Baby Dee at the West End Cultural Centre, April 20 2010. Ailsa Dyson photo

Review and photos – Baby Dee at the West End Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, April 20

– review by eugene osudar/photos by Ailsa Dyson (Baby Dee concert photo gallery)

the boys are making
Whoopee!
well, there’s a fella who made
lots of

whoopee(s)!
last night
at the WECC

Baby Dee says,
“I’ve never had so many whoops
at a show before.”

i didn’t tell
Baby Dee
(twas me)
after her stirring
(ah, “the nasties” pot)
darkly sardonic
cabaret
songs

stirring soul
tingling spine
shining light
(shivers mine)
sprightly through
pitch perfect
black sadness,

(mine)

you see,
on Sunday,
i found out
a wonderful
young musician
(friend)
passed away.

after collapsing
on stage.

doing what he love(d),
banging drums
dancers move
beat/beat making.

Devon Clifford.

i didn’t know
what to expect,

Tuesday night
at the WECC.
in Winnipeg.

expect the unexpected,

the voice
giggles and glee
the shaking tree,
the performance
rooted deeply so
in the madness dance
of astonishing
genius

the quiet
the loud,
the subtle
the proud,

Baby Dee on grand piano.

magic/why
moments.

dark magic.

hypnotic.
spells.
enchantment.
hymns.
my heart fell.

to,

The Nasties.

“take me where
first kisses
go.”

and
songs about slugs
not just one
but
two songs
about slugs,

Baby Dee explains,
she’s not a farmer nor a gardener
just a lover of slugs,
the slimy
creatures
who love the dank
and the dark,

(shhhhhhhh,
just look inside
The Nasties,
who will you find?)

and a song about bees
where the cellist (Matthew)
plays the buzzing,
see/sawing
bee strings
bumble bow
his fingers
fret,less,ly
know
the way home
to the honey drip,
ping
hive.

lick your lips
lick fingertips
as they first kiss
ivories
frets
strings
bows,

welcome,
John The Violinist.

as he takes his seat
on stage,
and Baby Dee says,
“Now that you’ve been introduced,
you can have a relationship
or
a one night stand.”

the beautiful songs
the gorgeous ones too
the creepy characters
Bobby Slot and Freddy Weiss
nasty predator neighbors
and less slimy ones too
Brother Slug and Sister Snail

“Look at me.”

this,Undeniable,power.
and glee.
of she.
understands the glory of
classical quiet
and
cabaret loud
tinkling keys so
deliciously near
your melody
loving ear.

58 minutes

April Day
Regifted
A Compass Of The Light
Prelude
Book of Songs for Anne Marie
Lilacs
Hymn to Anne
Robin’s Tiny Throat
Brother Slug
Flavero (couldn’t decipher the writing on the napkin set list)
Safe Inside The Day
Dance of Diminishing Possibilities

wonderfully
silly
jokes about mooses
and baby mooses
name-playing Baby Dees
on making whoopees
after the show
backstage!
Oh! and Daddy’s Freudian
crowbar collection.

some songs
didn’t make me
go
Whoopee!

and an obviously
anguished and hurt
Baby Dee
asks, “are you sick of me yet?”
and she launches into
the lugubrious
(wow)
song
“if i can remember”
i’ll tell you
what it is,

Safe Inside The Day

what it did
is

d
e
v
a
s
t
a
t
e
d

me.

and yes,

i made whoopee!

(and i needed it,
after Devon’s passing)

with Baby Dee The Grand Pianist
and John The Violinist
and Matthew The Cellist,
April 20.
WECC.

thank you.

More Baby Dee at the West End Cultural Centre photos:

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