Mat Holden, Arts Contributor
Joel Plaskett doesn’t know the meaning of phoning it in. Whether he is playing to a crowd of 50,000, or a few hundred, Plaskett and his band, The Emergency always give it everything they have. Their Canada Games show at Celebration Square was no exception.
The square was filled with people of all ages –- from mothers with small children to the elderly bundled up in multiple layers. Everyone waited anxiously for the show to begin.
The band, joined by Peter Elkas, a longtime stage partner of Plaskett, kicked off the night with “Deny, Deny, Deny,” a fan favourite from Plaskett’s most recent album, Three.
Wearing not one but two Canadian outfits for the event, Plaskett started out in a White Hudson Bay jacket, with a large red flower sprouting from the top. Once warmed up, he removed the jacket to reveal an outfit that could only be described as lumberjack-inspired; with a red flannel shirt, black vest and grey toque.
“I don’t know what to do with my toque,” he told the crowd. “It gets too hot up here, but once I take it off, I’m cold again!”
This playful spirit of shouting out whatever came to mind continued for the rest of the night, even during songs. Leading clapping and sing-a-longs, Plaskett encouraged the crowd to participate throughout the show.
Having confirmed that he will be releasing the follow-up to his very well-received album Three later this year, Plaskett and the band played two new songs at their show. Both flowed perfectly into the set and were as heavy, poppy and rocking as ever.
But it was when he launched into his most popular and well-known songs that the band and the crowd got lost in the music. Smartly keeping the acoustic slow songs to a minimum, Plaskett stuck mainly to his electric Fender and Gibson guitars and drew songs from solo album LaDeDa, and Emergency albums Three, Truthfully Truthfully and (surprisingly) Ashtray Rock.
There were few surprises in a setlist designed for casual fans and lovers of free music, but the band still managed to incorporate the odd fan favourite into the mix. The first was the double-track “Snowed In/Cruisin'” from Ashtray Rock; an up-tempo rock song that transforms into a harmonica-driven blues jam, resembling something the Rolling Stones would have been proud of back in the day. The second surprise came during the sing-along favourite “Extraordinary,” when Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter appeared on stage to shout out a line.
The final surprise of the night came at the end of the show when bass player Chris Pennell kicked off the poppy bass line to “Come on Teacher,” a song from Truthfully Truthfully that is rarely played live. This became evident a few lines in when Plaskett forgot the words. Never one to shy away from improvising lyrics, the band and singer proceeded unfazed, with Plaskett singing whatever came to mind until he remembered the lyrics and went right back into the song.
The weather was warm, the crowd was large and everyone was loving it. The Joel Plaskett Emergency set the bar high for the acts to follow each night on the stage at Celebration Square.
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