photo by Shannon Lepere (www.shannonlepere.com)

I’m finding that this tour has a lot of expectations from the audience, but each audience is unique to it’s needs. For example; several tours ago, I performed an a cappella version of Idioteque by Radiohead, and certain cities like Ottawa have a huge love for it, so I always bust it out there. Hamilton has a different theme/tradition: I always enjoy the tarts at the Pearl Company Art Gallery, and find a way to incorporate them into the show.

photo by Shannon Lepere (www.shannonlepere.com)

On this particular occasion, I found a piano bench and one of my empty road cases to build a pedestal for a tart, which I then serenaded with my song, “Blue”. However, this was similar to the last time I was there, so I decided to up the ante. During my final song, “You”, i sometimes get the audience to clap/fingersnap/etc along with me to close the show, but this time I decided to switch it up a bit. I would eat a tart (they’re decently large) on stage, taking bites in sync with the clapping, and I let the audience take charge of the tempo of the clapping, speeding up as it went on. There is nothing more difficult than trying to scarf down a crumbly pastry at breakneck speed, while simultaneously sprinting around the room. What challenges will next time bring? Send suggestions to me[at]jeanpaulderoover[dot]com!

photo by Shannon Lepere (www.shannonlepere.com)