For the population that is aging but doesn’t feel like we are getting old, here is something that will hit you in the gut. It was 40 years ago, yes 1986, that Glass Tiger’s single- “Don’t forget me when I’m gone was a huge song.
Why do I remember that? It is because I went down to the Ontario Place forum to see them. 40 years later and this band are still pulling in a sizable audience. The Bandshell was fully packed with several generations celebrating this milestone.
This was a big album 40 years ago. The album won a Juno for “Album of the year”. Their hit won “Single of the Year” and Glass Tiger won, “Most promising Group of the Year”.
The fans at the show witnessed 6 of the 11 songs from their debut album- The Thin Red Line. They threw in a couple of untouched songs from that album, like- “Ecstasy” and “You what I look for”.
The band also loves to celebrate their love for music and did a couple of their favourite cover songs, starting with Jesus Jones’- “Right Here, Right Now”. They also covered David Bowies-“Heroes” on the first encore song.
I was surprised to find out that Alan Frew is now 69 years old. He suffered a stroke in 2015 and has made a full recovery. His voice still has all the range and charm and has served him well over the years. Like most musicians, I could sense frustration coming from him. He is a performer that is not crazy about people who spend more time videotaping live shows than watching them. He politely asked everyone for one song to put their phones away and just enjoy the moment of the live music. It seemed that we did cooperate, except for that guy, 3 rows ahead of me who was till taping throughout this song. It just seems that our way of being present is changing and our devices are getting all the attention. I run a magazine, and even I can put my phone down for one song. I don’t feel I missed anything.
Even after 40 years, the classic pop sounds of Canada still hold up well and the mixed audience really was reveling in it. These are the Canadian pop moments that we cherish, and we have Glass Tiger to thank for it. They have been one of our champions of Canadian music for 40 years and there are not too many bands that can fly that flag.
If you want to catch up on what they are doing, here is a link to their website.
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Glass Tiger Live-
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