Ron Sexsmith

Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto [w Orchestra] June 4th, 2005















HOWARD DRUCKMAN:
You're playing four songs this Saturday as part of the Sonic Bloom concert with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. How'd that come about?

RON:
They've done it for a few years, and I remember thinking, "Oh, that'd be nice to do. I wish someone would ask me." This year, I got an email about it. So it was kind of a no-brainer. On my last tour in the US, I was trying to maybe put on some shows with the actual string section from my record but there's always all these financial constraints. So here's a chance to do it. And I've never played at Roy Thomson Hall.


Daryll (fan of Ron) in Toronto:
I haven't been to Roy Thomson Hall, home of the Toronto Symphony, in about twenty years. My Mom used to take me and my brothers on Saturday afternoons in a series of concerts designed to introduce kids to classical music. I preferred reading Mad magazine and my baseball magazines during the performance. Tonight was a charity event with some very high ticket prices. I scalped a balcony seat for $20 five minutes before the show started. The guy who sold it to me was a middle aged guy from Littletown, Colorado in town for a conference. I wanted to ask him if his kids went to Columbine High but it didn't seem appropriate.

I sat down and noticed the orchestra warming up and Don, Tim and a guy I didn't recognize on bass tuning up. Ron was introduced and came out in a jacket and converse shoes. Tim was wearing his trademark Huck Finn cap. The conductor was wearing a tuxedo. This past Monday I was sitting in my office pretending to work watching Ron and Don perform live in Amtserdam on my computer. Tonight I was sitting up high in the balcony watching Ron playing with an orchestra comprised of about 45 people. Weird

"Former Glory" started up. The sound wasn't very good where I was sitting (hey, what to do want for $20) so all I really heard was Don's drums. The vocals came through pretty good though. "The Less I Know" is great to see live because I always like seeing Ron nail the vocals; which he did tonight. Ron announced that he was going to attempt to rock out as the orchestra waltzed into "Not About to Lose" (I could hear the orchestra better at this point). Ron sat down at the piano to sing "Gold in Them Hills" which was a goose bump performance.

And that was it. Ron got a lot of applause. The band broke down quickly as a couple of on stage annoucements were made and Estero came on and did three songs. It was good. She flew up Sean Lennon to play piano on one of the songs. With long wavy hair and a full beard, the guy looks pretty much exactly like his old man did in the early '70's.

At intermission, I was walking through the lobby and spotted former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretian hanging out. I didn't know he was a fan; I was going to ask him what his favourite song off "Retriever" was but he seemed deep in conversation. I made my way to the exit and headed home which I guess is pretty silly considering I was skipping Oscar Peterson. I skipped out on Coldplay a couple of years ago after Ron's set as well and its going to be a nice day tomorrow and I'm getting up early to ride my bike. Hope to see some of you in a couple of weeks at the Rosedale show.

01. Introduction
02. Former Glory
03. The Less I Know
04. Not About To Lose
05. Gold In Them Hills

Download link in comments.