Stephanie Martin-Smith
Soul Purpose
Summer is always jam packed full of things to do and with four boys it seems as if it is flying by. On those warm sunny days you just want to hit the pause button and make it last as long as possible.
Once again this year I am beating a path to Camp Bimini, where Dustin is a counsellor and Jesse and Lucas are still enjoying being campers. Next year Jesse can apply for C.I.T. and Max can try the three-day camp. My grocery bill has greatly diminished with one or two gone for a week at a time.
I am happy to say that I did find time to go on an adventure myself with two of my neighbors, Michele and Manon (pronounced like minow, which is how I spelled it last year, sorry Manon!)
We purchased George Michael tickets back in the winter after telling Manon that if there is one artist I’d love to sing with on stage, it would be George Michael. She mentioned he was coming to Toronto and we agreed to buy tickets.
So it all started at a freezing cold hockey rink and it seemed like July was forever away. Hard to believe now the date has come and gone, but not without great memories!
We picked up Michele from work and headed to Toronto, and of course, hit a traffic jam, so we got to Toronto where we had booked a room at the Royal York and we had enough time to walk to the Air Canada Centre and begin our wait. Popcorn and a beverage was our supper and then we waited patiently. He was nearly an hour late, but it was worth it.
What a show, to an enthusiastic crowd of over 14,000 people. He performed on a stage that was a video screen and went straight up behind him about 40 feet. He sang and danced with his six back-up singers and, of course, everyone in the stadium became backup singers and dancers. So I did actually get to sing with George Michael. His band was spread out over three levels behind him.
It was a huge production and the crowd went nuts.
He explained that he knows it’s not easy to be a George Michael fan, but in this room it was unanimous that everyone loved him and he received two encores. He said he wished it hadn’t taken him 20 years to return to Toronto.
I’d definitely pay to see him again, he’s a great entertainer and amazing vocalist which is often overlooked in lieu of his personal life.
The concert ended at 11:40 and we finally had supper on a downtown outdoor patio. I wouldn’t want to live there but ya gotta love a summer visit to Toronto!
Post Script: Now I’m going to book tickets for my other favourite band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, at Ontario Place with Kid Rock in August. OK, so my musical tastes are a bit polarized but you just can’t deny talent when you hear it.
