Davos piano man

Barry Colson performs at the Tonic Bar in Davos. (Photo by Christopher Werth)

Maketplace reporter Christopher Werth arrived in Davos last night and is trying his best to stay warm. Werth caught up with piano player Barry Colson a few hours ago in the lobby of the Hotel Europe. Colson looked a bit rough around the edges, as you’d expect from a man who works the graveyard shift. Here’s Werth’s dispatch from Davos:

The town of Davos was surprisingly empty last night as delegates began to arrive for the WEF conference. But the Tonic Bar at the Hotel Europe was packed shoulder-to-shoulder until the early hours of the morning.

Barry Colson, whose nightly performance here draws the likes of Peter Gabriel, appears to be top dog in the over-crowded, cut-throat Davos piano bar circuit.

The Halifax, Nova Scotia resident does a month-long stint at the bar each January and has done so for the last 17 years. He’s earned a degree of fame among some of the wealthiest and most powerful people on the planet who (with apologies to Billy Joel), stop by “to forget about the global economy for a while…” It is common for après-seminar partiers to sing and dance along with Colson and his trusty drum machine until 4:30 in the morning.

Colson says that despite talk of austerity at Davos, he hasn’t noticed a big shift in what people like to hear. Irrespective of trade imbalances or housing slumps, the crowds still request “Feel” by Robbie Williams and, predictably, Joel’s “Piano Man.”

Last night, there were over a hundred revelers at the Tonic Bar. Still, in the last few years Colson has noticed a marked drop-off in the crowds.

Just in case, maybe it’s time he learned “Tobacco Road.”

Christopher Werth in Davos

Here’s Colson and an unidentified crooner at Davos, 2008:

• Jan 27, 2010 9:18 AM — Dirk Mathison
• 1 comments

• tags: Barry Colson, Davos, WEF