On Friday night in the basement of a church on the corner of Madison Ave. and Monkland Street in NDG, a crowd began to assemble just before 7:00 P.M. and by 8:00 P.M. the room was filled to capacity. The reason, A Deacon George concert at the Mad Monk Café.
Deacon George and Carole Pellatt owned the night on Friday at the Mad Monk Café. The two guitar players played off each other and performed song after song in a tribute to Johnny Cash. They alternated between Cash’s oldies and his songs in his later years. They featured songs by Nick Lowe, Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryll Crowe, John D. Loudermilk, and one of my favourite Leonard Cohen songs, Bird On A Wire. The audience was treated to exceptional guitar harmony and in between, a running narrative on the life of Johnny Cash provided by Deacon George and a continuous video on the screen. Hats off to the wonderful men and women who do all the work setting up this event. Placement of tables and chairs, preparation and serving beverages and homemade cakes, and generally making everyone feel comfortable and welcome. Mad Monk Café has been the best kept secret for seventeen seasons. But it won’t be a secret for much longer.
