In the late summer air, the sweaty, bopping parents-and-kids crowd twirled and pogoed to this nation’s definitive party song, joining in as John Mann belted out perhaps the most sung-along-to lyric in Canadian music: “You’ll have to excuse me, I’m not at my best.” During this recent concert at Vancouver’s Pacific National Exhibition, the line – from the seminal Spirit of the West tune Home for a Rest – was bursting with double-meaning. Soon Mr. Mann would reveal a closely guarded terrible truth. There were clues: his empty hands – no guitar; the onstage banter left for the most part to fellow frontman Geoffrey Kelly; the iPad affixed to Mr. Mann’s microphone stand. He can no longer trust himself to keep his guitar-playing at pace with the band, to tell those great stories from the stage, to even remember the lyrical poetry he himself wrote – words he has sung countless times criss-crossing Canada and the world. At 51, Mr. Mann has early onset Alzheimer’s disease. - Katfish, Dave and Amal
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 11:17:31 +0000
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