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Preparation for this show is like a military operation. Unlike the previous show at the Bloor, Nash is bringing in a live PA system. There's nothing wrong with the sound system at the Bloor but Nash wants a bigger, live sound. Movies at a rock and roll volume. On Friday afternoon, Nash rents what he needs a Long and McQuade Music (special thanks to John Long and Dave Walsh) and then drops off the PA at the Bloor Cinema in the afternoon. Later that night, after the movies are over, Nash, Alex, Dave and I return to the theatre with the van full of equipment and we begin the set up at midnight. As Nash and Alex work on the stage equipment, I wander out to the lobby and check out the floor around the concession stand. The cleaner is inside the theatre doing his evening rounds between the aisles and he takes great exception to my scouring the joint for tiny morsels of stale popcorn. Hey pal, ya missed some!! Tonight's gameplan is to set up as much stuff before the show tomorrow. The theatre has other movies on during the day so there is very little set-up time before the evening's performance. It's a huge bonus that the gig is in town. Performance day arrives and I choose to hang out with my doggie pals Maggie and Marley. Nash and the crew head off to the gig while us mutts stay home to bounce on the sofa and threaten Putz the cat with dire consequences if he tells on us. Cathie and her pals Jane and Brett set up the merchandise in the lobby while Nash does some fine tuning on stage. Everything is set to go by showtime. Tonight's performance is very unique. Four silent films and Nash wrote and performed all the music to three of them. The first presentation is Laurel and Hardy's Do Detectives Think?, a short film that was narrated and scored in 1967 but originally filmed in 1926. Nash plays along live to the existing music because this film is the birth of the charcter named Nash the Slash. The audience is greatly amused as Laurel and Hardy play two bumbling detectives on the trail of a maniac killer named Nash the Slash. Nash is captured because he is afraid of ghosts, and this always gets a big laugh from the audience when Nash on stage shivers. The next film is The Lost World and it is the first time Nash has performed the score in a movie theatre in Toronto. Those in attendance who brought their kids were not disappointed. When the volcano erupts, the building shakes. What was once just a 'silent' movie, has now been given new life with dramatic sound effects and music. This is just the first half of the evening's presentation, and the audience has been very receptive. The shows have been separated into two admissions and there is a 40 minute break before the second audience comes in. Nash relaxes backstage with his old friends Lance and Charlotte while Cathie and Ratch take a pint across the street. The second presentation is Un Chien Andalou, a very strange film by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, plus another presentation of Nosferatu. Un Chien Andalou is only 20 minutes long, but it has some of the most disturbing images ever put on film. There is no story line, just a collection of dream-like images that represent the tension between the sexes. A woman sits calmly while a razor is slowly drawn across her eyeball. A man tugs at ropes that are attached to a grand piano with a dead mule inside it, while behind the piano, two priests are being dragged along the floor. These and other images shock audiences today as much as they did in 1925. Very weird and wonderful. Nosferatu is the evening's final performance. It is the most original vampire movie ever made, and still stands the test of time. Once again Nosferatu is well-received and the whole evening is another triumph at The Bloor. There will be more performances at The Bloor Cinema coming soon so keep watching the gig listings for further details. Digger |
