If Grey Cup viewers didn't like Blue Rodeo's Halftime Show performance, they only had themselves to blame.
The Toronto roots-rock group allowed fans to choose the three songs they performed during yesterday's Grey Cup gig.
The result was predictable with voters picking three of the group's most popular songs -- Til I am Myself Again, Hasn't Hit Me Yet and Lost Together.
Kicking off With Til I Am Myself Again from their 1990 album, Casino, Blue Rodeo had to contend with a crowd that seemed more interested in getting their green-painted mugs on camera than paying attention to what was happening on stage.
Singer Jim Cuddy was all smiles as he bounded around the stage, but his bandmates looked perplexed.
Fellow vocalist Greg Keelor even looked somewhat bemused as he chewed gum between verses. Then again, Keelor always looks that way.
It was a no-frills performance. No big light show, no pyrotechnics, no scantily clad dancing girls.
Which is just as well, since Canadian football fans apparently resent anything resembling glamour.
Remember Fergie-gate a few years back? .
When the Grey Cup tried to infuse some big-time star quality into the halftime show by inviting American hip hop/pop group Black Eyed Peas to perform back in 2005, it was heavily criticized for eschewing Canadian talent for popular American acts.
Granted, Fergie going on about her humps and lady lumps was probably the low point in Grey Cup halftime history, but at least the Black Eyed Peas had the energy to match the game crowd.
When you think party, Blue Rodeo isn't the first band that comes to mind.
As great a song as Lost Together is, people in the crowd were slow dancing. A Grey Cup halftime show should galvanize football fans and get them pumped for the second-half of the game.
If couples are embracing and swaying along to the music, there's more of a junior-high dance vibe going on there than a full-on Grey Cup party.
Still, Blue Rodeo is one of Canada's greatest bands and they sounded fantastic.
Keelor and Cuddy's harmonies were pitch perfect throughout the three-song set and, as usual, Hasn't Hit Me Yet was a highlight.
That particular song has always been a popular sing-a-long track and last night was no exception.
And yet another reason why Canada is the coolest country on the planet -- Keelor didn't have to edit out the line, "It's kinda like those sunsets, that leave you feeling so stoned."
Let's see if they'd get away with that at the Superbowl.
LISA.WILTON@SUNMEDIA.CA
