Big stars pull in big money for Nortel's Power Aid live
You know, maybe a couple of good things did come out of Ice Storm '98, after all.
First, you have the loose spirit of community camaraderie and co-operation that developed amid last month's onslaught of freezing rain and crippling power outages -- a spirit that seems to have survived, or was at least temporarily revived for Nortel's Power Aid Live benefit concert and telethon at the Corel Centre yesterday.
Second, you have the concert itself, a jubilant spectacle that would be notable just for bringing personalities as disparate as Tom Cochrane, Max Keeping, Lawrence Gowan, Graham Green, Wayne Rostad and Polkaroo (yes, the fuzzy children's entertainer) together on one stage for a grand-finale singalong of Lean On Me.
For an affair slapped together in less than a week, Power Aid came off remarkably smoothly.
Chummily co-hosted by the CBC's Wayne Rostad and actor Green and watched over by a VIP seating section of ice storm "heroes" -- soldiers, hydro workers, Red Cross and Salvation Army volunteers -- Power Aid was a fast-moving, easy-going afternoon of entertainment that at times felt more like an all-star kitchen party than a bid to put some of the hardships wrought by the ice storm behind us.
Hokey? You bet.
But the buoyant nature of the performances was contagious, and by the end of the day more than $5.8 million for local disaster-relief efforts had poured in (or will pour in, once provincial contributions enter into the equation).
"Today speaks for itself," said Cochrane backstage after the show. "I think everybody did an amazing job."
Cochrane was one of the first performers to sign on for Power Aid, having received a first-hand account of the disaster from family friend Laura Hillary, a local singer.
"I'm a big believer in karma ... Obviously you can't do everything, but I have a strong feeling about this area, and you do what you can do."
Cochrane closed Power Aid with a quick acoustic set that drew on a little impromptu help from some of his fellow performers. Fiddler Bobby Lalonde lent some mournful backing notes to Big League, while Amy Sky returned to the stage to duet with Cochrane on Dreamer's Dream.
Crowd favorite Lawrence Gowan chipped in a hastily-thrown-together keyboard part for Cochrane's signature song, Life Is A Highway, giving it a full-gospel-tent-revival-ish lift.
Gowan himself had the arena on its feet during his brief, hyper-energetic set, as he ripped through "the Gowan library in one minute" -- a rapid-fire medley of all his hits -- along with the old ballad Pour un instant and a surprisingly fresh-sounding version of Moonlight Desires.
East Coast folkie John Allan Cameron made a point of singling out the storm's heroes, pulling a few members of the military up on stage with him during a rendition of Lord Of The Dance.
"They were rightfully called heroes, and likewise the power people," he said later. "They do great work ... and we as Canadians don't even think of it."
Ottawa native Valdy somehow managed to whip together a song especially for the occasion called A Hard Rain in the short time between agreeing to play and hopping a red-eye flight from British Columbia.
"This is my home town," said the lanky performer as he waited in the wings to play, "and it's very rare you get to see the solidarity of communities coming together to support one another. It's an honor to be a part of that. It's historic."
Elsewhere on the bill, you had Michelle Wright peforming a quick country ballad before skipping town for another engagement; a lively unrehearsed set from the Irish Descendents, who jumped fresh off a plane from Newfoundland to play (and whose fiddler had an engagement in New York only five hours later); a bit of smooth balladry from Quebecois crooner Patrick Norman; and some baritone country songsmithing from actor Tom Jackson.
Not a bad effort, as far as telethons go. And the whole thing made for a nice kiss-off to one of the worst Canadian disasters of the century.
As CJOH's Keeping put it before the show: "This is goodbye to Ice Storm '98. Good riddance to Ice Storm '98."