During a break between films, Bruce made a scheduled appearance in support of his friend and fellow musician Gregg Henry at their favorite location, Genghis Cohen. The fortunate group of fans in attendance included Pamela McKay, Emiko Kamidoi, Marian Hanson and Kris Rice. The following reports come from Pam and Kris:

I made a quick trip down to Los Angeles to catch Gregg Lee Henry’s latest gig – with guest stars Bruce Greenwood and John Lathan. Emi and Marian met me at the airport, where after quickly checking into my airport hotel, we made a bee line for Genghis Cohen's. There we joined up with Kris Rice.

This was a really exciting gig – very uplifting, lots of fun, and the place was absolutely packed. Bruce arrived about a half hour before the show. I couldn’t see him from our table (where we had an absolutely FABULOUS meal – the walnut shrimp was to die for, absolutely the group favorite), but all of the others could see him and gave me reports. They said he was chomping gum madly and talking animatedly with the crush crowd. He drifted in and out of sight, because the place was just so full. We’d already paid our small entrance fees, so we weren’t too worried about getting in and the moment the doors opened Kris ran in to find us spots while the others made the necessary pit stops.

When we got through the doors I could hardly wiggle because the place was so full, but as luck would have it Bruce was dead head in front of me talking to the sound guy in the booth. I wickedly ran my finger down the small of his back and he did a big wheelie and laughed when he saw it was me. A quick hug, a question about whether he’d seen my latest email (I was bringing him a script – more about that later) which he acknowledged, and then I asked if we’d get any solos from him that night. He said “no – I’m strictly a back-up guy tonight”.

Marian – no dummy she – had sidled up next to me, so he said hi to her (I love the sweet way he always acknowledges people – he never ignores them), so I re-introduced them and then he said “Isn’t this exciting?” indicating the crush – “You guys better find what you can!” pointing to two back seats and I told him I was hoping for better than that, but said good-bye and see him after the show, etc.

We wormed our way to the front to discover Kris had the whole left front row reserved for us. We prefer the 2nd row, which is less obvious, but I was SO relieved we’d gotten close I didn’t care. Kris said it was front row or back row and I assured her she’d made the right decision. She might have begun feeling otherwise when Bruce, Susan and some blond woman Bruce hugged a lot ended up behind us. As Susan was sitting down she waved to me and said with a giggle “You, again?” Poor Kris was exactly in front of Bruce himself, a nerve-wracking spot, I can tell you. I was way in by the wall, which was perfect because Bruce performed on that side, so I’ve never seen him better nor heard him more clearly. It was a great experience. But I’m ahead of myself.

Both Gregg and Bruce had foregone their usual “Men in Black” look this time (though John hadn’t), so both Bruce and Gregg were in jeans with a casual layered look on top – Bruce wore a gray shirt with Reebok on the front and a darker gray shirt under that with long sleeves. Both shirts were loose but not baggy. No red shoes – just white tennys. I think he wanted to keep the attention on Gregg, which is his usual approach to a Gregg gig. Gregg dressed similarly (though he’s not a tennys man and he always wears a cap).

After Gregg’s intro he came in, sat down at his keyboard, looked right at us (because we were the closest audience members) and said “Hello, ladies!” We smiled back, but I was in the corner and I don’t think he recognized me yet. After the show he clearly did, but I think he was just surprised at the crowded room and wanted to make contact with the people immediately in front of him at that moment.

The session began with Gregg himself, of course, singing a song from his 2nd album –“Baby, I’m Back!”. His next two songs were from his first album (in fact the whole session had a lot of the first CD on it, and that remains my favorite CD, maybe because I know it so well) - “Yes or No” followed by “Opposites Attract”. He then introduced Bruce – saying he was just back from making a movie in South Africa where he was “King of the Jungle”. Bruce bounded up, and began fiddling with the mike, which made some squeaks, so he put it back where it was with a laugh of apology out to the audience. He nodded to Gregg that he was ready and they said something – I think confirming which song they’d do (they say a lot with few words – they really know each other so well) and Gregg began the background music while Bruce closed his eyes and began rocking softly to the music. He and Gregg really disappear into the gig. Their first song was “Something for the Pain” – also from the first CD and a great favorite of mine. Bruce is so careful to always remain in the background I was really glad I was so close. I could hear every word and get every phrase. The song, of course, is about numbing the pain of losing someone you love (as if BG would know – but he’s a great actor, you might have heard.) There was a moment in the middle of the song when someone got up out of their seat (a young man) and walked toward the stage and into the green room off to stage left. He crossed over Gregg but not Bruce, but both men were a little surprised and Bruce said something inaudible to Gregg (he wasn’t singing at the time) and Gregg laughed and responded, which was a moment away from the song. The audience laughed – they were sharing the men’s frustration at being interrupted – but actually it helped us all to bond, in a funny way. We all could share the thought “What an asshole!”

The second song they did was from the second CD called “Bite of Yours” and it was really well done. Part of the humor of this one is that both Gregg and Bruce are long married and the double plays on this are about a wife/girlfriend whatever, always saying she’s on a diet but eating off of his plate. The metaphor goes far beyond that, of course, but Gregg’s usual play on words keeps that in the background all the time. So it was up and funny and both men were looking back and forth with pleasure. They played around with stops and starts on it, like a beat in a screenplay, then starting up again. The whole song ended with the word “bite” and then absolute silence. It was great.

Then w/o any preamble they went into the third song – “The Back of your Hand” (or as many think of it “Pick a Number from 1 to 2”) – which, got a big round of applause from the audience, since it’s the most familiar song to most people these days, being on Dwight Yoakam’s album, etc. Anyway, it was done plaintively and sadly and Bruce even added a few of his own things near the end as the emotion ran higher. It brought a huge round of applause and Gregg gave a little speech at the end: “Thanks to the entrepreneurial skills and sheer determination of Mr. Bruce Greenwood (nodding to his friend with a wink) that song was heard and recorded by Mr. Dwight Yoakam and went to number one on the CTV charts!” Bruce joined in the clapping at that – not for himself but over his sheer pleasure of the song’s success. He kind of nodded out at us shyly as if saying – “Isn’t that so great?”

Anyway, their last song was new to me. The lyrics were about someone you love needing their space and the refrain had words like “How can the love of my life be so blind?” and the whole song was about loving someone forever and not understanding why that person suddenly – now – needed time away from the relationship. It seemed to me to be a more personal look at love from both men and I was very, very moved. There was a moment in the middle where they stopped, Bruce looked at Gregg, then they started again. Bruce really sang with pain toward the end, his eyes closed, his hands questioning. I thought it was incredibly beautiful in a painfully sad way.

That ended Bruce’s little section. Gregg goes “Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Bruce Greenwood!” and Bruce waved shyly to the crowd and sat back down in the second row just behind poor Kris.

I won’t go into so much detail with the rest the gig, but a few overall thoughts. The next song Gregg did after Bruce was “Je suis Americaine” his funniest song of the day and he did it SO well. I thought it was a good choice for that spot as he and Bruce had done mostly sad thoughtful songs and this was so different. It’s also a sure crowd pleaser, so gets the audience worked up in a completely different way.

John's section was particularly over-the-top at this gig, with nobody more loudly supportive of his efforts than Bruce, sitting directly behind us. He's a bit overpowering for my tastes and doesn't really seem interested in "background" singing, but he can certainly liven up an evening and both Gregg and Bruce seem to adore him.

After the show I spoke briefly again to Bruce. He was clearly high from the show and called me "Pammy." I told him only my father ever got away with that, so he called me "Pammy" again, just to prove he could, too! I'd made arrangements with Bruce to give him a screenplay by someone I know (who's also a very big Bruce fan), so our exchange largely centered around that. But he also told me the new song is called "Blind leading the Blind" and he admitted to loving it, too.

We ended up the evening in the bar where Emiko managed to sneak herself a hug while we nursed glasses of wine. A really fun evening and in the morning I was on a plane back to San Francisco!

from Kris Rice:

On Saturday night, February 21, I met up with Pam & her friends Emi and Marian at Genghis Cohen to see Gregg Lee Henry perform with Bruce Greenwood and John Lathan. It was a fun, but wet evening. The place was jam packed, even though it was pouring rain outside. I have been there quite often over the years to see various artists, and have NEVER seen it so packed.

We had dinner reservations for 8 (and that walnut shrimp WAS to die for). Around 9 or so Bruce arrived. He was in the bar area, which should have been visible from where we were sitting, but with the amount of people in the club that night it was near to impossible. Emi first caught a glimpse of the back of his head and scooted over so I could see, but it was difficult with so many heads. As we were finishing up dinner, I noticed the other act was done, so I went in to get a row of seats for us. There was was only one full row left, and that was the first row. I didn't exactly want to sit there, as I knew when Bruce got on stage he would be maybe 2 feet in front of us.

Corse what I soon figured out was, that we were in the row right in front of Bruce--in fact he was sitting directly behind me!!. I would not wish that situation on ANYONE!

Gregg played for well over an hour, even though each artist is alloted 45 minutes. None of us minded, except it was difficult knowing BG was directly behind me most of that time... I'm glad Pam remembered the songs he did with Gregg, as they were almost a blur to me, tho I knew I had heard them all before.

Pam and Emi both talked to Bruce a bit... Emi had found us a table after the set and told us to go get the table and sit. As we sat down, we had to laugh when we saw she was now talking to Bruce. Uh huh, we now knew why she was getting rid of us! LOL!!!

We had toyed with the idea of getting desert, but the resturant was getting ready to close, and it was still unbelievably crowded. So we decided to call it a night, and head for home.

Kris

Gregg Henry at Genghis Cohen

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