The first impression this time was that Mike's acoustic guitar was a bit louder than usual. The difference was worth paying attention to for a couple of reasons. The obvious one is that he's a strong player and his instrument has a good sound. Less obvious is his role as a rhythm player. In a trio of strong rhythm players he's the one that emerges as "the drummer". Many times throughout the set it was easy to imagine a series of strummed chords as a progression of drum beats set to underscore and cue the work of the other players. Finally, it gave the instrument a pronounced chop that couldn't be anything but loved.

They opened the energetic set with an intense rendering of 'People Get Ready' that set up what they were going to do for the next hour and a half. Within moments tasty solos emerged from both the keyboard of Dave Thomas and from Dan Martin who was using a guitar this time around. Mike kept their framework punctuated and delivered the song with his unique style, which is one that defies easy categorizing. His folk roots are obvious but the edge that belongs in harder rock and hints of reggae in his strumming moves things to other realms. With the jazz-like improvisation that permeates his arrangements the result is musical performance to reflected on as it materializes and savoured. It also means that any given performance of any song can be a voyage of discovery.

'Summertime' a standard by George Gershwin a feature of Mike's shows, had an entirely new slant that enhanced its reflective qualities immensely. Dean Martin's old signature tune, 'Everybody Loves Somebody', had extra measures of fancy-freeness added. Lennon and McCartney's 'Let It Be' was served up playfully with attention directed toward (I believe) Dave's grandchildren. Some sweet embellishments from both Dan and Dave wove paths through that piece. His own composition 'More And More' grew in scope with the addition of the keyboard becoming more of an affirmation than at other times. Dan added some great things to that one. This rendition of 'Mr. Bojangles', which he covers as well as anybody (and better than most), was presented as a sadly pensive narrative that was truly poignant. 'I Shall Be Released' was delivered a charge that felt explosive.

Where music's concerned Mike is one of Sarnia's really special "go to" guys. Go to him to hear music given interesting interpretations. Go to for a chance to watch good musicians play off each other. Go to see what happens when the guy playing music thinks it matters and, above all, go to see what kind of work ethic shows up when it does matter. He took a break after an hour and a half but didn't seem ready to. At the Cheeky Monkey back in August he played the entire two hour set without a break. He's still the only one I've seen do that.