Supertramp

Vancouver, June 2011

Saturday night we saw Supertramp in concert in Calgary. My husband was a big fan back in the day and was probably the one who introduced me to their music. I have memories of us driving through the farmlands of upstate New York, his Volkswagen Beetle chugging along and "Long Way Home" floating from the radio and out the open windows. When I saw that Supertramp was coming here I knew we had to go.

The show took place in the Saddledome hockey arena with 8,000 people in attendance. The crowd consisted of mostly baby boomers (no surprise) but there were some young people sprinkled in. Marijuana wafted in the air (that was a surprise) along with the sound of thousands of people singing along to some very impressive musicianship.

I read that there was some controversy about the fact that one of the co founders, Roger Hodgson wasn't touring with the group, but if I hadn't seen that in the paper, I never would have known. Yes, I recognized that there were some young faces on stage but the sound was pure Supertramp.

I think they could have made better use of the jumbo-screens and there wasn't much banter, but- my God!- the way Rick Davis' hands flew over the piano keys while being accompanied by an eight piece band was worth the price of admission.

I found a setlist from 2010 and I think it was the same one we got here. From http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/supertramp/2010/palais-omnisports-de-paris-bercy-paris-france-2bd56c82.html:

1. You Started Laughing
2. Gone Hollywood
3. Put on Your Old Brown Shoes
4. Ain't Nobody but Me
5. Breakfast in America
6. Cannonball
7. Poor Boy
8. From Now On
9. Give a Little Bit
10. Downstream
11. Rudy
12. It's Raining Again
13. Another Man's Woman
14. Take The Long Way Home
15. Bloody Well Right
16. The Logical Song
17. Goodbye Stranger
18. Encore:
18. School
19. Dreamer
20. Crime of the Century

From our show:

From the official Supertramp website:

SUPERTRAMP 2011 TOUR DATES! from Supertramp on Vimeo.

Abby

While I was in New York, my sister's family decided to adopt a rescued dog. We all went over to the North Shore Animal League on Saturday and took a look at the new crop of animals which had recently arrived from Alabama.

(a sign from one of the cages)

I asked one of the men working there if the dogs had been picked up off the street and was told that some were. But most of the dogs (and cats) came from shelters which had been flooded following the tornadic activity. From their website:

Animal League Rescue Teams Respond to Recent Natural Disasters

178 tornadoes recently devastated areas in the Midwest and the South, with Alabama being one of the hardest hit states. Our rescue teams are being dispatched to help save animals from areas devastated by tornadoes.

It was tough walking past the cages, seeing dogs of all sizes, colors and ethnicity (ha) so eager to interact with us. The place was noisy with happy barking. We stopped at one quiet cage where a sad, little brown dog stayed as far away from us as she could get. She was a "mill rescue." Her entire purpose during her 2 years of life was to produce puppies for sale. She knew nothing about human kindness, was nervous and subdued.

She wasn't right for my sister's family but we decided that some kind soul would eventually take her home. She was irresistible in her way- that sweet, sad face. Indeed, we did see people with her in the 'play area' later.

We kept on walking and were almost through a door that would take us to another section when my sister spotted Abby in the last cage with another dog. She was standing up front and when you looked at her, she wagged her tail. She wasn't a fur-ball of energy, but she was friendly. She was the right size, sex, age and seemed to have the right temperament.

During our drive to the shelter my sister had said that it was likely the dog would pick them, rather than the other way around. When we were given Abby on a leash to take to the play area, she accepted our petting and went easily from one person to the next. After a little while, my niece wanted to take one more look around at the dogs, so I held the lease while they all went to see if Abby had any competition.

Abby followed them to the glass door and watched until they came back. My sister was right. Abby had picked the family she wanted to go home with.

From what I hear, everything is going fine with the new addition to the household. We keep waiting for another side of her personality to emerge, but it looks like she's a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kinda dog. Everyone is happy.

Except Rascal.