Anne Murray

Seems I've been spending time lately going to concerts. We travelled to Winnipeg on Tues night April 29th to hear what I can only describe as a most memorable event, Anne Murray's performance at the Centennial Concert Hall. We walked from the parking lot at the back of the Centennial Hall and noticed a big semi rig backed up to the loading dock. In addition, a modest but huge tour bus (roadies bus) was parked on the side street. Directly behind the hall were parked two highly polished maroon colored tour buses. Obviously buses for the headliners and road musicians.
Billed as her last tour, the 2300 tickets for this event were sold almost immediately after they went on sale last December and now I see another concert is booked at the MTS center for May 17th, no doubt prompted by the huge demand for tickets. For the first 1/2 hour of the concert, the audience was treated to the great piano stylings of Michael Kaeshammer. His piano technique was amazing ending up his set with a medley of familiar old audience sing-a-long songs and setting up the perfect atmosphere for the appearance of what everyone anticipated....Anne Murray.
Anne's portion began with a video segment, which was a video montage of pictures of people with which Anne had met or performed backed by musical clips of her songs. It was a who's who of world class performers and leaders and left one feeling proud of that old Canadian identity.
With the stage set in darkness and only the silhouettes of musicians on stage, the introduction began. My eyes strained to view a glimpse of Anne on stage. I said to my wife sitting next to me " there she is!" which to my dismay wasn't her at all, as the stage lights rose to reveal it was her back up singer. A flash of light and ball of smoke and out came Anne Murray from behind a rising curtain at the back of the stage. I had fallen for the decoy.
In addition to six regular musicians that accompany her on tour, she was also accompanied, for this performance by a dozen Winnipeg Chamber Orchestra members playing violins, violas and cellos.
Her orchestra leader, who played a grand piano on stage, coordinated all the music and very competently led the entire musical team. Later in the show, she introduced her band members and revealed that the bass player, drummer and piano player were the most recent additions, they'd only been with her 25 years.
Her guitar players, of which there were two had been with her 30 and 38 years respectively and her female back up singer had been with her 30 years.
This long loyalty of musicians was most evident when in the middle of her show she did an unplugged segment with her two guitarists and back up singer, took requests from the audience and flawlessly performed songs at random. This truly demonstrates the confidence she has in her musical team and herself.
In addition in a more casual moment she read humorous emails she'd received from her fans.
The sound was exquisite. I've been in recording studios many times and there's nothing that can compare with the sound quality in a studio. The sound at this performance however was as near to studio quality as I've ever heard. We all know and appreciate that Anne Murray has a one of a kind voice. The richness, the range, and the distinctive Anne Murray sound were all present in her renditions of all her well known songs. So familiar were the songs that she asked the audience to sing-a-long if they knew them and hardly anyone in the crowd refused the chance. From what I read, she's the one who picks the songs she'll perform and would suggest that she maintains that position as she seems to possess the ability to know what the audience wants to hear, and when they want to hear it.
There was no awkwardness in her delivery of humour and she appeared fit and at home on stage.
It was a joy both for her and her audience to have her daughter Dawn Langstroth join her on stage. Besides her outstanding performance Anne is clever enough to do the songs people want to hear. Her new album Duets, aren't new songs. It's old songs. She never went into the "here's a new song off my new album" line. That's usually when my ears shut down at a concert. I want the hits and she didn't disappoint. It was a night of parents and grandparents to journey to Winnipeg for a visit with each other and Anne. The couple sitting next to me had travelled from Melita, to Brandon, to Portage to Winnipeg picking up people along the way for a night out.
Just a note of interest ...the merchandise counter at the Hall was about 25 feet long. It had available everything from programs, to mugs, to tote bags, to jewelery and there were lines four or five deep just to get to the table. I noted that people who had arrived with walkers and wheelchairs miraculously left them to stand in line to buy merchandise. She's on a 27 concert tour , and it's billed as her last ...say it ain't so Anne!