Moving performances at a cozy venue

Concert saved by last-minute encore

By Chandler Walter, Distribution Manager

The Arms Pub was alive with the sounds of music late last Tuesday night, and admission was a wallet-saving $0.

The stage was set with late ’80s disco lighting, and the dozens of us milling around in the crowd hushed as the first performer opened with a beautiful rendition of “Like a Virgin.”

Drinks were moderately cheap given the venue, though unfortunately there was no merchandise booth at which to buy a T-shirt of your favourite performer of the night.

No-name stars rose and fell during their short time in the spotlight, and by the middle of the concert I came to realize most of the crowd around me was on the set-list.

Many had no professional conduct whatsoever; in fact, most had to read lyrics off of a scrolling screen.

Still, the artists moved me in a most beautiful way, which surely had no correlation to the eight or 10 beers I’d consumed during the concert.

The most surprising and exciting development of the evening came about at the very end of the night, when I was slated to deliver the encore!

I closed off the set-list with a rousing, 10-minute-long cover of Meatloaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” and the crowd—though dwindling in numbers by then—was still large enough for a thunderous applause, and to also somewhat cushion my fall during a nearly successful stage dive.

4/5 stars

Would recommend