Not your typical rodeo, the High Performance Rodeo is a month-long performance festival in January that has a great mix of shows where you never know quite what to expect. I’ve been looking forward to it all year.
My night begins at the office, bleary-eyed. Can I handle another night of Rodeo? How Michael Green and his team do it, I can’t imagine, it must come with 25 years of training (that’s right, this is their 25th anniversary).
First, dinner. Tonight is the night to introduce J to the Palomino. I’ve been for lunch, but J’s never been and he’ll love it (there’s meat after all). The server recommends the dry ribs. They don’t disappoint, these aren’t your typical pub dry ribs with barely any meat. Next, the two meat platter (brisket and pulled pork) with sides of garlic fries, Jack Daniel’s apples and bacon-wrapped corn. Everything was delicious! The brisket and the pulled pork are very tender and especially good in this terrible weather (-25C) when BBQing at home is impossible. Regular corn on the cob is no longer an option, there must be bacon wrapped around it. The garlic fries are very garlicky (don’t forget your gum) and the apples are the perfect finish.
But the night’s not over!
Now it’s time for Compagnie Drift’s Sound Machine: A Theatrical Concert. They have traveled all the way from Switzerland to do this show for the High Performance Rodeo. As usual with the Rodeo, I’m not quite sure what to expect, but I haven’t been disappointed yet. The show features a sound machine that allows you to hear inaudible sounds, like a tomato ripening. Part of the charm of the show is the surprise of each sound and the audience’s laughter. But I think you’ll particularly enjoy the fish.
A quick taxi home to escape the cold and that’s a great night.
Sound Machine: A Theatrical Concert plays at the Vertigo Studio Theatre at 8:00pm on Friday, January 14 and Saturday January 15, 2011. Visit hprodeo.ca to buy tickets.
