LIVE: Music Without Borders
Monday October 22, 2001 @ 04:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
LIVE: Music Without Borders
Air Canada Centre
Toronto, Ontario
October 21, 2001
Reviewed by Paul Gangadeen
It was an unprecedented event in the history of Canadian rock.
Some of Canada's biggest musical stars got together in support of
the United Nations Donor Alert Appeal, a fund to offer aid and relief
to the refugees of Afghanistan. The results were astounding.
The sold-out Air Canada Centre show instantly yielded the princely
sum of $700,000 and that money was raised before a note was
even sounded. The difference between this evening's show and the
recent torrent of benefit recordings and tribute shows was the
absence of the reminder of the severity of our current world situation.
No heroes were applauded, no victims mourned and there was no
sense of patriotism or even hate directed at those individuals
responsible for our current catastrophe. It was a people for the
people type of show. This simple evening of music and celebration
was much needed to absolutely forget the world beyond the walls of
the arena. Despite all of this, the message, the sentiment and the
urgency weren't belittled. On the contrary, this night proved to many
that the power of music has the ability to heal when most needed.
From the moment when Vince Carter introduced Choclair to a
extremely sparse audience to the spirited ensemble finale of Neil
Young's "Rockin' In The Free World," music was at the forefront of
the collected consciousness in the ACC. Unfortunately for Choclair,
his brief yet animated set was missed by many as he was a late
addition to the five hour rock spectacle. At least those who were
there got a sample of this artist's talent for rhythm and rhyme.
Alanis Morissette stunned an ecstatic audience as she calmly
walked out to centre stage to thank everyone for coming and to
introduce Canada's foremost political and musical activist, Bruce
Cockburn. Playing his guitar in his unique way, many in the
audience got their first impressions of this treasured artist. He was
politely received but once Barenaked Lady Steven Page joined
him for a modest rendering of "Lovers In A Dangerous Time," the
audience clued into who this greying, bearded and bespectacled
icon was.
A cheerful Jason Priestley ignited some female passion in the
audience as he introduced the Barenaked Ladies, who then
proceeded to infuse their brand of light humour throughout their
seven-song set. A small rap talking about the benefits of contributing
to this cause, "The Chicken Dance" and the call and response of "If I
Had A Million Dollars" and "Brian Wilson" eventually brought an end
to their set.
At 9 p.m. the live broadcast began with a brief speech by the Prime
Minister and the vibe of the room stepped up a notch as Our Lady
Peace took to the stage. Sporting an Ed Grimley hairstyle and a
mandarin outfit, a spirited Raine Maida guided the audience
through "Naveed" and the level of adrenaline continued to rise with
the opening strains of "Starseed." "Superman's Dead" left many
singing a cappella: "doesn't anybody ever know?" and by the time
"Clumsy" closed their set, many hands were waving in time with
lyrics and words of the song.
Gord Downie and Steven Page later unleashed siren Alanis
Morissette to an adoring audience. A relentless set of bobbing,
weaving, spinning, running and hopping her way through some old
hits like "All I Really Want" and some obscure and dark sounding
new songs perplexed the crowd. Her smile and pleasant demeanor
remained throughout her set and her guitar playing forced this
restless woman to stand still briefly. "Thank You" revealed the
strength and power of her voice and spirit before a polite farewell
wave.
Chants of "Gordie!" and "Hip, hip, hip" blended into a rendering of
"O Canada" before CBC newsman Peter Mansbridge
complemented the audience telling them that "Tonight you are
showing that you are citizens of the world. You're showing that you
care" then he introduced "Canada's band, The Tragically Hip."
The Hip commanded the audience up to their feet to dance, shake
and pump their fists into the air through their music starting with
"Grace Too." Gordie sang about a character reaching for his
checkbook, pen quivering in hand writing out a donation for this
benefit before removing his trademark buttoned-up denim jacket for
"Music @ Work" revealing a plaid red-checkered flannel shirt. It
hasn't been determined whether or not he was merely playing the
role of a drunken dancing lunatic on stage or if he was feeling
particularly "spirited," but throughout their nine-song set Gordie
entertained flawlessly. "Flamenco" made him strut like a fashion
model, "Poets" made him shake the maracas and as the set
progressed, he removed another layer revealing his "Save The
Humans" T-shirt. "Ahead By A Century" ended promptly at midnight
leading into the all-star group finale.
Even though the words may not have come out right or solos and
song parts were misplayed, the spirit of everybody-onstage "Rockin'
In The Free World" focused attention on the plight of improving and
maintaining the rights of all people to live in peace and freedom.
Perhaps due to the charity of all involved, this spirit may be realized
sooner than later — at least it felt that way this night.
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