiful drive from Eugene to Klamath Falls we went through a mountain pass that had fresh snow from the night before. What a sight! I was so caught up in it that I forgot to take a picture (Sorry!). Of course as we started to descend the snow quickly disappeared but it was great while it lasted. The Ross Ragland Theatre was built in the '40's and like many theatres received a major overhaul in the 80's to make it a state of the art live theatre. This place has a huge stage for the size of it (700+). We had to be careful not to get lost up there! It was nice because we were able to use a full grand piano for Mac and planted him square in the middle of the stage. Natalie has been experimenting with the stage set up and I think she has a winner here. We had a pretty full crowd here tonight. As always they were an enthusiastic bunch. I think this was Natalie's first visit to Klamath Falls so I'm not sure the crowd knew exactly what she was about as far as the live show was concerned. But judging by the response I think she gained quite a few new fans for any future shows. So we're off to Chico, CA next. I see that it's supposed to be 82F (26C) there! So much for our snow! See ya next time. ............................................................................................................................... October 23, 2006 - Eugene, OR If you ever find yourself in Eugene you have to check out the Shedd Institute. It was born a Baptist Church in 1927 and in the 90's became "The Shedd". The interior probably hasn't changed that much from the original design. The church pews are still there and it definitely has the look and feel of a church. Another quick setup and sound check. The local crews have been great on this tour. We have our fearless road manager/soundman Trevor Nash directing the setup and so far, knock on wood, we haven't had any problems. After a quick meal (again the food was incredible) we were ready for the show. The 800+ seats were pretty close to being filled and the crowd was primed for a great show. I have to mention that last time Natalie played here she only had a couple band members with her as most of the band didn't make it because of flight delays and cancellations. So this time, with her full band, she gave the audience an awesome show and the energy they gave back was priceless. Next we have a day off to rest and recuperate (okay in reality to shop and shop some more!) and then we're off to Klamath Falls for our last Oregon show of this tour. See you then. ............................................................................................................................... October 22, 2006 - Longview, WA Can you believe that a natural disaster saved this theatre! We're here in Longview, WA at the Columbia Theatre. It's a great theatre that was built in the 1920's as a vaudville and silent movie theatre. In fact, the original backdrop is still being used! Anyway to make a long story short it was scheduled to be demolished in the early 80's and that's when Mount St. Helens erupted! So the equipment that was supposed to be tearing this theatre down had to be used to clean up the debris from the volcanic eruption! So in the mean time they got together and saved the theatre! What a great story. Good thing they did because it's a beautiful theatre. So we got set up and sound checked without a problem and sat down to yet another great feed! Good thing we're working hard out on stage because we've been treated like royalty when it comes to the food! The show wasn't a full house but for a Sunday night it was pretty respectable. Natalie gave 'er hard and pretty soon the audience was giving back just as much energy as we were sending out. Natalie had them dancing in the isles for the encore. We all had a fun time here. So unfortunately we have to say goodbye tomorrow to Tracey our "fill in" keyboardist. She did an incredible job and it was an absolute pleasure having her on stage with us. We'll be picking up Mac tomorrow at the same airport as Tracey is flying out of. It'll be great to have him back. (Don't say anything to him but we kind of missed him!). See ya next show. ............................................................................................................................... October 21, 2006 - Medford, OR Well we're here in Medford, OR at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theatre. What a great town. Did I mention we finally got our bus? Here, take a tour. Here is the outside, the front lounge, the back lounge, and our bus driver "Top Gun" who is doubling today as a security guard! (Top Gun you're supposed to let the band in!). The Craterian Theatre is a beautiful theatre with a rich history. We had a great audience tonight as always. The nice thing about this theatre is the people are sitting right close to us so we could really connect with them and they were sending back some serious energy. Natalie, broken toe and all, gave her all and gave them a great show. ............................................................................................................................... October 20, 2006 - Stanford, CA Well here we are in beautiful Stanford California kicking off the first show of our tour. We all flew in late last night from our various locations and grabbed as much (or little) sleep as we could. Our lobby call was for 6:45 am because of an early show that we are doing for a bunch of elementary students from surrounding schools. The Stanford Memorial Auditorium in located on the grounds of Stanford University which is just an absolutely beautiful campus. So after getting a bit of breakfast in us and the crew doing a great job of setting up the gear (the first show is always the hardest on them), we did our soundcheck and then did some rehearsing because we have a new/old keyboardist! Tracey Dares from Cape Breton is filling in for Mac who couldn't make the first few shows because of prior commitments. Tracey and Natalie worked together years ago as well so she wasn't too "new" to the band. The first show was at 11am and backstage we could hear the "bubbling" that was erupting out in the seats. There was something like 1200 kids out there and they were full of energy! So we hit the stage and they were wonderful. Natalie at one point early in the show told them how great they were at clapping along with the music and after that they kept the clapping going through every song we did (even the slow ones!). I don't know who had the most fun, the kids or us! After the first show we all headed back to the hotel for a couple hours to relax. Did I mention it's somewhere around 75 degrees here! Absolutely perfect! The second show was equally as good as the first. Again the crowd numbers were around 1200 and they were ready for Natalie. Now at this point I just realized I forgot to tell you an important fact. On our week off, Natalie was walking around her house with Mary Francis in her arms and accidentally hit her toe into a chair and broke her toe!!! I'm assuming everyone knows she's a dancer??? Anyway that didn't stop her from dancing in both of yesterday's shows! The last half of the second show she did in her socks as all the dancing from the first show and the first half of the second show took it's toll on her poor broken toe! But imagine breaking your toe and still getting out there and dancing! She's a trooper! Our new tour bus arrived just after the show and we all excitedly piled into it and settled into our bunks. Everyone is pretty exhausted and we have a 7 hour drive to Medford, OR tonight. Our driver Clarence (or "Top Gun" as he likes to be called) seems like a real good guy bringing with him years of experience behind the wheel. I have a feeling we're all going to sleep good tonight with him at the wheel. See ya next time PS. Oh yea we got a big shipment of Natalie's new album "Yours Truly" today that are being sold at the venues. According to Miche (who is in charge of the merch) he's never seen CD's sell so fast in one night. The folks from Stanford just about depleted the whole supply of CD's! I'm sure he's on the phone now ordering more! ............................................................................................................................... October 5-6, 2006 - Port Hawkesbury, Cape Breton Hi folks...
Wow what an
incredible week it's been. As I'm writing this I'm 35,000 feet in the
air heading back home thinking that it's all been an amazing dream! How
else can you describe shooting a DVD in Natalie's hometown with guests
Bela Fleck, Carlos Núñez and Hayley Westenra. And as incredible as that
is, throw in Donnell and Erin Leahy, Bob Now you're probably asking how the heck all this was squeezed into two days. Well I think it might help to split this report into two days as well. ............................................................................................................................... October 5, 2006 - Port Hawkesbury, Cape Breton Well we rolled into the beautiful Island of Cape Breton and headed to the Port Hawesbury Civic Centre arena to check out how things were coming along. Setup was going just fine and in a short time we were ready to start sound checking for tonight's taping. To backtrack a bit, because there was so much to put into the show Natalie decided to split it into two nights for taping. So once the main stage was finished we were given the okay to start rehearsals. At this point we ran through a bunch of tunes that we were going to perform that night so that lighting, sound, and the camera crew could do their thing as well. So after we were finished with Natalie's tunes we ran Bob and Kate Quinn's material as well as The Men of the Deeps songs. By the time we were finished, the crew had completed the setup and were ready for tonight's performance. After a short rest and a bit of food the audience started arriving for the show. This was pretty much unannounced and was open to friends and family. Now for those of you that have never been to a TV taping it's a pretty long and drawn out process. We have to run the tunes, then sometimes re-run them for audio or video and sometimes there are lots of long gaps in between songs for various reasons. The audience was great and they stuck through it to the end. It also helps that Natalie kept them entertained in between with the odd story. So after our segment it was time for the guests. Bob and Kate Quinn came on stage and did two beautiful songs, one a song called "Nova Scotia, Nature's Song" that was penned by Bob Quinn and the second was an equally beautiful song called "My Love, Cape Breton and Me" that is off of Natalie's "Blueprint" album and was also sung at her and Donnell's wedding! It was during "Nova Scotia, Nature's Song" that the Men of the Deeps joined us on stage add their vocals to the tune. If you have never seen or heard of these fine gentlemen, please do yourself a favor and look them up and if you do ever get the chance to see them please do. These are real life coal miners who are all unbelievable singers. And the songs they do are all about coal mining. Incredible stuff. At that point it was time to say goodnight (it was about midnight at this point!) and try and get a few hours sleep before tomorrows early call.
October 6 Rehearsal went great (of course) and next up was Hayley Westenra. This lady has such an angelic voice that it must be heard and experienced, any words here cannot do her voice justice. I do have to mention here that she is around 20 years old (I think), a huge star not only in New Zealand but worldwide and is probably the most humble, nicest person you could ever hope to meet. Now next was supposed to be Carlos Núñez but unfortunately he was stuck at the Paris airport because there was a bomb threat (can you believe it!). Natalie was assured that he would make it eventually. So we went ahead and rehearsed with the Cape Breton Fiddler's Association. Wow, what a powerful group this is. It's made up of fiddler's young and old and all with a love of traditional Cape Breton music. What a treat! So after all the rehearsals it was time for the big show, and I mean big. It was a packed house with standing room only (and that was pretty much sold out as well). We hit the stage and the whole place came to life. Natalie was absolutely on cloud nine, playing like I've never heard her play and the crowd was hanging on her every note. One by one the special guests came out. Bela did a banjo solo by himself that brought the house down! Then he accompanied Natalie and Mac on a traditional piece. Next it was Haley's turn. I'm not sure if the crowd new what to expect or not but when she started singing I don't think there was one person that wasn't touched by her beautiful performance. Intermission time! Time to catch our breath and hey, good news, Carlos made it! Of course his luggage didn't but at least he had his pipes and whistles. What a performer this guy is. I've heard many stories about him and he has played the Celtic Colours Festival before so he was well known to the audience. Now remember this guy had just flown countless hours to be there and basically just walked on stage and gave the crowd an incredible show. Next it was our great pleasure to accompany him for a song. Next up was a beautiful rendition of the "Anniversary Waltz" by Donnell and Natalie. As well they were accompanied by Erin Leahy, Wendy Solomon and Brad Davidge. Then one of the big surprises of the evening, the "Dancing Mothers"! Yup Donnell's mother Julie and Natalie's mother Minnie came up and did a step dance together. What a great opportunity to watch the real pros who were responsible for the success of their children! As the show drew to an end the guests and most of Natalie's band did a bit of a jam session on stage. Each performer played a short but incredible piece of music and it ended with Hayley singing a great Cape Breton tune called "We Are an Island". The crowd gave them all a standing ovation at the end. Now it was time for the big finale. One of the most "special" of all guests was brought on stage, Natalie's uncle Buddy MacMaster. He and Natalie started up and before you know it the stage was filled with the Cape Breton Fiddlers. It was the perfect end to a perfect show. Afterwards we got together for a visit backstage and sadly some of us had to say goodbye. For those of you who couldn't make it to the actual show you'll have to wait until the DVD comes out sometime next year. But believe me, it'll be well worth the wait! See ya next time. ............................................................................................................................... October 1, 2006 - Wakefield, QC Well we're in beautiful Wakefield Quebec at the Black Sheep Inn for a couple of secret "pre-DVD" shows. First of all let me say that this is an absolutely beautiful part of the world. The town borders a beautiful lake and at this time of the year the colours of the trees are stunning. I can see why tourist's flock to this town every year. As well the people here are some of the nicest you'll ever meet. Anyway back to the shows..... These were virtually unannounced shows, mainly because we just wanted a small quiet venue to go over the show and didn't want any fanfare surrounding it. Well I guess what started out as a quiet little show quickly faded and we were faced with two sold out, standing room only shows! We hadn't even finished setting up our gear when the line up started for the afternoon show. We jumped on stage for the first show and it was great right from the start. It was packed, it was hot, the people were charged up for a great show, and Natalie didn't disappoint them. Being as small and intimate as it was it really allowed the audience to get involved as well. Well the 90 minute show flew by and we had a bit of time to relax before the evening show. Once again the place was packed and the joint was jumpin'! To get two great audiences at the same venue on the same day is quite amazing. The second show went off equally as good as the first. Not sure where Natalie gets the energy to do the two shows in one day (plus be a full time mom) but it seems like when she hits the stage her batteries are always fully charged and she's ready to "give 'er" from start to finish. So now we all fly out to Cape Breton and get ready for the DVD. There is lots of film stuff, clothing stuff, lighting stuff, you name it, to take care of in a short time. It's going to be a hectic time but it's also going to be so much fun. Whoo hoo! PS. Oh yea, Natalie's new album "Yours Truly" is officially released in Canada on October 3rd. I've heard it and it's an awesome album with some wonderful special guests. I tell ya, if I didn't know someone on the inside to get my free copy I'd be running out the door to my local music store to buy it. Of course that's just my humble opinion! :-) ...............................................................................................................................
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