Only if they raise the Titanic...

November 22, 2007 10:56 AM

So one of the biggest musical acts in the world schedules a concert in your city, and the reception is not quite as enthusiastic as expected. One phony excuse and one real reason later, the lesson is learned.

(Yes, tempest/teapot, regional/obscure, celebnewsfilter and all that, but the column in the last link was just too good not to share. And as it was virtually meaningless without some back story, that's included.)

posted by GhostintheMachine (44 comments total)

I can't wait for the Fussy Part show.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:02 AM on November 22, 2007

funny. this Halifax is a small town? ;)

I don't like her music, but I don't blame her decision. She certainly isn't hurting for fans elsewhere. It's her manager's fault for scheduling it in the first place. Probably an overzealous Dion fan in the Halifax city government ...
posted by mrgrimm at 11:04 AM on November 22, 2007

Lucky bastards.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:15 AM on November 22, 2007

More back story: Celine has played in Halifax several times before, sold out venues and all. But in recent years Halifax has lost out on big concerts to another city nearby, and was losing its "cool" status. So they lifted the ban on using the outdoor Commons as a concert venue to attract the Rolling Stones last year (only previous ban-lifter: the Pope in 1984), and folks were expecting a serious follow-up. Celine? Not so much.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 11:15 AM on November 22, 2007

Having seen Celine live, I'll say this: She looks like an insane person when she performs. DON'T SING WITH ANGRY FACE, CELINE!

Also, she beats her chest like King Kong throughout.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:18 AM on November 22, 2007

Having seen Celine live...

My opinion of Astro Zombie just fell about 3 notches.
posted by GuyZero at 11:21 AM on November 22, 2007

I got free tickets when I was in Las Vegas after Hurricane Katrina.

Now how's your opinion of me, JERK?
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:24 AM on November 22, 2007

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you a jerk.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:24 AM on November 22, 2007

I also shouldn't have accepted those tickets.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:25 AM on November 22, 2007 [4 favorites]

I would have sold those free tickets and gone to something else.
posted by Frasermoo at 11:26 AM on November 22, 2007

this is completely stupid.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 11:27 AM on November 22, 2007

I feel better about linking to Stormfront than I do about linking to Perez Hilton, brr.
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot at 11:28 AM on November 22, 2007

This thread will not stand.
posted by stinkycheese at 11:34 AM on November 22, 2007

Has the Underdog balloon gone by yet? That's my favorite part!
posted by kuujjuarapik at 11:35 AM on November 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Skip the Perez Hilton link, go to the last link. That's the money one.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 11:36 AM on November 22, 2007

I got free tickets

Wow, you are bad luck.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:37 AM on November 22, 2007

I'm missing the sarcasm part. Maybe I am thick.

The east coast is a rockin' place, with a long love affair with Rock and even Metal.
posted by Bovine Love at 11:37 AM on November 22, 2007

Metafilter: flawless performers who never fail to overwhelm!
posted by ersatz at 11:41 AM on November 22, 2007

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you a jerk.

Calling me a jerk was a near-recovery but now you're back down again.

I'll go get my own Astro-Zombie-opinion-blog now.
posted by GuyZero at 11:47 AM on November 22, 2007

Flagging post for associating Perez Hilton with the phrase "real reason". I mean, didn't he use to be Drudge?
posted by wendell at 11:59 AM on November 22, 2007

I can't wait for the Fussy Part show.

I hear Queef Huffer is the opener.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 12:14 PM on November 22, 2007

I like cheese in this thread
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 12:19 PM on November 22, 2007

Celine Dion is way more act than musical.
posted by tommasz at 12:35 PM on November 22, 2007

Rodenhiser's second article (the last link in the OPP, here again for lazy scrollophobes) pretty much earns him an honorary MeFi subscription, I think. He's got the over the top, dead-horse-beating sarcasm thing nailed.

Tip jar?
posted by rokusan at 12:47 PM on November 22, 2007

they lifted the ban on using the outdoor Commons as a concert venue to attract the Rolling Stones last year (only previous ban-lifter: the Pope in 1984)

A little more backstory: the Halifax Common is the oldest urban park in Canada. It is a gorgeous and heavily used expanse of open space in the heart of a lovely old city, and - in an addendum to a thread from yesterday - a marvelous place to spend Canada Day with a head full of psilocybin.

As far as I know that Rolling Stones concert was the first time in its history that it'd been closed to those members of the great unwashed without the hundred-dollars-and-up tickets. If Halifax resident theinsectsarewaiting was here, man, would he give you an earful about what an appalling spectacle it was that Rolling Stones Inc. was considered worthy of fencing off such a treasured public park. (And he's a man, like myself, who readily acknowleges Exile on Main St. as one of the dozen or so finest achievements in pop-music history.)

The fact that the good people of Halifax have left Celine crying in her sequined Vegas hanky almost - almost - makes up for last summer's travesty. I am proud, once again, to be a son of Nova Scotia.
posted by gompa at 12:55 PM on November 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

So one of the biggest lamest musical acts in the world schedules a concert in your city.
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:20 PM on November 22, 2007

That last column is brilliant.
posted by EarBucket at 2:32 PM on November 22, 2007

"We get negative reactions all the time when they review her records or shows. I mean, this is part of the game."
...and apparently even he recognizes that she deserves it.
posted by wendell at 2:44 PM on November 22, 2007

I love the column from the "learned" link. Given my druthers, I'll take a January day on the Commons over a warm, dry Celine concert any date. She makes my ears hurt.
posted by Salmonberry at 3:10 PM on November 22, 2007

/smashes bong on the ground/

It's called THE COMMONS - it is common space - a space for all. You don't build fences, you don't charge admission.

Make it a free concert and we can talk.

/wonders why he chose to smash bong/
posted by theinsectsarewaiting at 3:15 PM on November 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

because bongwater soaking into the carpet is preferable to having common land fenced off so a middle of the road warbler can make a mint cranking out crap for people with too much money & not enough taste, i imagine.
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:18 PM on November 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Her and Sloan can do a concert together in Toronto where they'll sell out the ACC at $200 a ticket and all the Haligonians can still be nice and smug while still wanting to be considered a real city.
posted by Space Coyote at 3:26 PM on November 22, 2007

That last column is brilliant.

It is. It must have been very satisfying to write that. Funny stuff. It's also pretty surprising that one local journalist's relatively mild expression of disappointment in the town's choosing Dion for this event would result in her manager (hubby!) cancelling the show. It's kind of incredible, really.

And indeed, there is something dreadfully wrong with Celine Dion. I mean, that website of hers: look at her hair and those outfits she wears. And her demeanor. She's genuinely creepy.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:11 PM on November 22, 2007

It's also pretty surprising that one local journalist's relatively mild expression of disappointment in the town's choosing Dion for this event would result in her manager (hubby!) cancelling the show. It's kind of incredible, really.

Makes you want to become a musical journalist, eh?
posted by ersatz at 6:07 PM on November 22, 2007

*music journalist
posted by ersatz at 6:19 PM on November 22, 2007

Heh heh, nice mistake, ersatz! If only more music journalists were musical journalists!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:32 PM on November 22, 2007

And if only more mefites were actually edible!
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:48 PM on November 22, 2007

Poor little sparrow! Warbler? Crow.

Three cheers for Halifax and good taste.
Mmmmm, Haligonians.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:47 AM on November 23, 2007

Heh heh, nice mistake, ersatz! If only more music journalists were musical journalists!

Not plenty of them. But if every journalist was a musical, that would be something to pay for.
posted by ersatz at 4:06 AM on November 23, 2007

Let me just take this opportunity to scream over the Internets... I FUCKING HATE CELINE DION. (man, that felt good)
posted by wafaa at 6:29 AM on November 23, 2007

I tried to find clips of Ana Gasteyer's devastating impression of Celine on YouTube but SNL and NBC was thoroughly scrubbed just about every SNL skit off the Internet. Nonetheless, it was hilarious, especially with the beating on the chest, broken English, and randomly screaming "I am the LOUDEST singer in the world". Ana, I miss you.
posted by Ber at 7:06 AM on November 23, 2007

Dude, don't drag Sloan into this.
posted by fructose at 7:47 AM on November 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Hahah - I just saw that Celine is scheduled to play at the Tacoma Dome next year! Talk about not appropriate...wonder if she knows that Tacoma is best known for its pervasive smell (the "Tacoma Aroma")?
posted by TochterAusElysium at 6:20 PM on November 24, 2007

Man, I totally missed this thread since I wasn't online much over the holidays. Otherwise? Naturally I would've immediately posted this.
posted by miss lynnster at 3:06 AM on November 30, 2007