chase the light

You have to love a panto. If you don’t you’re kind of a jerk. Actually I went into this one with much skepticism as it seemed a little too… local. Turns out it was amaaaaazing! I’ve never seen X so thrilled by a show so that was cool. His Gene Siskel rating was a thumbs up. Robinhood and his Merry-them, get it? They’re all woodland creatures that live in the local park, Trout Lake. Where I’ve actually been before. Hilarity ensues. So many great songs adapted for the story. Metallica Master of Puppets, Dolly Parton Jolene, Miley Wrecking Ball, ELO Mr. Blue Sky, Video Killed the Radio Star, Olivia Rodrigo’s Vampire, He Ain’t Heavy, He’s my Brother, and even Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club was about actual ponies and not stripping. So all in all the kids, and adults, had a great time yelling at the stage when prompted. I always think ugh, a panto, but then you go and they’re so fun. Then I stop being a curmudgeon about 5 minutes in and forget everything going on in the world. It’s a good night out.

It was at the York Theatre which I’ve driven by many a times but never really took notice. I’ve even been next door to shoot a photo. Weird. After attending I wanted to find out more about the theatre. It’s kind of small but much to my surprise and delight it used to be a concert venue back in the day. Starting in 1983 and running until 1995 it was a bit of a punk and metal venue. Black Flag, Meat Puppets, D.O.A., Dead Kennedys, Armored Saint, T.S.O.L., Skinny Puppy, GBH, Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, White Zombie, Marilyn Manson all played here. Three shows caught my eye though. The first being Metallica in 1985 at the start of their career. Funny to think they played here and then hearing two women play Master of Puppets in a panto on piano and drums. Nice. The second show that was interesting was Nirvana played here in 1990 but it was two shows later when Dave Grohl actually joined the band. The oddball show in between all these heavy shows was neighbour Sarah McLachlan doing her second show ever! She was only 20. What? Awwww, amazing. As you can see below it’s quite small so those shows would have been amazing to see.

After getting home I immediately started looking up other shows in the area that might be fun. Dolly Parton’s Rocky Mountain Christmas? Yeah maybe actually. ha Cirque du Soleil is in town for a bit. I kinda got burnt out on them in L.A. and Vegas but now it’s been years since I’ve been to a show. Oooo The Harlem Globetrotters in January! I saw them when I was just a kid. Meadowlark Lemon, Curly Neal, and Hubert “Geese” Ausbie. The Globetrotter cartoon had a laugh track. WTF? Well, I digress. More entertainment needed.