Jamming on Accordion Last Night at the First After Work Drinks Toronto Party of 2013

Last night, I attended 2013’s first After Work Drinks Toronto party, a regular gathering of Accordion City’s downtown working folks for food, drink, and most important of all, getting-to-know-you-conversations. It took place on King West at Fynn’s of Temple Bar and featured some tasty strawberry-basil mojitos and killer fruit-infused beer from Innis and Gunn (I’m pretty fond of the ginger). They also had a couple of guys onstage doing the guitar-and-cover tunes thing who invited me to join them for Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, which worked out so well that they brought me back onstage for their subsequent set. Jon Gauthier and Anne Mackenzie caught bits and pieces of me with the six-second-repeating-loop-video app Vine, and I’ve included their videos below.

Among the numbers I got to play with the guys, who were incredibly cool and accommodating, were:

• Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis
• Moondance by Van Morrison
• Night Moves by Bob Seger — were these guys even alive when this song came out? I was nine.
• House of the Rising Sun – traditional, but I believe we’re all thinking of the version by The Animals
• Blister in the Sun by Violent Femmes

It was good fun, and it was easy. While I’d never played Moondance, Night Moves or Don’t Look Back in Anger before, I knew the tunes and only had to be told what key they were playing in. They even let me have a solo on most of the numbers; the one I’m most proud of was the one where I duplicated the line from Don’t Look Back in Anger. I probably should add some Brothers Gallagher to the repertoire!

I had a great time — thanks to Amanda Blake and crew for putting the event together. I’m also looking forward to seeing the photos Casey Palmer shot at the event.