The Mirror ball. Its a

April 04, 2002

The Mirror ball. Its a perfect metaphor for what was good about the rock n’ roll past. Just like it is much more romantic to think about communicating via regular mail than it is to do it by e-mail, the mirror ball is a much more romantic effect than any computer coordinated big screen video system. Tonight Dave Foley, some other famous Canadian comics, the fabulous Chrissy of Los Angeles, Gordon from Kingston, and myself went to see the most unheralded talent ever to emerge from these parts. Bob Kemmis at the Rivoli. I know I work on his records but it was apparent tonight, to all in attendance, that he is a national treasure. I can’t believe how good he is. Buy his records before this crime is allowed to continue. We gave him two standing ovations because we couldn’t stand the idea that he would ever stop.
After he was done I couldn’t help but notice the guy climbing up on the ladder to unplug the mirror ball. That fact that there wasn’t even a wall switch to stop it spinning was even more amazing. He had to get up on a ladder and unplug it from the ceiling when the music was over. That is such a cool way to punctuate the magic created by a great musical event. The mirror ball itself is such a gorgeous and completely analog device. A ball covered by hand-glued, tiny squares of mirrored glass rotating on a pole and driven by an electric motor. Shine a light on it and bring on the magic. Its so simple yet so beautiful. It takes work to bring on the pure beauty.
Let me repeat...bobkemmis.com, bobkemmis.com