Wandering Troubadour

Friday night, the Great Hall hosted two wandering troubadours specializing in story-telling folk songs. Coming down from the North West Territories was Sarah MacDougall. A slight girl on a loosely tuned guitar, she sang songs such as Crow's Lament and Permafrost with a quavering raspiness. The seated crowd took a while to respond to her songs. The Toronto reserve hadn't fully melted when she ended her set with a sing-along, with only about half the crowd joining in on the chorus.

The floor of the venue had plastic chairs out instead of the usual standing only. Cameras were located everywhere, including one on a small crane at the rear. The back of the stage was covered with a metallic mesh that gleamed from the extensive lighting. It was the last night of his 6-month tour, and Peter Katz was recording a commercial DVD to commemorate this live performance. Though he usually sings solo, he was joined onstage tonight by some local musicians, providing drums, piano, violin, and slide guitar. He also had excellent back-up/duet singing from guests The Good Lovelies and Emma-Lee.

Drawing on both new material such as Win Your Heart, Little One, Days and Night (Still Mind Still) and older songs including Son, Carried Away, and Till You Come Home (First Of The Last To Know), every song told a story (and had a back-story that Katz was keen to tell the attentive audience.) He loved to bring a song to a crescendo and then dial it back to barely audible string plucks on his guitar.

The introspective nature of his music made for an appreciative crowd, but not an energetic one. It wasn't until the closing encore number, a full band cover of  The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down in tribute to Levon Helm, that the roof was finally raised.