Menno may be most widely known as the frontman of the indie rock band Hollerado, but on this night, he proved himself just as much a raconteur as a musician. Armed with an acoustic guitar and an easy, magnetic presence, Menno threaded songs together with stories that felt deeply personal yet strangely communal.
He spoke about his grandparents — how his grandfather immigrated from Poland via the Halifax and ultimately met his grandmother while working on a farm out West. He joked about bleak tour memories, including a stay in a grim hotel room with a floor littered in dead flies, and reminisced about sharing Halifax stages over the years with the likes of Billy Talent and Adam Baldwin.
One of those stories bled seamlessly into the song “Bad Dog,” a mischievous, heartfelt ode to a childhood pet that caused plenty of trouble but was loved all the same. The crowd latched onto it, gleefully singing along to the hook “he’s a bad dog, a bad bad dog.”
As his set neared its close, the room softened. Menno paused to acknowledge the shocking loss of Canadian icon Catherine O’Hara, who had passed away the night before. He shared words written by his wife, Anne Murphy, O’Hara’s longtime co-star on Schitt’s Creek, offering what she called “Coles Notes for those who want to study greatness.” The wisdom landed gently but firmly: “giggle always, stick with your lovers and laughers, make suggestions even if they overstep, acknowledge when things don’t work, and be grateful when they do.” It was a rare, tender moment of collective reflection, met with quiet reverence.
