Well, tonight was my first Ron Sexsmith show, and I must say, I'll definitely be back for more. 
The venue: the brand-spanking-new Irving Greenberg Theatre at the corner of Wellington and Holland. It's the home of the Great Canadian Theatre Company, and as befits a theatre, it's a small, intimate setting with great acoustics. There probably weren't more than a couple hundred seats in total, and they were staggered, so even if a tall person sat in front of you your view would be unimpeded.
Emm Gryner opened the show, and she looked lovely as usual, sporting a black tank top and black crinkly skirt with a pair of wicked silver heels. She played about seven or eight songs, mostly on the piano, which she owns. She also had a guest, Mike Yeats (spelling?) on cello, who really added another dimension to her songs. She's Julia's favourite singer, so I've seen her a few times now. 
After "the shortest intermission ever", according to the Ottawa Folk Festival's artistic director (the Folk Festival set up this concert), Ron came on. He's got a new album coming out in a few months, folks, so rejoice! He played about three or four songs from that and took a few requests as well to round out his set. During the encore, so many people yelled out requests that he said, "Well, how about tomorrow night I put out a blank sheet of paper and a Magic Marker, then you write down your requests, I'll add a couple, and we'll call it a show."
Ron also mentioned being out at Campbellford for Travis' 40th. He said they were out till like 4 in the morning, but a good time was had by all. 
He also cut his thumb somehow (he didn't elaborate as to why), but he still managed to play, rather like Lukey was able to when he broke *his* thumb on the BR tour.
So here's the set list. I had to look up a few titles, and of course new songs I had to guess on titles.
- I Know it Well
- Clown in Broad Daylight
- Jazz at the Bookstore (I love the lyrics in this one.)
- Never Give Up
- NEW: "This is How I Know" (for all the new songs, Ron said that there's "horns and other stuff" on the record, so he had to imagine all that in his head when he was playing them.)
- NEW: "One Last Round"
- Words We Never Use
- These Days
- Brandy Alexander (co-written with Feist, and I believe he said this one would appear on the new record as well)
- Fallen
- Gold in Them Hills
- Tomorrow in Her Eyes (Ron: "I'm still waiting for Bublé to do this one.")
- From a Few Streets Over (Ron said of this one that it was his Edgar Allan Poe-like song. If he were a writer, apparently, that's who he'd write like.)
- Not About to Lose
- This Song
- As Tears Go By (the Rolling Stones -- Ron saw the new Stones movie and was inspired to play this song. He said he'd "just figured it out in the dressing room"...it sounded GREAT!)
- Pretty Little Cemetery
- All in Good Time
- Secret Heart
ENCORE
- NEW: "Thoughts and Prayers"
- Cold Hearted Wind
- Wishing Well
- God Loves Everyone (he ended on "a slightly more comforting song" than the previous one 
)
So all in all, an excellent show. I did pick up Blue Boy and am listening to it right now. Great stuff! Sure hope he comes back to Ottawa soon!
I also wish BR would do a show at that theatre. Or several. It's a great, great venue.
"There's the shirt that I like!"
"It was nice singing with you this evening."