WRIGHT TIME FOR FESTIVE FUN? WRIGHT NOW!

She has a street, rose and book named after her. She has a syndicated radio show, hosts TV specials and travels the world supporting soldiers, sick and starving children.
And despite dominating country charts and award shows during the ’90s, guesting with Jay Leno and appearing on the cover of every magazine imaginable – including the coveted Sears catalogue – 48-year-old Michelle Wright still has a fond place in her good heart for small-town Canada, and the magic of Christmas.
In two more sleeps, Wright’s bus rolls into Mission for a concert at cosy Clarke Theatre. It will be the ninth stop on the I’m Dreaming of a Wright Christmas odyssey, having opened the tour on Nov. 24 playing five consecutive nights in Saskatchewan where she learned plenty about Rider Pride, a microphone malfunction and Moose Jaw’s tire-eating roads.
Despite all her fame and good fortune, and more than two million record sales, this gregarious farm girl from tiny Merlin, Ont., takes nothing for granted, especially the fans who have packed each venue on her feel-good tour.
“I remember being called an overnight sensation once,” Wright shares with this scribe before playing in Saskatoon on Friday. “That couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I played six nights a week, 50 weeks a year in some of the toughest places for 10 years. Heck, I even played gigs in smoky strip joints. I was 29 before I got a break in the music business.”
She credits longtime manager Brian Ferriman for believing in her when waitressing or canning tomatoes back in Leamington, Ont., seemed like better career choices, or when there was a lot less ho-ho-ho in her upbeat show.
“Brian explained how the ebbs and flows work. How you can be on top one day and the bottom the next. That’s not easy for an artist to accept, but he always kept me going when my mind wanted me to stop.”
Without the benefit of iTunes, or YouTube or the Internet to launch her career, Wright combined her farm girl worth ethic, her athletic competitive spirit and her love for people, travel and music into an act that found radio play and star status, especially after the release of her 1992 album Now & Then, which featured huge hits Take It Like A Man, He Would Be Sixteen and Guitar Talk.
Her latest album, Everything and More, is a terrific stocking stuffer and features yet another clever musical makeover for the star who has changed her style more times than Madonna to remain relevant in her ever-changing industry.
Given her longtime love for sports, and a history of competing in track, basketball and volleyball, Wright says she’s extra excited about visiting B.C. as the province prepares to host the 2010 Olympics.
“I always wanted to be an Olympic athlete for Canada. I just loved running and jumping, but I blew my knee out while competing in long jump and that dream ended.”
Describing her current show as 65 per cent Christmas tunes and 35 per cent “the other stuff,” Wright can be excused for having an emotional attachment to the festive season.
She and hubby Marco Convertino were engaged on Christmas Day in 2001 and married the following year. Her Christmas tour is now in its seventh season and she describes the people who roll out the welcome mat for her annual arrival as “the best gift a person could ever wish for.”
There’s also her “reluctant” hit He Would Be Sixteen that tugs extra on the heartstrings during this “family time” of year.
The bring-your-hanky tune is about a young mother forced to give up her son, but not a day goes by when she doesn’t think about how he’s doing, how tall he is, if he owns a car or if he is in love and healthy.
“I didn’t want to do the song at first,” Wright admits. “I wasn’t ever married, or pregnant and just couldn’t relate. But Reba [McEntire] said sometimes you just have to be the messenger for a great song.
“I learned after the song became larger than life that I didn’t know everything about music! I can’t believe how many people have expressed their thanks and emotional stories – it really hit home.”
One more thing Wright wants you to know – this is not a Christmas shopping tour. Her bus is already tightly packed with clothes and shoes (mostly hers) and the crew has been “warned” to not add anything to slow down the vehicle as it still has 11 other cities to visit.
Sounds kinda Scrooge-like for a Christmas tour, doesn’t it?
“OK, we might bend the rules on that one,” she laughs. “Especially if we see something I like!”
Wright on.

CHARLIE A MAJOR PLAYER ON SUNDAY STAGE

Give Charlie Major credit.
Surrounded by bikers, leather jackets, punks in cheap sunglasses, bald-headed boomers and tattooed women all anxious to see and hear Texas headliner ZZ Top, the clean-cut Canadian country music artist quickly reminded a small-ish Sunday crowd why he was country’s king of the ’90s with a short, but superb opening set.
The pride of Aylmer, Quebec, Major turns 55 next month – he looks 10 years younger – but on this night he was the energetic young gun of the Double Down Live Tour, which could have been aptly named Grandpas Gone Wild.
He opened with his 1997 monster hit I’m Feeling Kind of Lucky Tonight that immediately got people dancing and clapping – and remembering why he ruled the charts for a decade.
His 1993 album The Other Side spawned six No. 1 hits, including I’m Gonna Drive You Out of My Mind, which earned him one of two standing ovations at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre.
Halfway through his performance he jested: “Hey, I know it’s Sunday and all, but what do you say we party here a bit and show the rest of B.C. how it’s done?”
A whole bunch of beer-induced “we love you Charlie” cheers rained down from the stands and he performed his hit It Can’t Happen To Me, which ironically addresses the dangers of drinking and driving!
Major, who sounds just as good live as he does on radio, did a great job of interacting with the audience, shared a few funny Canadian stories, but mostly let his great from-the-heart music do the talking.
He spent no time pitching albums, or reminding folks about his many Junos, Canadian Country Music Awards or appearing on Holmes on Homes.
In his prime he was described as “Canada’s Bruce Springsteen.” On Sunday night he gave the early arrivals full value with (I Do It) For The Money and You’ll See Angels, and he left them standing and wanting more after performing his closing number Backroads, a monster hit he wrote for Ricky Van Shelton in that artist’s heyday.
The only knock on Major’s performance was that it didn’t last longer. Then again, those old guys need their sleep, right?

DESPITE THE PASSAGE OF TIME, THESE ROCKERS STILL HAVE LEGS!

OK, scratch ZZ Top off the old bucket list. In fact, scratch museum and relic tours off, too, as I think we killed several prehistoric birds with one stone Sunday night.
Excuse me for asking the couple thousand who witnessed the legendary Texan trio do their thang at Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre, but is that as good as it gets nowadays? And should we have expected just a bit more?
I mean, growing up we all danced, drank and partied like rock stars to Sharp Dressed Man, Gimme All Your Lovin’, Tube Snake Boogie and Tush, but didn’t these Rock and Roll Hall of Famers jump and scream around with us?
Isn’t that why they were dubbed the wild men of music and one of the premier party bands on the planet with a live act not to be missed? Refresh my fading memory, please.
Lead singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard – ironically the only one without a beard – are all in their 60s now, have more fame and hits than everyone else in the Lone Star State combined, but Sunday night’s Double Down Live Tour seemed to lack the extra spark that was responsible for igniting ZZ Top mania.
Perhaps that was then, and this is now.
Sure, it was great to see them in Abbotsford and hear the unforgettable songs we grew up air-guitaring to, but save for some slick video production, a wild drum setup and a skull spewing incense, this veteran group seemed content to just stick in one spot and reel off the hits of yesteryear.
It was sort of like watching Mark Messier play for the Vancouver Canucks – you respected the player’s past greatness, but wondered WTF about the present! At least ZZ Top came to play!
The Police recently did an abbreviated comeback tour where critics suggested retirement isn’t always a bad thing if you can’t meet your own standard.
To be fair, ZZ Top had a few things working against them on this night. Unlike the good old days of Sumas, Wash., Sunday is not much of a party night around here. It has also been a while since the band released a significant hit and it was their fifth show in six nights, covering a lot of distance by bus in the process. And driver Bill Douglas, killed Friday night driving Mylie Cyrus’s lighting crew bus, was the band’s backline crew driver for its 2008 tour with Brooks and Dunn, so there were some heavy hearts.
Most fans who showed up to see ZZ Top appeared thrilled to be part of a nostalgic evening, although a few youngsters said after they’d prefer to see Hedley or Nickelback “liven the place up” instead. Whatever.
After opening with Got Me Under Pressure, the next 30 minutes or so was a stroll down memory lane as ZZ Top served up songs from their 14 albums spanning a successful 40-year career.
They appeared to lose some of the early momentum for a spell as the played rootsy blues and Mexican-influenced numbers. In fact, a few folks in the AESC suites seemed more interested in the Vancouver Canucks-Chicago Blackhawks game on TV than the retro-numbers down below.
But with about 35 minutes to go before bedtime, ZZ Top found its mojo and got the joint jumping by reeling off its Eliminator album hits – including their biggest hit-ever Legs, where they brought out the funky, fur-lined guitars.
The girls in the suites were up and dancing and cheering, as was everyone else as songs about sex, fast cars, TV dinners, cheap sunglasses and good times blared over the speakers.
The band’s encore was a medley of hits including the growling boogie La Grange, and a not-so-subtle salute to The Chicken Ranch brothel and the leggy party girls who used to grace their videos.
For what it’s worth, it was neat to finally see the Lil’ Ol’ Band from Texas that fully deserves its place in rock history. It just would have been better to seem them 20 years ago when the music and the showmanship were both unforgettable.

A QUICK QUIZ FOR SYRUP SUCKERS!

It is a busy and confusing time here on the downsized news desk, where we are tasked to review books, byelections, budgets, beauties, beasts and unprecedented taxpayer byatching.
There are 84 days to go before the Olympics open and we still can’t name those freakin’ fuzzy mascots, or understand why professional hockey players and curlers are included but amateur women ski jumpers are not.
Manitoba’s Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk said earlier this week that adopting the HST is wrong and not in the best interests of consumers or tapped taxpayers, yet the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce is pressuring them to do it anyway. Did Bruce Beck and David D. Hull move to the Manitoba capital recently?
Don’t adjust your GPS device, but the B.C. Lions are only one playoff win away from appearing in the Grey Cup game as Eastern champions. That’s almost more confusing than receiving red mittens for an Olympics expected to bring Vancouver’s warmest winter weather in decades. Do you believe?
And Andre Agassi’s new book, Open, reveals the tennis ace hated his sport/job, dabbled in crystal meth, wore a hideous hairpiece and struggled with marriage and relationships. Hey, except for the tennis part, it sounds just like the guy who sold me my last car and he didn’t write a book!
Anyway, by request (thanks Mom), here is a HST-free My Two Bits brainteaser:
* The Mayan long count calendar suggests the world will end in 2012. Your first thought is to:
a.) Take full advantage of The Brick’s Don’t-pay-for-two-years sale.
b.) Delay that dreaded diet just a wee bit longer.
c.) Buy an AHL team with post-dated cheques.
* Sarah Palin is appearing on every U.S. talk show these days to plug her new book Going Rogue. The former Alaskan governor discloses that her former son-in-law-to-be, Levi Johnston, has decided to pose naked for Playgirl instead of babysit. Your first thought is:
a.) At least he’s getting paid to hang out in Alaska.
b.) He’s just like a politician now – an expert at switching positions in front of a camera.
c.) Hey, you might be a real redneck if. . . .
* The City of Richmond is kind of upset that TV comedian Stephen Colbert called them “syrup-sucking ice-holes” for denying U.S. speedskaters training time at the new Olympic oval. While the city claims Colbert is incorrect and may be using them for comic benefit and shock value, we think he should have said:
a.) I can’t believe people in Richmond would build houses along a runway then complain about airport noise. D’oh!
b.) Isn’t that the oval that should have been built near SFU instead of in muddy quicksand?
c.) Gotta love Richmond’s famous flower – mildew.
* Alan Jackson and George Canyon packed the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre last Friday with a splendid show, proving we have plenty yee-haw and ya-hoo types in this neck of the chopped-down woods. So, having said that, which country tune is among your favourites?:
a.) I gave her the ring and she gave me the finger.
b.) Thanks to the cathouse, I’m in the doghouse.
c.) I still miss you baby, but my aim’s getting better.
* Our police have been in the news for all kinds of reasons – good and bad – recently. Your favourite cop comment is:
a.) “Our police station toilet was stolen – so far we have nothing to go on.”
b.) “Not sure about official quotas, but two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven.”
c.) “You’re right, we don’t give tickets to pretty women – so please sign here ma’am!”
Have a great weekend gang!

YA'LL HAD A GOOD TIME IN JACKSON'S AESC JUKEBOX!

He croons he’s just a singer of simple songs, an aw-shucks country boy who talks about cars, dreams about women and loves pouring somethin’ tall an’ strong when it’s five o’clock somewhere.
Sure, whatever works.
Having movie star looks, a six-foot-four frame, a zillion hit songs and more perseverance than the Energizer Bunny doesn’t hurt either.
Alan Eugene Jackson, who celebrated birthday No. 51 last month, turned the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre into a good time jukebox Friday night, attracting a sold-out crowd little bitty short of 7,000.
Thanks to slick video production, nobody seemed to mind that the somewhat stationary Jackson didn’t use pyrotechnics, dancing girls or cheesy gimmicks to enliven his nine-person act during the entertaining 90-minute set.
In fact, thanks to a neat two-minute countdown video clock before showtime, the fans were standing and screaming before the gifted Georgian even showed his famous face.
From the opening Gone Country, to the emotional Remember When, I Don’t Even Know Your Name, Chattahoochee, Who’s Cheatin’ Who, Good Time, Pop A Top,
Summertime Blues and Country Boy, fans of all ages clapped, danced, shouted, snapped pictures and sang. Some even sat down, but not many during this “AJ karaoke workout.”
There were a couple emotional moments as well.
The first came when Jackson sang his poignant 9/11 rumination Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) and fans lit up the AESC with cellphones to mimick the candles burning on the tribute video. Jackson, who still wells up when he does this touching song, made a point to thank our Canadian soldiers, still battling alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Classy stuff.
The second was a touching video that accompanied Jackson’s great song Drive (For Daddy Gene). AJ explained he wrote this song for his loving dad – the Small Town Southern Man in AJ’s other monster hit – who taught him to respect life and people, and to drive. We learn at the end of the video that Gene passed away in 2000 at the age of 72.
When Jackson asked “how ya’ll holding up?” halfway through this unforgettable evening, there was a two-minute thundering ovation that would have continued had he not started playing again.
The ambassador of traditional country thanked Canadians for being good to him over the years, tossed guitar picks to the crowd, joked how he’s still learning to figure out women (he has three daughters) and that he has a new album (2008’s Good Time) and might make more if the fans want them. You think?
His final song of the night, Where I Come From, drew cheers and applause as the video screen flashed images of Abbotsford, city hall, the fire and police, local churches, the university, downtown businesses, local landmarks and 2010 Olympic signs. If nothing else, it showed concertgoers that AJ isn’t resting on his laurels and his promise to give fans their money’s worth still is still intact.
Of course, a show like this doesn’t end without an encore. After a brief break, Jackson’s crew returned for an extended version of Mercury Blues in which Jackson signed hats, jackets, shirts, skin and paper for adoring fans who rushed the front of the stage.
Chilliwack realtor Robert Lacerte, one of those folks lucky to get seats close to the front, was impressed when AJ finally finished.
“I can’t say enough good things about tonight’s show or this beautiful facility. I’ve always been a fan of Jackson’s – he just keeps getting better.
“And tonight’s atmosphere was just electric. The promoters promised a good time. They more than delivered. I will be back often for this kind of entertainment,” said Lacerte.

'COLONEL GEORGE' SHOWS WHAT HE DOES WITH A PASSION!

George Canyon, stricken with diabetes when he was just 14 and told he’d never be able to fulfil his ambition of flying a plane for the Canadian military, is still living a dream.
Friday night, the 39-year-old Calgarian said he had to pinch himself a couple times after being asked to open for Alan Jackson at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre.
And the Juno and CCMA-award winning musician didn’t disappoint on this aptly named Good Time Tour.
Starting with All or Nothing and then reeling off such hits as Somebody Wrote Love, Betty’s Buns, Happy Man, Drinkin’ Thinkin’ Let It Out and Johnny Cash’s popular Ring of Fire, Canyon was embraced by a Friday the 13th crowd in the mood for hot country cats to cross their paths.
Canyon proudly shared the story of how 10-year-old son Kale requested that he write a song about him. He played the touching Just Like You and earned his first standing ovation of the memorable night.
The two were sitting in George’s pickup outside Kale’s school one morning when the song came on the radio. “He sat there with the biggest grin on his face. As a dad, that’s a pretty cool feeling and the song will always be one of my favourites.”
His music also reflects unwavering support and appreciation for the military and his songs In Your Arms Again and I Want You to Live brought out the Kleenex boxes en masse.
And about that military dream?
Well, following a handful of visits to entertain the troops in Kandahar last year, Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Gen. Rick Hillier made him an Honorary Colonel.
And the Canadian Country Music Association, knowing a good man when they see one, gave him a Humanitarian Award this year for his unselfish work.
In June of this year, Canyon launched a campaign called The Sky’s Not The Limit where he performed mini-concerts for free in airport hangars for children with Type 1 diabetes. The purpose? He wanted to inspire them not to give up on their dreams.
Canyon’s new album is called What I Do. Consider it part of this scribe’s Christmas wishlist. And the note to Santa is to bring him back to Abbotsford to perform ASAP!
FINAL LICKS – Next musical act at the AESC goes this Sunday night when ZZ Top and Charlie Major unite to rock the rink . . . Expect the next guaranteed sellout at AESC to occur when superstar Reba McEntire visits Abbotsford on March 18, 10 days before her birthday.

DON'T FIRE THOSE WHO CARE!

We had one unwritten rule on the sports desk when I joined the spanking-new National Post 10 years ago: You don’t phone in sick, even if you are sick.
Our small sports “team” – drafted by Conrad Black’s head hunters – bonded quickly by sharing cough medicines, throat lozenges, Aspirins, Tylenols, Kleenex, soup and sympathies.
Our Toronto workspace often smelled liked Halls, Ricola and Vicks, but nobody missed a shift. We naively believed that extra dedication would make us lifelong employees, which just proved how little we knew about bottom lines, two-way loyalty and ownership changes.
On the heels of the worst snowstorm to hit Hogtown since 1871, our crew started showing up to work with nasty flus. While the Post’s token Westerner never caught the Maple Leaf or Raptors’ bug during that wild stint, I did catch the awful flu bug.
Phoned every doctor’s office in The Big Smoke only to discover I had to wait four freakin’ days to see anyone. On appointment day I received a box from home loaded with winter clothing. And, as fate would have it, slashed my finger with a knife while opening the care package.
So, hacking up a lung and dripping blood, I strolled into the doctor’s office. After a 90-minute wait, the dude in the white coat said I could only have one health issue addressed per visit.
When I insisted “both” needed care – because non-stop bleeding might eventually render my bug-free body useless – he told me to quickly pick one and leave.
Left that office totally appalled – and still bleeding – at how “the system works” (wink, wink). Later that night at work, we shared medical horror stories and were amazed that Canadians continue to tolerate and pay for this deplorable level of “service.”
Which brings me, somehow, to the local doctor who decided last week to administer H1N1 flu shots to Abbotsford Heat players.
You see, the doctor made a judgment call to actually help patients, despite breaking political/public health guidelines to do so. Imagine that conflict.
He analyzed the Heat’s situation and determined the young athletes who travel coast-to-coast and interact with at-risk groups in the community, needed the shots. If anything, he erred on the side of their safety.
Faster than you can say “goodbye swine flu,” you had reporters, politicians and citizens calling for the doctor’s dismissal and demanding heads to roll in the Fraser Health Authority.
Yet nary a word was uttered about Olympic torchbearers and politicians jumping the so-called flu shot queue. Why is that?
I wonder where those “outraged people” were last week when B.C. NDP leader Carole James toured Mission?
During her visit, we heard from a respected nurse at Mission Memorial Hospital who recently broke her arm. She got immediate attention in Mission but had to go to Abbotsford for care, where she sat in the ER for several hours before being sent home untreated for three days.
Should that be acceptable “health care” in the so-called Greatest Place on Earth?
If you really want heads to roll, shouldn’t we look at our federal and provincial health ministers and those people paid to ensure health care actually works?
Should we not be concerned about those doctors who seem more interested in charging patients than treating them?
And should we not praise those who excel in their tough jobs and make the wellbeing of patients their top priority?
While we can’t have rogue physicians who shun all direction from the top, I would have loved to have had the Heat’s doctor in Toronto when yours truly was coughing and bleeding while being lectured about “rules” of the dysfunctional system.
Is it unfair, as an occasional user of the system but regular payer, to expect “health care” when needed?
Just asking.

CAN'T SECOND-GUESS THE COPS

How many of you have been yanked out of your vehicles lately and been subjected to impromptu versions of Stomp the Yard, Sole Train or noggin’ dancing with the (APD) stars?
Hmmm, just as I thought – save for a few shady drug dealers in Ravine Park, nobody. Oh sorry, I mean “suspected” drug dealers. Hate to smear reputations of those park-strolling nature lovers, right?
Thanks to the wonderful world of YouTube, an Oct. 9 takedown of suspected dealers in Abbotsford has become a disturbing case of “suspected” police brutality.
And even though the YouTube offering lacks context, fails to show the lead-up drama to the controversial takedown and clearly shows the refusal of one suspect to follow simple orders, it is the police under the investigation microscope for such things as excessive force – and, undoubtedly, for doing more to these suspects than our impotent courts ever would.
And some media outlets, not too worried about mixing facts with sexy stories, have been quick to play judge and jury on this less-than-crystal clear-case.
Yes, here in the Murder Capital of Canada, where gangs run the streets, threaten schools, endanger kids’ lives and tap our stretched police resources, where hookers stroll the streets and drug dealers work the schoolyards and street corners, we still sit around wondering how a legal system can offer no justice. Funny how that works, eh?
I get it that nobody is, or should be, above the law. We know that police officers have strict rules to follow, but if someone ever dies in that kind of takedown drama, I don’t want it to be a cop.
I’m not exactly sure why we have a small segment of society that wants our cops to fail. Or that feels all our rights are being trampled. It’s simply not true.
Unless you’re running in an unscrupulous crowd, there’s a good chance your face-to-face meetings with police officers will be limited to Christmas roadblocks, speeding crackdowns or a community fundraiser.
As many of you know, APD officers have blitzed the schools with anti-gang and anti-drug messages.They have offered former and borderline gang members an opportunity to have tattoos (and crime affiliations) removed. Stats show they have been extremely effective in the areas they can control, and while it’s impossible to stop gang members from killing each other, the
senseless carnage hasn’t claimed any innocents here thanks to solid police work (and perhaps some luck).
And even though our taxes go toward drug rehab centres and every other drug-related ailment, there are those who love to play the “victim” card when it best suits them – like when a police officer has a gun pointed at your head for dealing.
Going back to the YouTube offering for a moment. Did the suspects have weapons? Did they threaten the officers? Did they have a vehicle that they refused to put in park? Do they have past records of violence? One would think all of these answers come into play before you can accuse the police of wrongdoing.
Is there a chance that a drug dealer operating in this tough city might be armed? Would it not make you want to see this person’s hands at all times?
While we can’t permit a society filled with crooked cops, or those who can’t get their Taser stories right, we should never jump all over the good cops for trying to keep streets, schools and parks free from society’s predators.
Some of these lowlifes should be thankful they only get stepped on at gunpoint, because with most cases in that lifestyle, the one holding the gun doesn’t have a badge.