Lakes of Canada: Get Out There!

On Saturday morning I happened to hear on the radio that a band called Lakes of Canada was playing a 4 pm kid-friendly show on Sunday.

Now, for the most part, I stopped going to see concerts at least 10 years ago (not counting local festivals). I'll be honest, even in my heyday I was never a huge concert-goer. But a couple of things about the Lakes of Canada show appealed to me.

For starters, they were playing in a small little church.  I liked that because even when I used to go see more shows I much preferred seeing them in small, intimate spaces instead of massive venues (I once saw Radiohead play in front of 35,000 people in Montreal...I got bored about 30 minutes into the performance even though I liked many of their songs. In contrast, Glosette Girl and I once dropped in on a free concert to see a bunch of nobodies play in a small New York City bar. The musicians were 25 feet away and they passed a bucket around to collect money at the end instead of having a cover charge. It was random, quirky, and...brilliant!)

Just your typical rock-and-roll venue

 Second, although I had never heard of the band before, I found the way they described themselves ("a four piece progressive pop group with gospel and soul vocal harmonies") intriguing.

Finally, I liked how it wasn't a concert aimed at kids but still something kids could enjoy. I mentioned it to Margot and as she seemed up for it, on Sunday evening Margot, Glosette Girl and I made the drive up to the Mill Road Community Space in Chelsea, Quebec to see the band play.

Rockin' out with the band

It's hard to convey how happy I am that we went. There were only 50 people (at most!) there but the band made the room come alive with their presence. Their songs were, at times: atmospheric, haunting, uplifting, loud and beautiful. The a cappella style songs at the end were especially catchy. Honestly, Lakes of Canada rekindled my interest in seeing live music.

A capella NOW!

So a good show! But as we were driving home I couldn't help but think, it would have been so easy for me to have skipped this - to have stayed home and watched Netflix or done chores. And had I made that decision I would have missed something that really inspired me. How many people make choices like that everyday - to decide to do nothing because its easy and familiar rather than trying something new? I know I've made decisions like that all the time...

If there is a morale to this story I guess it's that there are amazing things going on at every moment of every day often just a little outside your comfort zone. But you'd never know unless you get out there and experience it.

And guess what? This is Margot's first true concert (not counting 'fests or kids shows)