September 16, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. It was a decent event. The weather didn’t kill it; the organizers of the event did tell everyone to bring a chair and a blanket.
It was a respectable crowd.
It was a respectable crowd.
And they did like the idea of dancing to Robbie Lane and the Disciples. I missed the opportunity to spin Connie Smith around the dancing space – she twisted her ankle the day before and had it all bound up with tape – but being the trooper she is – she was on the stage sharing the MC task with Lane.
The Drifters took to the stage and – they were OK. There is this “best before date” thing and, well, they were beyond that date but the sound was still there and for many of us in the audience, we were at our best before date as well.
What was interesting was watching The Drifters as they sat at the table autographing their CD. They were excited to be there. There was none of that cool, we are celebrities stuff about them. If there had been a red carpet they would have been embarrassed to use it. They were having fun and seemed delighted to be remembered and appreciated.
The things we did in the back seats of those cars.
Did the event raise funds for the Halton Heros? The stage, the sound system and the support needed for an event like this doesn’t come cheap. The tickets were decently priced – not sure there is going to be much left over when all the expenses were added up.
Did we hear a well-known group at their best? No, but that’s not what most people came for – they came to see, hear and remember. Rick Shepherd wasn’t shy in saying that he was 74 years old and there he was up on the stage belting it out – feeding us songs we spent some of our youth on.
What many of us assumed was that Shepherd was an Afro-American. Turns out his blood lines are native American – Cherokee on one side.
It was dark but he sound was distinct. The Love Train was the tune that sent us all home. The audience actually set up two trains – it was a fun event.
Big Sound that covered a lot of the bases. Fine dancing music.
Pauley and the Goodfellas were a different act. Their music was louder, the tempo was quicker and they played what many others had played before them. People wanted to dance to the Goodfellas – much of the crowd wanted to listen to The Drifters.
Burlington’s MP, Mike Wallace danced to everything – and the man does a mean dance step.
