Show Report
Show Report: Lee's Palace, Toronto
December 31, 1999 / January 1, 2000
Special Guest Review by Sarah
Hello and welcome to Sarah's "How I spent my New Year's Eve 2000"
non-review! My New Year's Eve began watching Great Big Sea in St. John's,
Newfoundland, celebrating midnight and the arrival of 2000 in Canada. So
what? I mention that because the first time I ever saw Ron Hawkins and the
Rusty Nails live, they were opening for Great Big Sea at the Lyric in
Kitchener. And so began the adoration... But back to New Year's Eve!
The streets were eerily empty when my best friend and I exited the
subway station. We arrived at Lee's Palace late (I was at work and lucky to
escape at all...) and we unfortunately missed the Fembots. Happily, though,
the fantastic Ron Hawkins and the Rusty Nails were about to start their
dehydrating THREE HOUR marathon set. The Nails hit the stage shortly before
midnight (just after I escaped the neverending coatcheck line...) The guys
played a song, then paused and Ron bantered about the best way to kill a
minute...Fun ensued and John Leguizamo's name was mentioned as he has
mastered a way to kill a minute. Then the affable Mr. Lawrence Nichols
became the "Official Timekeeper" and counted down the seconds to New
Year's. The world didn't end, everyone wished each other "Happy New Year"
and the Nails started playing again. 2000 began perfectly! I know that
"firsts and lasts" are important to some people, particularly at New
Year's, but I can't honestly remember the last Nails song of 1999 or the
first one of 2000. I know you trivia buffs will be disappointed, but I
wasn't taking notes and I didn't ask for a setlist. Sorry... I can give you
a general idea of what songs the Nails did play - listed in no particular
order: "Little Backstabber", "Beat Me Senseless", "Taboo", "Big Blue
Devil" (my favourite song), "Pokerface", "Be My Alibi" (a.k.a. "Be My Apple
Pie" - Mike, Alex, Dominic, Teresa, Eric and Stefan!), "Euphoria",
"Partners in Crime", "Turpentine", "Crackstatic", "Convenient", "Terminal
City", "St. Valentine's Day Massacre", "Waiting On My New Heart"...The
Nails covered "Pump It Up" by Elvis Costello, "Just What I Needed" by the
Cars, "Another Nail For My Heart" by Squeeze and, surprisingly, "Dogs of
February" - sung by Lawrence Nichols, who did a good job despite having a
cold. Ron was joined by fabulous Julie "Superfly" Penner for "Small
Victories" - it was, of course, beautiful. The violin works so well with
the song! Obviously there were many other songs and that is only a partial
list... I don't just remember the rest.
For those of you who are band "fashion aficionados", the Rusty Nails
were spiffed up in suits to welcome 2000. The accessory of choice for half
the band (Chris, Blitz and Mark) on the evening was the hat. Chris was
decked out in a brown fur hat, Blitz was wearing his toque and Mark was
sporting a fabulous silver-sequin cowboy hat. For the record, I don't think
that the Nails should go back to wearing suits - but it was nice for New
Year's.
The set rocked and rolled...or pitched and swayed, depending on your
poison of choice for the evening. All in all it was an event to witness,
as are all Ron Hawkins and the Rusty Nails shows. There were no major
surprises, only one major string change and all the usual witty stage
banter. It was a fabulous way to celebrate the New Year. I scored a great
CD (Temper) and I was home by 05:00am, just in time to sleep for a few
hours before returning to work. And that was that: How I Spent New Year's
Eve 2000, through Sarah's eyes... :)
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