Train in the distance

“Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true”

Paul Simon

If it is a Saturday night late in November then there is a good chance that it is time once again for…

…Barney Bentall’s ‘Cariboo Express’ at the Mary Winspear!

Thus it was this weekend just passed.

Now (you the gentle reader may say to yourself) this is not the first time that these pages have contained an enthusiastic paean to the cavalcade that is the Express on its annual charity fundraising outing (in this case for the eminently worthy cause of the Sidney Food Bank). Is he mayhap running out of things on which to pontificate?

The thing is this… over the last year or so we have attended any number of musical soirées of one sort or another and, much as I have enjoyed them, I have frankly begun to wonder if I am getting too old for this sort of thing. The problem is that I am no longer very tolerant of poor sound quality or (and in particular) of sound pressure levels that are excessive. In other words – I don’t these days care for music that is too loud.

It is true that I possess a very expensive and most effective pair of ear protectors and they do work well – but they inevitably distance one somewhat from the immediacy of the occasion. Barney himself visited the Mary Winspear a while back with his original band – the ‘Legendary Hearts’ – and whilst they were a lot of fun they also were too damned loud!

But then – just when I begin to despair – along comes the ‘Cariboo Express’ again for their three night residency. Lo and behold the sound is perfect – a full but acceptable level and well mixed. The band – all eleven or twelve of them (I lose count) are having a ball and the audience is a-lovin’ it. Feet are a-tapping. Punters are aching to get up and dance. Clapping and singing along are the order of the day and everybody has a whale of a time.

In short – my faith is restored.

So – long may the Express keep running.