I received an email from a friend just stating that Bob Wegner is paying at the Hotel Victoria at 6:30pm Wednesday evening. Well, that got my attention. A new place with live music and a guitar player I have never seen before: This is what Blast is all about, discovering places that have quality music.

As I walked in the lobby of 56 Yonge St, the atmosphere was filled with elegance and old-world charm. I could see the manager helping Bob set up his equipment in the front where he will entertain the crowd of the lobby as well as the adjacent bar named Mossop’s.

Bob Wegner

I knew Bob Wegner has a unique style of playing guitar to some of the most iconic music of the 1970’s. It was a combination of great pop song mixed with very difficult progressive rock songs from that era.

I did find it ironic, that Bob recently moved to Montreal to pursue a new life with his music. Months later, Toronto was calling him back with a residency at Hotel Victoria. They clearly saw the talent and immediately grabbed him for themselves. You will find Bob playing there once a month so mark your calendar to go see him after work one day.

I thought this was a cool spot to do a quick photo shoot of Bob and his new Toronto home. He quickly sat down and began his first set. He started with the opening segment to Pink Floyd’s “Shine on you crazy Diamond”.  I was sitting pretty close to Bob, but after the song was done, I could hear cheering coming all the way from the back of the bar. Well, it turns out the Hotel has hidden speakers through the place and the crystal-clear sound was being pumped all the way to the back. I did actually go back there to check it out and the sound was amazing.

It seems that the hotel thought of everything to bring you a strong musical experience. I promised I would go back and have them on our directory. This is a solid music venue to listen to quality music.

Once you warm up to Bob’s banter, you can’t help but enjoy his quirky banter with his audience. He called his style of music, Doodle nonsense and was happy he has not repulsed his audience so far.

If you listen carefully to his independent arrangements, you will notice he can be playing more than one part at a time. With his looping pedal, he layers his sound so you can hear the full song. A great example was when he played “The Trees” by Rush. There is that famous section, where you hear Neil Peart playing with the blocks to create the sound of harmonious wood. Somehow Bob was able to reproduce that on his guitar.

This was a room of dedicated listeners, as you could hear a pin drop, because everyone was soaking in every note. I even saw music super fan, Richard Flohil in the audience soaking in those cathode rays. I could even see people walking by the front window and stopping for a minute to figure out where these mystical sounds were coming from.  

Bob’s set list was so wonderfully diverse, I could spend the next ten pages telling you about them. Instead, I am going to give you the set list and if these are songs you love, you have to back to this hotel on Wednesday June 23^rd when Bob makes his return to his new home.

Shine on you Crazy Diamond- Pink Floyd

Maybe I’m amazed- Paul McCartney

The Trees- Rush

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road- Elton John

Billy Joel- My Life

And you and I- Yes

Beyond the Moon (Ending)-Max Webster, Don’t try this at home kids.

Ohio- CSN&Y

An original piece he did with a quartet- He pulled his phone out with a recording of the quartet’s piece. It was both very eerie and beautiful at the same time.

Babe, I’m gonna to leave you- Led Zeppelin

Part of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald- Gordon Lightfoot

Horizon and the end of Supper’s Ready- Genesis

What a Wonderful World- Louis Armstrong

Life on Mars- David Bowie

Prophet   Song and Love of my life- Queen

Astronomy Domine- Pink Floyd

A day in the Life- Beatles- Totally worth the drive from Acton.

Blue River Liquor Shine, Summer’s up, Sun Voices, Diamond,Diamonds- Max Webster

Xanadu- Rush

50 ways to leave your lover- Paul Simon

The entire Rubber Soul Album

Echoes- Pink Floyd.

As it turns out, Bob has over 300 songs he could play, so the next time he is here, you must come and have a drink at the bar or chew on a couple of gummies and lounge in the lobby for 3 hours. It will be a very enlightening hump day. This is better than any TV show you have waiting for you at home. This is live music!

This is Bob Wegner: