You spent how much for a poster?

The last time I saw Alan Frew perform as a solo artist was in April 2004 in Mississaugua, Ontario at a pub called P.K. Creek.

A friend and I decided to meet up at the pub, have dinner and see the show. The following day we were planning on hanging out together. I lived in the States and she lived in Toronto so we didn't get to see each other very often.

When we arrived at the pub, it was filled to the rafters with Maple Leaf fans who were enjoying a great hockey game. I'm not even sure any of them knew Alan was performing there later that evening. Nor did they care.

My friend and I had dinner and eventually encountered some of the other "cronies" from Alan's fan base. We discussed the pending birth of his third child with one such cronie.

"What are they going to name her?" my friend inquired.

"Evan," the cronie replied.

"Evan?" We both asked in unison. "That's a boy's name."

"It's Scottish," was all the cronie said and left us alone for most of the evening.

Finally the hockey crowd cleared out and just about everyone left was there to see Alan. He took the stage at his usual time, around 10:30 or so. A few songs into the set, a wheelchair-bound gentleman whom had been chatting with my friend and I, wheeled himself over to Alan as he stood on the little platform stage. The next thing we knew, he grabbed Alan's microphone stand, pulled it towards himself, let it go and the microphone stand flew back, bopping Alan right in the lower lip.

Then Alan began complaining about his back hurting, as he had been moving into his new house. He told us that he was taking "Tylenol and beer" for the pain.

Before the night was through, Alan presented two very unique items for auction. They were both wooden posters depicting his image. Each had a line from a different song written on it, with his signature and year of signing. The first poster to go was for his solo song "Lipstick". Someone snapped that up for $500.00. Then came the second poster. This one was for "All I Ever Wanted". Well, I hadn't been drinking but I decided that right there and then, all I ever wanted was this poster.

The bidding started at $100.00. One guy in the back of the pub shot it up to $150.00. By $200.00 I was in the bidding.

The guy in the wheelchair egged me on, encouraging me to keep going. What was I, nuts? Yeah, I guess I was. Over $1,000 later the poster was mine. The next thing I realized I was handing my credit card over to the owner of P.K. Creek and he rang up a receipt making it look like I had consumed $1,500 worth of food and booze that night! When in fact, the purchase was for a poster!

I had to break the news to my husband the next day over the phone.

"You spent how much on a poster?"

At the time the poster was kind of neat. It certainly was one of a kind. A huge, up-close image of Alan Frew's face with the name of the CD "Wonderland" and the line from "All I Ever Wanted":

Now I drive a fast car/And I can sing like Elvis/I live inside a big house/But all I ever wanted....was you!

Four years later, following some stormy bouts with Alan Frew and his "management" as well as a pending move to a new house,ÂI have since decided to sell off some of my memorabilia instead of taking it with me. However, it seems Glass Tiger and Alan Frew merchandise isn't such a hot commodity!

ADDENDUM: I am pleased to say I have recently sold this poster to a memorabilia collector in Canada and have actually been able to make a profit from it!