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It's the Wednesday before the gig and Nash eagerly awaits the arrival of Steve Gregory, International Fan Club President. Steve has just flown in from England and will be staying with Nash's friend Cathie until next Monday. The gig on Saturday will be Steve's first Nash concert. The last time Nash toured the clubs in England, Steve was too young to see the show so this is a very special performance for all. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, Steve's fan-club site is really cool and can also be accessed from the Links page at this website. All the preparations have been done for Saturday's show so Nash and Cathie give Steve the tourist's guide to Toronto: The CN Tower, The Skydome, Stratengers and the Nash Museum, The Hunan Palace and Sam the Record Man. I get to show Steve where I hang out down by the lake. Friday is a clear and warm fall day so we take Cathie's two dogs, Maggie and Marley along for the romp. The three of us go nuts running through the water and the bushes. Nash describes the local flora and fauna to Steve and he's surprised to hear about so many wild critters in such a large city. I've been spooked more than once by coyotes. It takes some getting used to! As Nash explains, few city dwellers take advantage of the wilderness right at their doorstep. All the better for our exclusive use. In the evenings, Steve spends a lot of time at Cathie's watching the live Nash concert videos. The videos aren't available in the UK yet because they have a different system over there. Steve's getting a huge Nash fix. Steve is also a big Gary Numan fan, and he generously has brought the
latest Numan CD with him to give to Nash. The CD is called
Tonight's show is being promoted by Cut-Throat Productions so the regular
gang arrives at 6 pm to help set up the box office, bar and merchandise.
Dr. Love and the KISSettes open the show. This is a one-man KISS tribute
act with two female backup singers dressed in the appropriate makeup. I
always thought KISS was a four-piece but maybe the Ace character took her
role too seriously and got so wasted before the show she couldn't go on.
The audience enjoyed their act, and Nash was happy they went down well.
It's all very labour-intensive but the effect on the audience is worth
the effort. The performance includes two encores, the inevitable
In-A-Gadda-Da-Nash and finally
Danse Macabre with footage from
Nosferatu.
At the end of the evening, Halloween 2000 slowly wound down just as
the pumpkin candles melted into a faint flicker.
Nash signs autographs in the lobby, has a Halloween Holocaust with Suzy
Slash and then joins Lou and The Marilyns for private after-gig rituals.
Nash, Cathie and Steve get home to the howls of three lonely hounds.
'Oh we're the puppies of the night....'
To everyone who helped Nash organize this event and to all the patrons
in attendance, thank you for making Halloween 2000 a howling success.
Digger |
Cathie gets things organized with the help of Ratch at the door, Anna-Lee
and Liz selling t-shirts and CD's, and Doug and Debbie working the bar.
Thanks to them, the show goes off without a hitch. The new CD
Nash does two long sets with a lot of material from
Every aspect of Nash's musical output was represented tonight, and it
was a well-appreciated feat of musical dexterity.
