Pop Break Live: Mike Scott and The Waterboys at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, Canada
Words & Photos by Matt DiPaola
An eclectic mix of Celtic fiddles, Nashville blues and good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll, Mike Scott and The Waterboys brought their North American tour to a sold out Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall in late September.
The band kicked off their two set show by warming up the audience with two fan favorites from the iconic 1988 Fisherman’s Blues album, “When Ye Go Away” and title track “Fisherman’s Blues.”. From there, the rest of the first set demonstrated Mike Scott and The Waterboys’ versatility with a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers” and then a mix of new, like “London Mick” and old, “A Girl Called Johnny” and “Medicine Bow.”
And then, things got real…
We learned about Brother Paul, their keyboardist and his Nashville roots, his love of Kiss and his affinity for ripping his shirt off while banging out songs like Nashville, Tennessee and a cover of Carl Perkin’s “Blue Suede Shoes.”
After a 25 minute break, Mike Scott and The Waterboys came back with a bluesier, set of songs with Mike Scott growling out the lyrics to songs like “Man, What a Woman” and the Brother Paul tearing up the stage with his keytar during “Rosalind, You Married the Wrong Guy.”
The second set closed with a powerful and heart wrenching performance of “In My Time on Earth” where the audience felt the earnestness of Mike Scott’s storytelling and commitment to his legacy in music.
As expected, the audience was treated to an encore of “The Whole of the Moon”… but the next and final song was completely unexpected, a cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain,” which pretty much sums of the Mike Scott and The Waterboys’ versatility, respect for the classics and ability to entertain fans of any genre of modern music.
Setlist:
Set 1:
When Ye Go Away
Fisherman’s Blues
Dead Flowers (The Rolling Stones cover)
London Mick
A Girl Called Johnny
Still a Freak
Nashville, Tennessee
Blue Suede Shoes (Carl Perkins cover)
Medicine Bow
Set 2:
Man, What a Woman
Rosalind (You Married the Wrong Guy)
We Will Not Be Lovers
If the Answer Is Yeah
Nearest Thing to Hip
November Tale
Morning Came Too Soon
In My Time on Earth
Encore:
The Whole of the Moon
Purple Rain (Prince cover)
