July 27
After checking out whether it was the same Reuben or not and what time things were happening we headed down to the water front to see the city’s down town. Bought some food at the farmers market, some wine at the liquor store, and headed back to “The Mansion” The proprietor suggested we park next door behind the tattoo parlour for the night, so that’s were we set up the van. We spent a couple of hours sitting in the bar blogging and having a few drinks and then went out back and cooked up supper on the camp stove in the parking lot. About nine we went back in to an upstairs lounge to watch then set up for the evening. The lounge was a pretty intimate space. It was about the same size as our red room at HiLo with maybe a little wider section on the one side for the bar. There were arm chairs and couches sort of set up in a loose way around the sort of stage in the one corner. So it was a real cozy sort of setting. There were four separate gigs that night. Quite a score for the five dollar cover when you think of it. While they were setting up Reuben caught on to who we were and came up and welcomed us etc. but he was pretty busy so we didn’t get much time to talk. It’s obvious though that he is pretty well respected in Kingston from what we hear. I think he is on an up swing and if I had to bet I think he will be pretty successful some day.
The first two guys were obviously local dudes who were just happy to play a bunch of songs for nothing really. Then to my surprise, when they were finished this totally non descript guy sacked out on the couch beside mom got up and went to the stage and started mucking about, taking the guitar strap off of Rueben’s guitar and putting it on his and tuning it a bit etc. Turns out he was Cameron Latimer. When he started to play the chatter died down and everyone listened. I wouldn’t say he is a great entertainer but his songs are really good lyrically and instrumentally and I saw at least one guy get all teary. He was very good and got a lot of applause and an encore from the thirty or so of us in the room.
When Cameron was finished we had this country/hillbilly/rock band from NewYork
“ The Jack Grace Band” who took to the stage. They were loud, the drummer was fast, the lead guitarist could play and pick really well and did some great guitar solo’s, and the bassist was his wife who also did a great job. She played that guitar like it was a weapon. They came of sounding a bit like Tse Tse Top. Pretty loud though.
Then about midnight it was Reuben’s turn. All along the last half hour or so more people had been coming in. I think he plays there quite regularly and has developed a bit of a following. He had a five piece band. A drummer, a guy on the key boards, a base player, a lead electric guitarist, and himself.
When they finally started to play it was with incredible energy. Reuben has a way of turning his guys on and in turn feeding the audience. They in turn gave it back for sure. You can tell that he is completely in control. His musicians are very good, and not just loud, but subtle, and filled with expression. The drummer was so fast and so into it you could just tell. Same with all the others. It’s really amazing the whole range of music they flowed through from country, to almost grunge, and then folk, and then full blown rock, and so on. As he got going he never let up. Just flowing from one tune to another. A couple of times he invited guest performers to play with him. A guy with a French horn, a female vocalist, another guy with a lead electric, but for the most part it was just him and his for band mates.
It’s pretty obvious Reuben and Cameron are close. They really support each other, almost love each other. They have co written a bunch songs together, and I think they know that they are headed some place professionally. It was a real pleasure being there. At any rate Grace and I cut out of there about 1:45 AM only because we were so fatigued we were almost sick. Still it was nice laying in bed behind the tattoo parlor drifting off to sleep listening to these guys start up again.
After checking out whether it was the same Reuben or not and what time things were happening we headed down to the water front to see the city’s down town. Bought some food at the farmers market, some wine at the liquor store, and headed back to “The Mansion” The proprietor suggested we park next door behind the tattoo parlour for the night, so that’s were we set up the van. We spent a couple of hours sitting in the bar blogging and having a few drinks and then went out back and cooked up supper on the camp stove in the parking lot. About nine we went back in to an upstairs lounge to watch then set up for the evening. The lounge was a pretty intimate space. It was about the same size as our red room at HiLo with maybe a little wider section on the one side for the bar. There were arm chairs and couches sort of set up in a loose way around the sort of stage in the one corner. So it was a real cozy sort of setting. There were four separate gigs that night. Quite a score for the five dollar cover when you think of it. While they were setting up Reuben caught on to who we were and came up and welcomed us etc. but he was pretty busy so we didn’t get much time to talk. It’s obvious though that he is pretty well respected in Kingston from what we hear. I think he is on an up swing and if I had to bet I think he will be pretty successful some day.
The first two guys were obviously local dudes who were just happy to play a bunch of songs for nothing really. Then to my surprise, when they were finished this totally non descript guy sacked out on the couch beside mom got up and went to the stage and started mucking about, taking the guitar strap off of Rueben’s guitar and putting it on his and tuning it a bit etc. Turns out he was Cameron Latimer. When he started to play the chatter died down and everyone listened. I wouldn’t say he is a great entertainer but his songs are really good lyrically and instrumentally and I saw at least one guy get all teary. He was very good and got a lot of applause and an encore from the thirty or so of us in the room.
When Cameron was finished we had this country/hillbilly/rock band from NewYork
“ The Jack Grace Band” who took to the stage. They were loud, the drummer was fast, the lead guitarist could play and pick really well and did some great guitar solo’s, and the bassist was his wife who also did a great job. She played that guitar like it was a weapon. They came of sounding a bit like Tse Tse Top. Pretty loud though.
Then about midnight it was Reuben’s turn. All along the last half hour or so more people had been coming in. I think he plays there quite regularly and has developed a bit of a following. He had a five piece band. A drummer, a guy on the key boards, a base player, a lead electric guitarist, and himself.
When they finally started to play it was with incredible energy. Reuben has a way of turning his guys on and in turn feeding the audience. They in turn gave it back for sure. You can tell that he is completely in control. His musicians are very good, and not just loud, but subtle, and filled with expression. The drummer was so fast and so into it you could just tell. Same with all the others. It’s really amazing the whole range of music they flowed through from country, to almost grunge, and then folk, and then full blown rock, and so on. As he got going he never let up. Just flowing from one tune to another. A couple of times he invited guest performers to play with him. A guy with a French horn, a female vocalist, another guy with a lead electric, but for the most part it was just him and his for band mates.
It’s pretty obvious Reuben and Cameron are close. They really support each other, almost love each other. They have co written a bunch songs together, and I think they know that they are headed some place professionally. It was a real pleasure being there. At any rate Grace and I cut out of there about 1:45 AM only because we were so fatigued we were almost sick. Still it was nice laying in bed behind the tattoo parlor drifting off to sleep listening to these guys start up again.
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Wow. What a concert, what an expereince!!! It sounds like you guys had a fantastic time. It also sounds like you aren't having any trouble finding a place to sleep!! Love hearing about your adventures!!
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