Realistically there was no way Acres of Dreams would be anything less than great. It’s not like Kris Demeanor James Keelaghan Wendy McNeill or Cadence Weapon built their reputations as four of Alberta’s best songwriters by half-assing and clearly all four relished the opportunity to team up with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. It’s pretty unlikely that anyone in the audience at the Jack Singer was surprised by the quality (and the polish) of tonight’s performance.
So let’s keep this straightforward: Acres was a blast. Each artist put their own spin on the night’s Alberta history theme with Demeanor embracing narrative and trivia (who knew Deerfoot’s real name was Scabby Dried Meat?) while Keelaghan went more imagistic and more personal in a recounting of the letters his parents sent while moving overseas. Cadence Weapon took the chance to showcase his burgeoning croon taking a stab at English balladry on "Settlement" and McNeill waltzed smoothly from whimsy to worry with her accordian-led tales.
Like the music the crowd was an even mix seemingly drawn from Philharmonic fans folk enthusiasts (the Calgary Folk Music Festival was one of the evening’s sponsors) Rodeo loyalists and gussied-up indie rockers and the speedy standing ovation (even by Calgary standards) is tidy proof that they all left satisfied. No one looked more pleased than the songwriters themselves though – Cadence Weapon in particular had a mile-wide grin that he just couldn’t shake.
Maybe that had something to do with the stunning performance of “One Pound One” the night’s highlight and the first song to truly take advantage of the orchestra. The demo version on the Rodeo’s website is solid as it is (and probably the first electro banger to be written from the perspective of a fur trader) but Dave Pierce’s arrangement took it to a new level altogether. It’s a shame that Weapon’s “We Move Away” (from 2008’s Afterparty Babies ) wasn’t given a similar treatment. Like Demeanor’s “Good Fortune” it was delivered sans accompaniment and couldn’t help seeming like a bit of a lost opportunity.
Given the usual excesses of orchestral collaborations though saying that the CPO was a touch underused is a pretty slight complaint. For the vast majority of the show the orchestra was perfectly employed the songwriting was sharp and the sound was spot-on. It’s a bit of a bummer reviewing a one-off like this because there’s no next show to drag people out to. All you can really say is man you probably should’ve been there.
