Last night they were literally dancing in the aisles of Meaford Hall. Attending dozens of musical performances over the years, I’ve never seen the like. The grand old Opera House, elegantly renovated in recent years, rarely echoes with such abandoned behaviour. But when Spirit of the West, the Canadian Celtic/folk/rock fivesome, launched into “Home For a Rest”, a good chunk of the audience leapt from their seats and rushed the area in front of the stage to jig and reel. The overflow spilled into the centre aisle and halfway to the rear. The band capitalized on the giddy momentum with their encore, another rousing crowd pleaser, “The Crawl”, with Geoff Kelly noting, “Okay, we’ve got you pegged – here’s another drinking song.”

The band keeps a shine on the bar with their sleeves

John Mann and a Meaford fan

(Hope to post a video clip here soon)

I’ve written here before about some of the opportunities to hear live music in Meaford, but this seems as good a time as any to bring it up again. Last weekend, it was GBSS Idol. And still hyped from hearing Spirit of the West last night, we’ll be catching Fred Eaglesmith, another Canadian stalwart, next Friday night in the cool upstairs bar at McGinty’s.

And I haven’t even mentioned the Sweetwater Music Festival. While it’s held in September, it kicks with a fundraising performance by Grammy award-winning conductor Bramwell Tovey, Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony and Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

More on that in a bit.