Guest live show review by Elizabeth Hirst
When I arrive at St. Catharines’s The London Arms on Tuesday, December 22, McKenna is already there. Lead singer Ryan McKenna, Guitarist Joel McKenna, and Drummer Danno O’Shae are at the table closest to the stage, laughing and chatting with passersby. Within a few minutes, Ryan and Joel get up to start the show. Ryan throws a festive Santa hat on his head and a girl stands up from a group in the corner, calling out, “Sociable!”
This is not the first sociable of McKenna’s career, nor will it be the last. Ryan explains the tradition after opening with a guitar-and-vocals rendition of Elton John’s Rocket Man. A “sociable” is, essentially, an impromptu Cape Breton toast. Ryan counts down from three; we all raise a glass, shout “Sociable!” as loudly as possible and take a drink. After a few tries, just about everyone at the bar is joining in.
Ryan and Joel carry on with their set, applying their self-described sound of “aggressive acoustic guitar-driven rock” to James Taylor’s Carolina on my Mind. The duo showcases some tight harmonies in the final chorus of Canadian classic The Drinking Song. Next, they power down for a quiet moment with I’ll be Home for Christmas. Ryan’s powerful yet expressive vocals lend the necessary sensitivity to the song, while Joel’s guitar work acquires a hint of gentleness. Despite the serious tone of the song, Ryan doesn’t lose his sense of fun. He plays at tripping someone on the way to the bathroom, and lets a passing girl sing part of one verse.
Long time fan Liz Chapman says that having fun and enjoying community are essential parts of the McKenna experience.
“The boys joke around, but they’re trying to draw everyone in,” she says via chat, “After a visit or two, (the band) started to recognize me by face and name. I think it took (Ryan) a month to get me up on the stage regularly. I don’t think many people out there could have convinced me to do the same.”
Ryan agrees that fan interaction is very important to McKenna. He shares some of his favorite aspects of McKenna’s fan base during an online interview.
“I love seeing people return to us time and again and make the experience their own. They make shirts, travel distances, and organize theme nights. It becomes a kind of community. I mean, sure, we’ve been flashed. Our schmengies have been grabbed. Lots of cool and crazy things have happened, but the atmosphere generated by our fans who are willing to open themselves up to public experiences is the best part of it all.”
As Ryan implies, McKenna has more fan traditions than just sociables and “amazing guest musician spots”. Their regular Wednesday night show at Patrick Sheehan’s on St. Paul St. sees fans reciting bawdy call and answer chants, taking off their shirts during specific songs and singing along to such original McKenna classics as Big Fat Bag of Awesome (originally conceptualized by a slightly tipsy fan). Patrons can cozy up to fifty of their best buddies in the raised area where the band plays, affectionately dubbed “the love pit,” or relax at a booth. Get there before ten though, because floor space fills up fast.
Interested parties, or those interested in a party, can still see McKenna even if Tuesday and Wednesday nights in St. Catharines are off-limits. In addition to their regular gigs at The London Arms and Patrick Sheehan’s, McKenna will be playing in Stratford on the twelfth of January at Molly Bloom’s Irish Pub, The Honest Lawyer in Hamilton on the seventeenth and Ceilidh’s Maritime Pub in Barrie on the eighteenth and nineteenth. Come out, drink a sociable or two and create your own McKenna fan tradition.
-Elizabeth Hirst
