The Last Beer

“Nostalgia” was how Suze Casey described the opening set of the March 5th folk club. Yep! Many folk club members do have a wistful yearning for the good old days and the good old sing-a-longs. Certainly The Last Beer provided some of the favourites that are burned into the memories of the folkies, but the March 5th set seemed more in the ilk of a tribute – a memorial service to the great club and the great songs. Oh yes!

The band – consisting of Don Whitehead, Ed Ferguson, Jagan Seshadri, Mike Miller, Rudi Stocker, and Ralph McNeil – seemed to be calling on the Ghosts of Folk Club Past by kicking off their set with the “Wild Rover.” Mansel Davies may cringe now at “Red is the Rose,” but it and “Wild Mountain Thyme” have sacred hymn status in the club. Stan Rogers and Garnet were saluted in “Rolling Down to Old Maui,” and who could forget the inspiration for the band’s Graham Jones-esque version of “Weave and Spin”? The night was almost a mini “All Neil, All Night” except it was “All Trad, All the Way” – even the beer.

The Last Beer, a Calgary based group, who also work at a “medium-sized engineering company” promised not to sing any songs about complicated mathematical equations. In fact, their performance was totally professional and polished: They were together, unified, and happy. And they had a standing ovation. Well, of course, you say. They brought one hundred of their friends. Now, now. The club members may be slightly above average in the age category, but they still remembered. They rose in tribute to well-performed classics of folk and were rewarded with one more - Alistair MacGillvary’s “Song of the Mira,” Cape Breton’s anthem, a perfect note to finish on what seemed to be a night of both nostalgic remembrances and family reunions.