Feature Article August 8, 2001
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Nancy White at Blue Skiesby David Brison On Saturday, Canadian icon Nancy White performed at Blue Skies Music Festival in Clarendon. I attended the concert in order to write a review, hoping to garner clever quotes. Before the performance, Claudia Graf marched me into the entertainers backstage room and introduced me to Nancy, who was putting on her makeup. However, my review didnt get off to a good start because I couldnt think of anything to ask her. Basically, I am awe-struck by this woman. Along with many other Canadians, I listened regularly to Nancys Sunday morning CBC broadcasts, and I never could understand how anyone could come up every week with such clever and witty analyses of the current political scene set to music no less. Each broadcast had one of these little masterpieces. She had a genius for sniffing out soft spots in logic and personality, and it was very funny!
So there are no Nancy White interview notes to spice up the review.
There was another problem in trying to review Nancy: her CBC pieces were obviously topical -- they changed every week along with the political scene. I havent listened to any of them since, but even if I did, I would have difficulty recalling the nuances of the political scene she was satirizing at the time; therefore, I cant cite any examples of her brilliance.
However, that turned out not to be a problem because she is still writing magnificent satire.
She appeared with two teachers from Scarborough Bob Johnson, keyboard, and Tom Layton, accordion, and what looked to me like a big bongo. They both did backup vocals. Bob also did an imitation of an old John Deere tractor something he picked up from a summer working on a farm. The audience seemed impressed that he could make all those guttural noises, but I dont think that many of those old hippies and their children really knew whether he actually sounded like an old John Deere.
Nancy managed to cover a broad range of topics: what middle-aged people do in bed; a taxidermist squirrel stuffer from Nova Scotia (who dresses up his dead animals in little outfits); Mike Harriss efforts to put 18 holes where there once was a province; the problems of smoking dope when one hits 50; and an image of Jesus face in a Tim Hortons in Bradour, Nova Scotia.
My favourite was her song about the stickers they put on fruit. She said that all the righteous indignation that she and her contemporaries used to put into protesting social injustice now mostly finds expression in annoyance at the stickers they put on fruit. If you dont get them off on the same day, it takes the skin away. The chorus was, Take me away to an instant toot, where I dont have to deal with stickers on a fruit.
Nancy is still an entertaining genius after all these years.
Please refer to Jeff Green's report on the festival.
