My mother and mother-in-law would be so proud…we went to church yesterday. Sadly, it would not be for the reasons they would like; last night the Cowboy Junkies returned home to Toronto and set up camp at Trinity/St. Paul’s. It’s the perfect venue to see such an intimate show…all creaky wood and vaulted ceilings. It was meant to remind us that the Junkies recorded their breakthrough album The Trinity Session in a church, just a few miles away.

We were definitely among the youngest people there, and the crowd ranged from young children to people in their 60s and 70s. They played from 8:00 until after 10:00, with one encore: “Misguided Angel”, which they played in a very quiet, mournful way to close the encore and beckon the lights. Not owning any of their discs, that was the only one of their songs that I recognized. They did break out two covers which I didn’t recognize — a Neil Young song and a Townes Van Zandt song that was really pretty — and two more that I most definitely did: Neil Young‘s “Helpless” (which they used to close their first set) and a psychedelic version of the incredible & scary Bruce Springsteen song “State Trooper” from his brilliant Nebraska album. When they played the first few notes I knew what it was and nearly wet myself. Honestly, I would’ve been quite happy if they’d played those two songs and “Misguided Angel”…and maybe thrown in “Common Disaster” too.

Anyway, it was very intimate, as I said before. Margo often talked for 3 or 4 minutes between some songs, but would often lapse back into trances while singing, sometimes howling or getting up to dance. I see now why my brother loves her. And I can see why they’ve entered this iconic phase in their career; no one can name their last 4 CDs, but everyone knows who they are, they still draw crowds, they still sell albums. In my opinion, they’re perfect embodiments of Canadian music, like the Rheostatics. They’re a prairie novel: bleak but beautiful.

It definitely wasn’t a typical show for me, but it was certainly worthwhile.