Written by Sabine Demosthenes
MONTREAL – “Does anybody ever know? That the world’s a subway.”
Those famous words of wisdom, like a verse from a testament in the Bible, were sung with the same passion Raine Maida always has and his disciples, the fans, were chanting with him.
Since 1994, when I was 12 years old, the group Our Lady Peace has been my solace and therapist. Raine Maida’s songwriting is as real as you can get.
You could see the joy and energy the band had on stage, like Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (a quick shoutout to Jake Clemons who is the sax-man for The Boss and a proud Montrealer).
I didn’t see a single person seated or checking their Instagram account during the show.
Our Lady Peace wasn’t the only band that was having the time of their lives that night. Bush and Live were the other two frontrunners for this special show.
I had goosebumps when I heard the first notes of Superman’s Dead. Gosh, I was taking official pictures for The Chronicle and I just wanted to put my camera away and sing along.
They love Montreal and Montreal clearly loves OLP. They covered Superman’s Dead, Clumsy, Drop Me in the Water and even a brand new song that at first, I thought it was so different, but still so catchy. The title track is Stop Making Stupid People Famous. This song needs to be our anthem. Clearly, this is more proof of their creativity and willingness to explore other styles of sound.
I remembered the second show I saw (in my life) from Our Lady Peace. It was in February 2003. They did a cover of one of my favorite songs, from one of my favorite groups, The Cars. When Raine started singing “Who’s gonna tell you when it’s too late. Who’s gonna tell you things aren’t so great…”, I was mesmerized by their version of the song.
It hit me that Ric Ocasek and Raine Maida are passionate and very authentic songwriters.
Sadly, by the time this post is online, you will learn that Ric Ocasek has passed away. Thank you Ric for your beautiful musical legacy that we will cherish forever.
The Thursday show was a reminder to enjoy the moment to it’s fullest!
Our Lady Peace is clearly enjoying the moment. They will bring us along on their journey for hopefully another 25 years!
