The Big Trouble Band at the El Mocambo, just like the Stones and Marilyn Monroe

By Richard K. Barry

A couple of weeks ago, our band, The Big Trouble Band,  got to be a part of a benefit concert at the El Mocambo in Toronto. (Watch the video below.)

In addition to being around forever, the "Elmo," as it's called locally, is probably best known for hosting two Rolling Stones shows on March 4 and 5, 1977, that were recorded for release on the band's Love You Live album.

The website for the bar lists a number of acts that appeared there over the years, including Marilyn Monroe in 1958. I have no idea what that would have been all about. Other acts listed include April Wine (1977), Elvis Costello (1978), DEVO (1978), Lou Reed (1979), U2 (1980), Duran Duran (1981), Stevie Ray Vaughan (1983), and The Guess Who (1984). A few jazz greats are also on the list, like Grover Washington Jr. and Charles Mingus.

You won't be surprised that a club that's been around since the 19th century has had its ups and down, but it's not every band that gets to say they played the same bar as The Rolling Stones.

The benefit was a fun thing to do and for a worthwhile cause, United Way. For what it's worth, and it's not worth much, we won the "Battle of the Bands" that night, which was a "battle" among bands who have members employed by the Ontario Public Service, as I am. I'm in the middle of the horn section above on tenor sax.

Hey, we're all a bunch of people with day jobs, but you've got to take these moments when they come. So we did, and it was fun. This is the whole group taking a bow after our set. Rock and roll!

The Big Trouble Band
Dave de Launay, Frank Rooney, Jonathan Ison, Chris Watson,
Wayne Smith, Richard Barry, Rosemary Bennett

And here's a clip from that night's performance, an original called "Homeless Man":

 
(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)