Buffy Sainte-Marie in Belleville, 2005

I’ve mentioned seeing Buffy Sainte-Marie in Canada a few times but, since it was before I started the blog, I’ve never recounted the full tale. Listening to Buffy over the weekend and a few stray thoughts led me to the keyboard to spin a new tale of an old encounter. So sit back, dear reader, with a cup of tea since this will be a long ‘un…

Buffy has been a hero of mine since 1975-76 when I saw a half-hour programme on BBC2 about her music, just music with film clips to illustrate the songs (Dory Previn was in the same series). That programme led me to the record shops in Newcastle and I eventually found one record, ‘Sweet America’ in Windows Music Shop in the Central Arcade (and the shop is still there today). I loved it and began hunting for more, finding the double ‘Best Of’ and ‘Native North American Child’. I played those three records endlessly in my teens and 20s, including during the punk years (Buffy was a punk too, y’know), and they were quite influential on me.

The years passed and CDs were developed and in the early ‘90s while browsing through HMV I found ‘Coincidence And Likely Stories’ by Buffy. I got it as a reminder of the old days and it blew me away all over again, especially the magnificent ‘Starwalker’ and ‘Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee’. I slowly started amassing my Buffy collection as I found the CDs in record shops. Some were more difficult to track down and only became available in the last few years through searching the Internet.

The Internet is a powerful tool and that’s how I found out that she was still touring and lecturing, still fighting. And it came to pass, over Christmas 2004, that I found out that Buffy was playing in Belleville, Ontario, on my birthday. ‘Belleville Rendezvous’ was my top film at that time, with the marvellous Triplettes. It was a sign, I *had* to go, and Chris agreed to accompany me.

The next job was to get there. That meant a flight to Toronto (staying in the lovely King Edward Hotel) and a train journey along the lake shore to Belleville and staying in the one hotel in the middle of town for one night. The day of the concert dawned and I was up early in Toronto, checking for more snow but disappointed by the lack of white outside, and having breakfast in the lovely self-service market that is (or at least, was) the Movenpick Marche, bagels, fruit juice and a big mug of coffee. Onwards to Union Station where I’d been greeting with a questioning “Belleville? What you going there for?” when I picked up the train tickets a couple of days earlier. Queuing and hoping we were in the right queue, eventually getting on the huge train and finding spacious seats to get settled in. It started snowing as the train left the station, pulling out of Toronto and into the countryside along Lake Ontario, farmland covered in a layer of snow and a misty morning out over the lake obscuring the view.

A couple of hours later we climbed down onto the platform in Belleville, found the one-taxi taxi-rank and got the car to the Clarion Inn, a big square brick building of a hotel, plastic flowers in the foyer and hallways trying to brighten it up. I liked it. If you’re having an adventure this is the kind of hotel to be in, one that’s a bit different and full of faded atmosphere. We were in a suite of rooms that were obviously a suite because they were in the corner of the building with no other access to one of the rooms. We unpacked the few items we’d brought and went downstairs to the coffee-shop attached to the hotel, Cora's, brightly coloured and warm with big windows so we could watch the snow drifting down outside.

After lunch we wrapped up warm and went outside for a walk to get our bearings and find the theatre. The streets were empty of people and cars, very quiet in the early afternoon, but we found Front Street and the Empire Theatre with Buffy’s name on the sign outside. This was the place. Inside to pick up the tickets and I asked if it would be ok to look around, in part as an opportunity to warm up. The receptionist politely said the theatre wasn’t open but while we were chatting we’d caught the attention of Mark, the owner of the theatre, who came over to welcome his overseas guests (we’d corresponded by email while buying the tickets) and he showed us round the theatre, which was good of him. He promised me a poster of the event and would try to help me meet Buffy afterwards. Then we went back to the hotel to relax and keep calm for the evening.

That evening we went out into snowy Belleville, all lit up like Christmas with lights in the trees and along the roads and popped into Paolo's restaurant for pizza and Steam Whistle beer. It was nice to see some other souls in this town and the place was quite full. Then on to theatre and a drink in the bar (Chris knocked his bottle of beer onto the floor by accident) and into the auditorium to our seats on the left-hand side looking towards the stage. A local singer called, I think, Emily, played a set and then Mark came on to announce Buffy and mentioned that 'two guys from London, England' were in the audience and the audience went ‘whoo!’ in welcome.

And then on came Buffy. A drummer, a guitarist and Buffy alternately playing guitar, keyboard and piano. The setlist was:

Piney Wood Hills
Blue Sunday (a new song)
Fallen Angels
Cripple Creek
He’s An Indian Cowboy at the Rodeo
Big Ones Get Away
Until It's Time For You To Go
Up Where We Belong
New Orleans Song (a new song)
Children’s Song from Sesame Street
Universal Soldier
Dispossessed Blues (a song by or about a friend?)
Priests of the Golden Bull
Darling Don't Cry
Another new song
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (reggae version)
Starwalker
Goodnight (encore)

Wearing black jeans and a black bomber-type jacket and leather platform boots that she referred to as her moccasins, Buffy also welcomed the ‘two guys from London’. She went on to explain that when she recorded ‘Coincidence And Likely Stories’ in the early ‘90s she’d produced it on her computer in Hawaii and bounced it off a satellite to London for it to be mastered. It was great to see her pick up her mouthbow and play ‘Cripple Creek’, at which point she said, “If you can make music with a weapon we’ve still got some hope.”

She had no need of backing singers since the audience did that job for her. The majority of the audience were First Nations people and happily joined in the powwow singing, surrounding us with multiphonic powwow. I recall looking round briefly as the audience erupted into song, probably grinning like a loon. It was all over too quickly.

After the show people were milling in the foyer and a queue formed to speak to Buffy. We joined it and shortly Mark, the theatre owner, came over to me with a copy of the concert poster to ask Buffy to sign. I was, to say the least, excited. What would I say? I couldn’t possibly say anything to Buffy. Could I? Then there she was, at a table in the (now closed) bar, happily chatting and laughing with people. The queue edged closer and closer and then it was my turn to step forward…

I said 'hello’, explained we were the guys from London come over to see her as a birthday treat so she wrote happy birthday on the poster and signed a CD cover I’d bought in Toronto (her second Vanguard compilation that she said she only agreed to release as a contractual thing). She said she’d been invited to London the previous year by Morrissey for his Meltdown series but had to decline because she was so busy with her teaching work. Chris took our photo, my arm round her and she joked ‘Say Cree’ to get a big smile. I was over the moon.

Walking back to the hotel in the snow I protected the poster under my coat, floating on air beside the trees decked out in sparkling lights, catching snowflakes on my tongue. I’d had a magical evening and I'd actually met Buffy Sainte-Marie!

The next day we went to Cora’s for breakfast and saw it was snowing so I was all up for another walk in the snow to see more of Belleville. Up and down Front Street, a sex shop at one end and a sex club at the other, lots of empty properties and lots of craft shops. Into a bookshop for a browse and a chance to warm up. After buying a book and heading out, Chris pointed to a newspaper stand and there was a large photo of Buffy on the front cover of The Intelligencer so, naturally, I picked up a copy and went back inside to pay for it (the photo is above).

Back to the hotel to check out and head for the Sweet Basil restaurant for lunch with Chris’s friend Brenda, who drove to Belleville from Ontario that morning to see him for the first time in a few years. A couple of glasses of champagne later and we’re back on the train to Toronto. The next day we found a 'walk of stars' on one o the main streets in Toronto and there, amongst a load of names I didn't recognise, was a flagstone to Buffy.

I’d finally seen Buffy after all these years, not just been to a concert but actually met her. I’d bought tickets to see her again in New York in July but had to give them away since I was unable to travel after my operation. But next time? O yes, there will be another adventure to see Buffy…