TOUR DATES & SETLISTS
-- 6 August 2006 --

2006 Index


GENERAL INFORMATION

DATE: 6 August 2006
VENUE/SHOW: Performing Arts Centre
LOCATION: Paradise, California, USA
SHOW COMMENTS: Gary Craig on percussion, Julie Wolf on accordion and keyboards. Supported by Sarah Harmer.



Bruce In ParadiseSETLIST


Bruce in ParadiseCOMMENTS/FURTHER INFORMATION

Submitted by John Peregrim, who also supplied the photos. Doug also submitted the following:

The treat for a consecutive concert goer such as myself was found in the encores. Bruce played the Manzer for The End of All Rivers, and it was spellbinding. I have heard If I Had A Rocket Launcher almost too many times in concert, but the song was brought to life by the percussion — fantastic, creative drumming.

Bruce said this was the first time he had played Peace March live, and appeared prompted to do so by the reminder earlier in the evening that this was the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. He played a baritone guitar, and it was beautiful, with perfect interplay between drum and guitar. All The Diamonds was even more beautiful still. What a beautiful, mystical song, done in a way that was as haunting as I have ever heard. Baritone guitar, beautiful keyboards and backing vocals by Julie. This was a wonderful way to end the evening.

Overall, the show lacked some of the kick from the previous night in San Francisco. This was probably the result of several things. First, the venue, although beautiful and with wonderful acoustics, was a more formal site, which appeared to result in the audience acting more formally. Two, there was a member (or two) of the audience who got a bit carried away in attempts to engage in a dialogue with Bruce, with loud comments after several of the earlier songs. Bruce seems far more comfortable letting his music speak for itself, and chats less and less with each passing year. The call-outs from last night — a couple of which took place just moments before the song began — seemed to irritate Bruce (and some of the audience). Finally, although the number of folks in attendance was not too far off from the night before, the Great American Music Theater looked fuller because it is a smaller venue. Last night's show was probably only 2/3 or 3/4 full because of the size of the venue, which probably made it seem to the performers that there was not as supportive of an audience watching the show.

In spite of/in addition to the observations above, the musicianship and professionalism of the performers (this comment includes the fabulous Sarah Harmer who opened the show) made this a very high quality musical night. I was particularly impressed with Bruce's guitar playing. Besides his work on the more complex musical numbers, his work on some of his "simpler", quiet acoustic songs — Mystery, in particular, comes to mind — is so rich and complex, with each guitar piece in each song developed to add to the texture of the song in ways that elevate the melody and words to much higher levels.



ARCHIVE RECORDING

KNOWN RECORDING: No
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2006 Index


This page is part of The Cockburn Project, a unique website that exists to document the work of Canadian singer-songwriter and musician Bruce Cockburn. The Project archives self-commentary by Cockburn on his songs and music, and supplements this core part of the website with news, tour dates, and other current information.