brendongomez.com

I’m so lucky for the gigs I get, and especially on a day like St.Patricks Day, it’s such great day to play a show for live music fans. This year I had the opportunity to play Toronto’s Pauper’s Bar on Bathurst/Bloor. I had the prime-time slot from 5-8:30pm, and it was such great fun playing traditional Irish songs, and watching the crowd sway, clap, stare, and dance (as well as just give me eyes of approval). By 7pm the place was rammed with such a diverse crowd, young, old, infants, saints, criminals, etc, it was hard to pinpoint what age the bar caters to. In the end I managed to just be the human ipod I am.

There are some shows where everything connects: The setlist, the sound, the audience. And when everything connects, it’s like riding a wave that just doesn’t come down. And the wave just kept going higher..in this case for 4 hours straight. On December 31^st New Years Eve, I accepted a show at the Madison Avenue Pub, a Toronto institution. I played the piano room, altering between piano and guitar, while being a Ryan Seacrest host for the New Years countdown (a first for me) for 100+ people. As a way to finish off the year, this was the gig of the year, because of the hysteria the songs I played caused. I’m not sure if it was the alcohol (I didn’t even drink that night), but people went nuts, screaming, clapping, jumping on tables, etc. And I just watched them, knowing that the songs I’m playing are causing this wonderful chaos. They didn’t want me to stop. The amount of compliments, screams and smiles was insane, I was pretty flattered. I never needed support, or anyone to tell me I was good as a musician/performer, but some of those comments were like ego steroids (which I’ll use when needed). Happy NY 2015.