An Evening with Johnny

Today I'm gonna try and change the world
Gonna take it one day at a time
I've made my resolution
I've opened up my eyes
Today I'm gonna try and change the world
- Lyrics of Johnny Reid's 'Today I'm Gonna Try and Change the World'

As part of Merv's birthday present I bought him a pair of tickets to see Johnny Reid at the Copp's Colloseum in Hamilton last night. I'm not terribly familiar with the music of Johnny Reid save a couple of tunes but I've watched one of his music videos with Merv and I saw him sing a song at the opening ceremonies of the Weekend to End Women's Cancers last year. Merv is a big fan and at the very least I knew the evening would be palatable for me.

It was my first time at Copp's. I can recall being in Hamilton only a couple of times before. Coincidentally, our friends Brian and Geraldine were also attending last night's performance so we all went together. We stopped at Kelsey's for a bite en route. It was quite an interesting crowd - everything from motorcycle gang members to cowboys. The dinner crowd was a warm up act for the concert crowd which consisted of many gray haired women alongside many very drunk young people including one couple a few rows ahead of us who were drinking rye straight from a bottle until they were ejected from the concert by security staff.

An adequate, if somewhat sedate opening act by a country western singer whose name I failed to catch, set the stage for the concert to follow. Johnny Reid is by far the most energetic performer I've seen and his performance was spectacular. For ninety minutes he ran around the arena shaking hands, kissing children and gray haired ladies, dancing and singing his heart out. His performance was personal and interactive. His music was poignant and touching. And at the end of it, I came out as big a Johnny Reid fan as my husband.