Harry Connick Jr. and the G20 - Part 2

Photo from Harry Connick Jr. Official Website

Well, we made it, and, WOW!  What a spectacular show of pure talent and energy.  Harry started off by thanking us all for coming - that he didn't think anyone would come because of everything going on in Toronto.    Well now that I have seen him perform live, I can understand why there is not much that would stop a person from getting to one of his shows.  I adored his N'awlins drawl, and he is VERY funny and entertaining and it is so obvious to see that he loves what he does.  One of the highlights was when Lucien Barbarin, an outstanding trombonist from New Orleans joined Harry and the band for a few tunes.  One of the songs was The St. James Infirmary Blues, and on You Tube I found this clip of Harry and Lucien playing it a couple of years ago.  I highly recommend watching it! 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vQIa-JKFDsA

Once you are on You Tube, check out some of the other Harry Connick videos - there are many to choose from. 

And then there was the bald, tattooed fellow wearing a tank top and a baseball cap with the name of the band "Cannibal Corpses" on it in the front row, who Harry asked if he was at the right show!  I could go on, and on, and on..... but my words just cannot convey the level of entertainment, the absolute sense of enjoyment you could feel from the audience around you, and the talent and intensity and artistry of Harry Connick.  Suffice it to say, I will doing my best to see him in concert again. 

Now, on to the G20 "Nonsense".  The one "up" side to the security restrictions was seeing the Gardiner Expressway more lightly travelled that I have ever seen it.  Of course the Westbound lanes were  barren due to the complete closure from downtown to the 427. 

Yonge-Dundas Square had several dozen police officers on the perimeter, and as we walked down Yonge Street, there were small squads of officers on each street corner.  The picture above is the corner of Yonge and Adelaide.

As we walked back north towards the theatre and were stopped waiting to cross Queen Street, a cruiser approached from the west on Queen and turned south onto Yonge with speed and sirens sounding.  The officers from the corners at Queen and Yonge came together to block access to southbound Yonge street and from the east came a group of "Peaceful Protesters" (according to their chant) on bicycles. 

And they were peaceful protesters - the lack of black face coverings and the bucket hats were a good indication of the intentions of the group.  However there was one daring fellow with a vuvuzela near the end of the group that was definitely putting himself at risk!

 

But continuing our walk up Yonge, the smashed windows were a reminder of the senseless destruction from the previous day.  Below is a picture of the Starbucks that was featured quite prominently on Saturday's news.  I walked about ten paces north, then snapped the next picture looking towards the Canon Theatre where we were going to see Harry.  You can just see the "C" of the top of the sign, almost directly across from the SEARS sign.  The next picture is of one of numerous smashed windows on storefronts along the way. 

As we ate dinner we heard the sounds of the helicopters taking the dignitaries away at the end of the conference - and then the rains came!  We were very close by to the theatre, so it didn't bother us.  But we paid for the easy drive into the city earlier in the day - the rains caused flooding and road closures on the Lakeshore, making an already difficult drive even worse. 

Was it all worth it to see Harry?  Absolutely!  Would I do it again?  Without question! 

Well, I really should be getting back to some knitting, and try to get some "good" pictures taken for Etsy.