Concert for Kim Taylor @ The Elixir Aug 17th 2006

**Edit** As I was scripting this post, Kim Taylor left us for a far better place. RIP Kim.

Last Thursday night I was fortunate enough to score a ticket to a sold out event at the Elixir nightclub on Garrett Street. My friend Tina (GodBlessHer) was kind enough to hold a ticket for me at the door and when I got there (early as usual) I was shocked to find there were no available parking spots. Then I saw the lineup at the door and realized I wasn't the only one who was trying to get a good seat. When I got in the door, I grabbed the only available stool and dragged it to my usual spot at the front table. Due to the fact that I was alone for the first hour, I had to leave my purse on that chair and slid over to the bar to buy a beer and a bottle of water.
The first artist up on stage was one of my favourite Kingston artist, playing without his band. When Chris Koster took the stage, I squealed with delight as he never fails to capture my heart with his melodic beautiful music. His brother 'Billy Ray' was the one who organized the whole show in order to raise funds to assist a young woman with cancer who needs to travel a great distance for treatments to help ease her pain. Even thought it was only 4 short years ago that I was trying to comfort my own mother while she underwent chemotherapy. I know how important it is to try and help out others, even if they are complete strangers.
Here is a picture of Chris with his broken heart background:

I have never seen that place as packed as it was that night and even before the first act came on, it was full to capacity. My friend Tina and her two friends arrived just before Koster so we took turns keeping out spots free while we rotated our bathroom shifts:) And even though we were right next to the washrooms, we couldn't get through the crowd ... i think it was almost unsafe. Regardless, I made it through the crowd and 'held it' for the rest of the night.
Next up was James McKenty and the Spades. This band from Peterborough never fails to please and I swear my friend Tina Burke is their number one fan. She even had them play a gig in her back yard a few years ago. Now this band (who is under the careful eye of Gord Sinclair from the Tragically Hip) is making big waves locally and nationally. So what a treat it was to see the guys play for a few songs before they invited Gord Sinclair AND Paul Langois up on stage for the duration of their stage time. Then after a few songs, Dan Ackroyd got up and sang a few songs with a local artist named the Fridge Doctor. It was kind of amusing to see the two of them dancing together:

After that large group of entertainers left the stage, a surprise guest was brought on, with his band. It was none other than Matt Mays and El Torpedo. They happened to be touring with Sam Roberts and wanted to be added to the venue at the last minute. WOW...they were awesome and they didn't even play their big hit 'Cocaine Cowgirl"! After they packed up, Sam Roberts rocked the house for the next hour. man, for a little guy, he sure has a massive stage presence! Here is a picture of him hanging right into the audience:

Sam just loves his fans and it shows. For an encore, he dragged all the other artists of the night up on stage. It was a touching yet fitting end to a night that many will not forget!

Now you may be wondering why the pictures I took have so many white spots on them. The fact that I am using a crappy little Nikon 3200 camera that had been dropped a few times and has the batteries held in with an elastic. I am hoping to get a new camera soon but unfortunately the funds just aren't available right now.
So the night was a major success, I had heard the next day that they were over capacity by 10 or 20 people which means there was at least 360 people there. At $25 a ticket, I certainly hope this assist's Kim in her treatments!