The Floating Stage

One of the most memorable stages I performed on was a floating stage.

At the Elora Arts Festival in Ontario the stage was on a raft which floated in a gorge. My band and I got to the raft by rowboat. It was a hot summer afternoon and after the sound check we all dove off the raft and swam to the shore.

When evening came the audience looked down from on high at us as we played and sang. The sound system and Marsha Sibthorpe’s lights were mounted on the cliffs and we all loved the strangeness of being on a raft, floating amidst the reflected light patterns on the cliffs and in the water. It was so mystical. As the lights flickered on the surrounding walls, I remember singing the song, Merlin. I was so carried away by the movement of the water, the lights below and on the cliffs, and the stars overhead, that when the song was over I didn’t know where I was!

It was an absolutely wonderful day and a stupendous evening.