Tuesday 29 January 2019

First Show of 2019 Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.

What a wonderful first show of the new year on January 16th. It was a chilly night in Toronto, but that didn't deter a great group of singalongers who joined us at the Free Times Café.
Thanks to Phyllis Chan 
for capturing this action shot!

We celebrated Martin Luther King Day with an emphasis on songs from the Civil Rights Movement, which made for some poignant moments.

Two new songs made their debut. The much requested tribute to the Freedom Riders 'Thirsty Boots' by Eric Anderson and Phil Ochs' wonderful song about the African-American journalist and civil rights activist, 'The Ballad Of William Worthy'.

Our group performs at private events and, a gal whose birthday party we will be singing at in the Spring was in the audience. We'd told her that she can choose whatever songs she wants to hear on her special day from our Song List. It was fun watching her excitement as she jotted down song names. I suspect she will run into the same frustration we do each month when putting together the set list for the show...too many great songs to choose from and not nearly enough time in one show!

By the way, we are always happy to play the songs you want to hear when you attend the show. Just let us know the week before and we will schedule it in. Here's a direct link to the list you can select from WHATFSG SONG LIST.

Here is the Jan. 16th set list...


Our next show is coming up quickly...WED. FEB. 20th, 7:30PM at the Free Times Cafe. It's never to early to call and make a dinner reservation to ensure you have a seat for the show. Call Judy at 416-967-1078. See you soon!

Monday 7 January 2019

Happy 2019!

We rang in 2019 in style, folk style that is, with a great evening of music and food at The Free Times Cafe on New Year’s Eve.

We started doing New Years Eve shows three years ago when we noticed that there weren’t many options for folks of that era to get out to and celebrate the evening.  Since then, each year has been its own wonderful experience. This year was no different.

A nice full room was there to enjoy Judy’s deluxe buffet (amazing brisket!) and were more than ready to join in singing when the show began.  Folk fans came literally from far and wide including Detroit and Brampton.  We also had some three-peats (perfect attendance of all our NYE shows) which was nice to see. Thanks Aldo, Gord and Joanne!

We started the evening with a set of some of the most popular tunes of the Revival and the crowd was enthusiastically joining in right off the top. To make help the show extra special, we designed the middle set so that we could tip toe outside the era a bit. The set included a couple of original tunes, Michelle’s ‘Nolament’ from her new CD, and Sue and Dwight’s ‘One Song’, and closed it with Michelle’s spectacular version of ‘Both Sides Now’ followed by a group ‘Hallelujah’.

The final set kept things humming as the clock struck midnight. A dance broke out to ‘If I Had a Hammer’ and the wonderful crowd gave us a standing ovation before we all called it a night. What a night!

A big thanks to Judy, Phil, Charlie and wonderful cooks at the Free Times for all their hard work, to our amazing band...Tony, Michelle, Sue & Dwight... and to all those who attended to make it such a great night.

Next show is Wednesday, January 16th which marks the start of our 7th great year! Book your reservation early to guarantee your seat. Details  in the 'Shows' tab above.

Here's a fun little video from NYE!

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