If you haven’t been to Lee Lifeson Park at 45 Princess Ave, I suggest you find some time to go and experience some fine music there. We just had David Barrett there for the 5th time and it is a wonderful way to wind down the summer. This time he brought a friend along named John McMillan. He showed up with 5 different guitars and he did play all of them. Dave and John have been friends for over a decade and Dave even helped produced John’s album.
John’s style of playing is subtle, thoughtful, gentle, and he can paint his experiences and emotion is a very creative fashion. His way of slipping in and out of different concepts and ideas seems flawless, as he draws you into pictorial landscapes and simply hands them to you in a very giving way. This is how you wind down your summer.
Here are some images of John McMillan:
David Barrett on the other hand can pick up his acoustic guitars and numb you with his beastly like prowess as he attacks his guitar with lightning precision. He began with Rush’s piece called Hope and then quickly turned to his extensive catalog and played varying degrees of difficult pieces. His moments can feel epic or they can take you on a drive around a racecar track. His ideas seem universal, especially when he did an epic piece call “Elegant Universe”.
If you are unfamiliar with his work, no worries he also can slip in some classic guitar from the likelihood of Steve Howe, and a little Heart. Hey he even mellowed us out to the classic, “Somewhere over the Rainbow”, and did a little “16th Century Greensleeves”. Dave is the kind of guy who can take on any project and keep it fascinating. You just have to join him at one of his shows, and you will quickly learn the extent of his mindfield!
Here are some images of Dave Barrett: