hose of you with
knowledge of the previous version of this gigography will now notice two major modifications to the content. Firstly,
thanks to Anna McGarrigle's husband, Dane Lanken, considerable extra detail has been added. Dane has graciously allowed
me to incorporate information from his own K&A Chronology, a work that covers a much wider spectrum of McGarrigle events.
This has enabled me to add many previously unlisted shows, and also to amend others. Additionally - the second development -
visual material is now
included whenever relevant. At present this is not quite complete, but eventually all pages will be revised
to include similar items. This material (accessed through thumbnail images which will enlarge when clicked on), could be
a newspaper ad, a concert review, a poster, or simply a meaningful article. There are also links to web pages with appropriate
material. Generally pre-show items can be found on the left under the date, and post-show items on the far right.
I have taken the liberty of omitting a few articles where content is well known or a repeat of another piece.
It should be obvious that these pages are still significantly incomplete, but hopefully there is just enough of interest to warrant this
new look. his document continues to be work in progress.
Although the inclusion of Dane's research has added much, the sisters performing career from the early 60s through to Kate's tragic death
in 2010, remains undocumented in any definitive detail, and there are a number of valid reasons for this. Their earliest appearances together,
solo, with the Kilgary Baladeers, Le Trio Canadien or the Mountain City Four, were low-key affairs that were rarely publicised
other than at a local level, if at all; in the early 60s folk clubs abounded, but press coverage - particularly in Canada - did not;
such events were considered of little interest by mainstream newspaper editors. In later years, in contrast to the increasing
publicity surrounding popular "rock" music, the sisters' tours as a duo often failed to arouse
the interest of national and international press. Despite the critical acclaim accorded to virtually all of their recordings
they continued to slip under the radar - they were virtually impossible to categorise, their released "product" was
sporadic, and, with young families to consider, they were never really in a position to devote their lives to
self-promotion. A case in point: a few years ago Chapters, the Canadian bookselling chain,
produced a tote bag adorned with the names of myriad cultural icons with Canadian roots. While
Rocky and Bullwinkle made it on to my bag, another, to my mind more significant, duo did not. McGarrigle concerts were sometimes criticised as being unprofessional and
shambolic, but those who passed such comments failed to realise that this was, for many, a considerable part of their appeal. They were a
delightful antidote to the tiresome pomposity and self-aggrandisement that much of the contemporaneous popular music scene displayed. hese pages are an attempt to present a list
all known McGarrigle-oriented performances together with set lists where available. Information comes from many sources and a proportion
of it remains unconfirmed. Anecdotal evidence has been incorporated, but this can be misleading as memories fade and data easily
transposed. It is possible that some older set lists are incorrect as, on occasion, evidence conflicts. The McGarrigles
featured on Canadian TV and radio on a number of occasions, but existing tapes of these appearances sometimes lack details. On many occasions
dates for TV or radio shows have been listed here with no accompanying comment, and it is accepted that these could simply be repeats of previous
programmes. It is also quite likely that radio programmes were simply broadcasts of album tracks. One particular show, Folk Roots/Folk Branches on CKUT-FM in Montreal
advertised Kate & Anna so many times that eventually I decided that these had to be album tracks and omitted further references. An attempt has been made to compile details of the musicians who accompanied Kate & Anna but this is clearly complicated.
It may be of interest to some readers to know which shows were duo/solo and this information would be welcome. Although a number of
these dates remain unconfirmed specific unknown information is highlighted. More recently, selected Loudon Wainwright III dates from the 70s have been included.
There is no evidence of Kate's participation or even attendance at most of these shows, but they are there as aide-mémoires in case someone out there
recalls seeing her onstage for an encore or something similar. Kate and Loudon's itineraries were usually independent though it would not seem unreasonable
to suggest that both accompanied the other to gigs when they were free. In any event it is of some small interest to see how their commitments intersected.
There will obviously be many more LWIII shows that do not appear here.
f you have anything - ticket stub,
review, radio broadcast, newspaper ad etc. - that verifies or disproves a date, or adds a new show, please feel free to
email me. Likewise
reports of suitable web links and any stylistic discrepancies are also welcome.here are a few non-concert items appearing
in this latest update - mainly to form a chronological frame of reference to aid further research. In addition I
am intending to gradually expand the text to include relevant comments. Any copyrighted material on these pages is considered to be "fair use,"
specifically for the purpose of review, study, personal enjoyment or critical analysis only, and will be removed immediately at the request of copyright owner(s).
A larger, readable, version of any thumbnail image can be accessed by left clicking your mouse on the original image. The new image will open in a new window.
Click the back button to return to the main page.
After considerable thought, and several requests, those performances that are known to have been recorded in some fashion, either professionally
for broadcast purposes or by members of the audience, have
been identified. I should point out that I do not possess all of
these recordings, and there are undoubtedly others that I am unaware of. Some performances are linked
to relevant internet audio or video sources. On some occasions there are alternate sources indicated [alt].
Pages here are grouped as follows:
1958 -
1974, 1975 - 1979, 1980 - 1984, 1985 - 1989, etc through to 2005 - 2013
but you may access a specific year from any page by clicking on a
year on the navigation bar to the left.
Date format is YYYY.MM.DD
A McGarrigles discography may be found here -
McGarrigle Sisters Discography.
Support the artists - buy their recordings.
In memory of Kate McGarrigle. The Kate McGarrigle Foundation may be found at www.katemcgarriglefoundation.org
Kate & Anna's own website may be accessed here.
Compiled by Pete Long © 2010 © 2015 © 2018 © 2019 © 2020 with the immeasurable assistance of Peter Clarkson (who indirectly provided many of the set lists, and also considerable paperwork). Thanks also to Dane Lanken, Joel Zifkin, Ron Gomes and Steve Goldstein.
In an attempt at standardisation I have adopted many of the conventions used by Simon Montgomery in his Joni Mitchell Chronology.
Last update: August 2020
