Before I get into anything, I should say that I got Colin Linden's permission to do this review. I say this for three reasons
1) I have heard tell of relatively new blogging laws that dictate that one needs to inform the public of any influences that may sway the words coming out of their fingers (like press junkets, favours from studios, reach-arounds, that sort of thing) and I am far too lazy to actually look up these laws, so instead, I am erring on the side of caution.
2) It gives me great pleasure to think of myself as a blogger who is important enough to be worth suing, so I'm pretending to take myself seriously by including that little warning. For this reason, you should also know that the picture I have included is also stolen right from CBC (by way of Google Images). Proper citation or deletion pending the ferocity of their legal repercussions.
3) It was fun to play real-critic long enough to walk up to Colin Linden, shake his hand, ask his permission, and receive a "yes" response that nonetheless left me feeling like I had just taken 12 seconds out of someone far more important than me's life that they would never get back. So, I thank Mr. Linden for those twelve seconds, his permission, and unknowingly, his enabling of my self-indulgence.
*
Colin Linden's name is not a stranger to this blog. Back in February, I reviewed his most recent album, From The Water, a very solid record that would not have been undeserving of a win at this year's Juno Awards. Although, as great as From The Water is, I would argue that Colin Linden live is a different, and ultimately, better experience.
The London Music Club is probably my favourite live venue, and, if stage banter can be believed, it's one of Linden's too. It's a small, intimate setting where, on a packed night like this one, unless you come with a van full of people, you're going to make new friends at your table. And in this comfortable, beer-sipping kind of place, you really get to understand the process of what it takes to create the kind of smooth, professional virtuosity that comes out of Linden's body.
Everything that Linden does exudes comfort and professionalism. My father, who was at the show with me, probably described it best when he observed that (and I'm paraphrasing) "you know he's been doing this for awhile, he flies from four feet back from the mic right up to it, stopping half an inch away after going about 50 miles an hour." And it's true; Linden is so far beyond the trivialities of musicianship that even in making a couple of mistakes (which he freely admitted to) and having patch cable fall out, the recovery seemed as well-practiced as the songs themselves.
And that's nothing to say of Linden's relationship with his instrument. Generally, when I'm watching a musician do something, there's a thought lingering in the back of my mind that "if I wanted to, I could do that." That voice was silent from the second Linden started playing. I will freely admit that I will never play guitar as well as that man does. I wouldn't go so hard as to say that he makes it look easy, because, considering the trickiness of some of what he was doing, no one could, and you'd be wasting valuable brain space trying. However, there is a trust there. Linden seems to have an agreement with whatever guitar in his hands, that together, they will make great music. Linden is determined to hold up his end of the bargain, showing a flash of frustration with himself when he didn't, and knows that he, and the audience, will benefit from the arrangement.
Colin Linden has spent thousands of hours in recording studios, for himself, but also, in great part, in collaboration with others. And it's no small wonder why. Being in the same room, you get a deeper appreciation for what it means to spend one's life in music, and I can't imagine how someone would be able to record with Linden and not be inspired.
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