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Catching Neil Young in Toronto

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I went to see Neil Young the other day at the ACC (Air Canada Centre) in Toronto and I was not disappointed! Neither was anyone else that attended.

My brother in-law Steve won the tickets when he was in Toronto a week ago visiting a dear friend having open heart surgery. He was there as moral support for her husband who just hates being in Hospitals.

The night he was down, Steve and the patients husband went to a bar across the street from the hotel that he was staying at for a beer, a laugh and a bit of a distraction.

There was a draw for some Neil Young 2 tickets (way up in the nose bleeds) and he won them! He needed someone to go with, so he choose me!

The tickets are not as bad, as one would think. They to the right of the stage and we were around 20-30 seats away from the roof of ACC. With vantage point that we had, we could see the side of the stage, the ramp that Neil and boys came in on and we could see his equipment and his foot pedals. The position of our seats were also more in front of the stage then behind. There was some big screens to show the more intimate close ups of him and his band which was a nice touch.

The set that night was a nice collection of his classics and some from his latest album! Of coarse his early stuff was fabulous that goes without saying, but to tell you the truth, his new tunes were just about as good! The best song of the night was his encore. He played, with his wife on stage the whole night, A Day in the Life by the Beatles and the place went BANANAS!!! I never in a zillion years would think that he would do this classic tune, but only great ones always keep you thinking … and he didn’t disappoint us this night!

So overall I give the show two big thumbs up!





The 1980s band called Toronto

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Toronto is one of the many favorite 1980’s bands that I enjoyed listening to and playing during that same time period.

Toronto had a sound that was a nice mixture of both Rock and Pop. I guess the best way to sum up their timbre, is to call it Melodic Rock. The band’s tunes stayed playing in the back of my mind, long after the music was turned off. Even today, every time I hear anything from them, it just brings back some great memories and really, isn’t that what music is all about?!

The band that I played many Toronto songs with, didn’t have a name back then. They were (the drummer) Domenic Nardone, a female bass player (who for the life of me I cannot remember her name right now), Eddie S. (guitar) and myself. We practiced this material over and over again until Eddie, who was the youngest in the band, started to flip out once in a while and go all heavy metal on us! This was just his way of getting back at us, I think?! In his mind, he thought that practicing was just to get together and JAM like wild men! The bass player sang like Holly Woods perfectly and she also had some decent bad bass chops, not as intricate as Chris Noto! This women had a some good ear training.

Even the score, Girls Night Out and Start telling the truth (which I really wanted a keyboardist for the band to play this one but couldn’t find one in our area) were just some of the fabulous dishes that this band served us up during in their hey day.

At the time there were so many other great bands out there, flying through the airways, that took away some of Toronto’s thunder. The music wasn’t all that technical, the structure of the songs did not challenge the imagination that much, but they had that certain harmonic gift, that made me always want to hit the repeat button over and over again!

So here I hope to jog some of your musical memories, out of the old brain box, for some of you fellow Toronto fans. And I know your out there!

Toronto the band maybe gone, but their certainly not forgotten!
Keep on Jammin’

Cesare Bonizzi sings God’s greatest hits

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There is a 62 years young, Franciscan monk that seems to have had a divine musical intervention with the big guy.

The thing is, he had it through the most unlikely of mediums … Metallica and Megadeth music! I wonder if anyone has translated the lyrics into his native tongue? I honestly do not know how this post is going to turn out, so here goes and don’t tell my mom!

Being brought up in a fairly strict catholic family, I always had the image of the Franciscan monk, as a very pious old man wearing the traditional brown vestment and singing Gregorian chants, which was invented by the Franks. The Franks were West Germanic tribes, first identified in the 3rd century as an ethnic group living north and east of the Lower Rhine, ok the religious history lesson is over for today kidz!Saint/priest Padre Pio, is the one who comes to mind when thinking of a monk. After this post, I just may change your idea of the singing Monk!

To many he is known as Brother Cesare Bonizzi and to others Fratello Metallo (“Brother Metal”). He has a not bad voice, but he might want to work on his stage presence. What do you think?

Keep on Jammin’

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