I can't say I have written much in this space about Midland, Ontario, although I do have a connection to the city. Back in the 60s I remember going to visit relatives who lived in Midland at the time; I can't remember just where in the city they were, but I still vividly remember a rainy day we all gathered at the house for a family affair and my aunt fell going down the steps when leaving and broke her hip. She ended up going to the hospital in an ambulance that day, which I will never forget.
Okay, not the greatest memory to have of Midland, I admit, and as such I am probably due for a return visit if for no other reason than to come and go without the aid of an ambulance in either direction. But it won't be this weekend as plans have already been made, unfortunately.
But if you still have time on your hands and feel the urge to hit the open road for a trip up north, Midland is as good a place as any to visit this weekend, or any other weekend for that matter. Besides, celebrating all we have to enjoy in Ontario during the country's 150th anniversary celebrations is not such a bad idea, is it?
This Monday evening, being the holiday Monday or Simcoe Day if you want to be more formal about it, Irish singing star Mary Black makes her only Canadian appearance on her final North American tour. The concert will be at the Midland Cultural Centre beginning at 8 pm.
Mary Black has tried to retire from touring before, but the offers to continue performing keep coming in, so what's an established working musical legend to do? Keep going, at least for a little while longer. The tour coincides with the 30th anniversary re-issue of the album By The Time It Gets Dark in 1987.
Black herself says it is hard to believe it has been 30 years since that album was first released, especially since it always was one of her favourites. To celebrate the anniversary Black and her producers took the old 24-track tapes to be "baked", a process to preserve them, which allowed the team to then do a complete remix and remaster of the original album.
The original release of that album along with her first solo album, the largely pop-oriented Without the Fanfare resulted in Black being named Best Female Artist in the Irish Rock Music Awards Poll for two consecutive years in 1987 and '88.
It was a scant two years later her groundbreaking album No Frontiers took the international music scene by storm, establishing Black as a major concert draw in North America as well as elsewhere in the world. The recording climbed to the Top 20 of the New Adult Contemporary chart in the United States and also became a top seller back home in Ireland. In all Black has recorded and released 11 studio albums, the last being back in 2012.
Prior to releasing her self-titled debut album in 1982, which made it to the Top Five on the Irish album charts and won the Irish Independent Arts Award for Music, Black spent many years performing with her brother and sister in nightclubs in and around Dublin. She also spent time performing with a folk group named General Humbert.
So Mary Black is by no means an overnight sensation. She has long since established herself as a top-calibre international artist equally at home singing traditional Irish folk tunes as well as more contemporary blues, rock, jazz and even country music. And she will bring all of that and more to Midland's Cultural Centre this coming Monday evening.
Opening for Mary Black this Monday will be rising young artist Roisin O, one of Irelands more promising young up and coming artists.
The doors open at 7:30 and the show starts at 8; for tickets go to www.midlandculturalcentre.com or call 1-705-527-4420.
Have a great holiday weekend!
August 3rd, 2017.
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