If They Had It They Still Got It: Blue Rodeo at Jazz Fest

Blue Rodeo was among the highlights of this year’s Jazz Festival in Montreal, along with Men I Trust, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. Of the shows I attended, Blue Rodeo was the flea’s eyebrows. I was lucky to very briefly catch up with lead singer Jim Cuddy after the show.

Blue Rodeo took to the main stage in a light rain to perform to a large Montreal crowd in one of the festival’s many free shows. “Bonsoir, so nice to see you,” said Cuddy, and the band got straight into “5 Days in May”. As the show went on, I was surprised at how many songs I knew well. I’ve rarely listened to Blue Rodeo as an adult, but their music was certainly around when I was a kid; my parents played it fairly often while in the car.

The band has been going strong since 1984, when they formed in Toronto and played their first show at the Rivoli. Led by Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor–both of whom lived in Montreal for a time in their youths–the band has now released sixteen full-length studio albums along with numerous side projects and solo albums.

After playing “Bad Timing,” Keelor chimed in. “Thanks a lot, folks. It’s always a great pleasure to come back to Montreal. I grew up over in Town Mount Royal, Ville Mont-Royal. I was a little hockey player then, and never in my wildest imagination did I think that I’d be playing Montreal tonight for this beautiful Jazz Festival. So this song is about one of the shittiest shows ever had to play and it’s called ‘What Am I Doing Here?’”

At first, I was watching the show from the media tent, though it wasn’t all that close to the stage, so I wandered up to the closest tent. I thought I’d have to show my pass to someone and eventually be sent packing, but all of the festival workers appeared to be in serious conversations. Once in the tent, there were mostly old, rich-looking people with collared shirts drinking wine and scotch. When I ordered a beer, the server had to ask someone else where to find it. After she handed it to me, I realized there was no payment machine and I backed away slowly, knowing now that I was not supposed to be there. I wandered over to the open corner of the tent facing the stage and took in the view of the band and the crowd below. Despite a small case of impostor syndrome, it was probably the best seat in the house.

Blue Rodeo was now in the middle of “It Could Happen to You” and Cuddy was singing with a blissful look on his face that had been there throughout most of the show. While singing, he often had a slight smile and drooping eyelids, making him look very content and at ease. The look goes hand in hand with his personality; Cuddy is a real easy-going guy, probably more so now at sixty-nine years old. His voice, however, is as strong as ever and I was taken aback by his control. His voice is slightly raspy now, which I think enhances it.

The band was in fine form, and all of the members were in the groove. I was not a Blue Rodeo fan before the show, but I can say that I am now. After playing for about an hour and a half, the band left the stage to cheering Montrealers. After talking to some fans and getting their thoughts on the show, I left and walked around behind the stage. There was Jim Cuddy greeting a small group of fans before heading off to the bus. I hadn’t prepared any questions, so I didn’t ask any smart ones.

“Great show Jim,” I said.

“Thanks,” said Cuddy.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“I heard your first show was at the Rivoli.”

“For sure it was at the Rivoli, yeah,” said Cuddy

“I know two guys who got rejected when they tried to play a show there.”

“Really?” [laughs]

“And I’m wondering if you have any advice on how to land a show at the Rivoli.”

“Uhm (beep, beep – truck backing up) Yeah, it’s coming back here (the truck). Well, you know what? I mean, we got our first show by just bugging them . . . all you can do is keep calling. The people are obviously not there anymore, but we just kept at it.”

“They said no the first time?”

“I don’t remember, you know what? It was a small . . . it was not a very important place back then. We couldn’t get a gig at the Horseshoe, but we could get a gig at the Rivoli. Because the Rivoli was just…”

“A little smaller?”

“It just didn’t have the same cachet as the Horseshoe. You just gotta keep trying.”

“Alright, thanks.”

“Have a good night.”

Cuddy walked towards his bus.

Blue Rodeo played a good show in Montreal–a surprisingly good show–and I’ll likely be in the audience when they pass through again in January.