Stars at Massey Hall: Introduced by a friend of a friend

Whooo! Seeing Stars tonight at Massey Hall! It's been a pleasure seeing them play many times in all types of venues, but playing Massey Hall is kind of special.

Settimes.ca:
Saturday, October 23
Massey Hall, Toronto
Doors: 7pm
Young Galaxy: 8pm
Stars: 9:15pm

I tend to get a little photo-happy at Stars shows. I can't help it, they put on a great live show with a deep songbook of emotional, joyous pop. And it's hard to find a better, more charming duo than Torquil Campbell and Amy Milan.

the2scoops: Flickr - Stars photos

Here's a little taste of Stars, with a video I shot back in May at the Mod Club

YouTube: Stars - "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" live at Mod Club

2009 NXNE Music Festival - Find the amazing

There's a moment where your standing in some dimly lit club with no air conditioning, packed in with a crowd, wondering what you're doing there. Then the band shambles onto the stage, hit those first notes, and you know you're going to want to hear this music for the rest of your life. That moment happens again and again at NXNE.

The Coast performing at The Horseshoe NXNE 2008

NXNE is a music festival designed to get bands exposure to audiences and media, with dozens of venues all over Toronto playing host to hundreds of bands. And all you need is one $50 wristband to grant you access to the whole festival, with most venues having event liquor licenses that will keep the drinks flowing until 4am.

Created with flickr slideshow.
My pictures from NXNE 2008 (link to Flickr)

Last year I took in the festival over 3 nights in Toronto. 3 hot, sticky, at times wet nights. And it was all fantastic. I managed to only see 8 bands (I was aiming for at least a dozen), but every band I saw gave a fantastic performances that won me over: The Coast, The Wet Secrets, The Great Lake Swimmers, Laura Barrett, Royal Wood, The Two Koreas, The High Dials, The D'Ubervilles. I've bought albums from every one of these bands after I got hooked at NXNE and I look forward to the next time I get to see them play.

You have a few ways to go with the festival:

• Pick out a number of bands spread across town, dashing from venue to venue and hope to avoid any line-ups. Make some back-up choices just in case the venue hits capacity.
  

• Show up at venues without checking out the line-up and get surprised by bands getting by on talent without any expectations.
  


• Pick one of the stellar showcases, go early and plant yourself there for the entire night.

This year I'm going with option 3. Asides from planning to see some great bands, my not-so-secret goal is to work on my concert photography hobby, get some exposure, and build a portfolio for when I start applying for media passes.

Here's what my schedule looks like:

Wednesday is the kick-off, and already I'm pulled in 2 directions.

The Arts & Crafts label is hosting a night one of two night celebration at The Courthouse. The Wednesday night line-up is a launch party for the new book This Book Is Broken: A Broken Social Scene Story. The bands are all some connection to Broken Social Scene:

Apostle of Hustle /Jason Collett /Years / Charles Spearin's Happiness Project

And special guest headliner, which judging from the line-up is most likely Broken Social Scene

Across town, City Sonic is hosting the official NXNE Gala after-party at The Drake. City Sonic is producing short films about musicians and their connections to the places where they first played. They'll be screening 5 of the short films at The Drake that night, with a hot dance music line-up:

WOODHANDS | LIONESS | THE D'URBERVILLES | J.J. IPSEN

The Thursday night Arts & Crafts party is non-Broken Social Scene bands

Most Serene Republic /Still Life Still / Timber Timbre / Zeus

With a surprise guest headliner, which could be anyone from Metric (in town for Edgefest?) to Modest Mouse really. Most likely it's a band on the Arts & Crafts roster.


I'm parking myself at the outstanding Six Shooter Records/Starfish Entertainment Starfish presentations OUTLAWS & GUNSLINGERS SHOWCASE at Lee's Palace on Thursday, June 19 @ 8pm. The line-up has all the makings of a helluva good time, with a roots-rock-country flavour. And beer. And a poster suitable for framing.

8:00 pm: The Swallows
9:00 pm: Jim Cuddy, Royal Wood, Oh Susanna
10:00 pm: Kevin Hearn, Jenn Grant, Jason Plumb
11:00 pm: Luke Doucet, Justin Rutledge, NQ Arbuckle
12:00 am: Skydiggers
1:00 am: Surprise Guests

My Friday plans are loose, but I'm thinking the Paquin Entertainment showcase at The Dakota Tavern has a great line-up that suits the venue.

Couer De Pirate / The Coast / Deep Dark Woods / $100 / Hooded Fang / Mark Berube / The Beauties

Finally, Saturday is a long haul. I'm planning to hit the Six Shooter Back Lot BBQ in the afternoon. It's 2pm - 6pm in the lot behind their store at 1118 Queen Street East. These folks put on a great party every year, this time in cahoots with Steamwhistle Brewing and Damzels in Distress. Music all afternoon with hosts NQ Arbuckle, other guest spots include performances by Rose Cousins, Royal Wood, Jenn Grant, Michael Rault, Jason Plumb, Victoria Hume, Martin Tielli, Luke Doucet, Justin Rutledge, and The Beauties, plus the grand opening of Beth Hamill's photography exhibit, Rock Paper Pixels. Beth's blog and pictures have been a favourite of mine for ages and I can only aspire to be that good one day. It's a good day to celebrate

As the sun goes down, I'll duck in to the ever-popular CBC Radio 3 Showcase at The Horseshoe Tavern will be a hot and sweaty affair with:
Woodpigeon / DD/MM/YYYY / Ruby Coast / Jason Collett /Hot Panda / Lovely Feathers

Let me know some of your picks for the festival or hit me on Twitter while you're out and you have a hot tip.

A beautifully Broken Modest Social Metric Mouse Scene show

It seemed like Rita's Broken Social Birthday Party as Broken Social Scene took over the Sound Academy for the second of a two-night hometown stint on Friday November 28. Broken Social Scene came on to play for about 3 hours, with Scene-sters Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw of Metric making a welcome return. A jaw-dropping surprise came as Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse took the lead for a few tunes with BSS. The celebratory feeling in the air coincided with my friend's birthday that night, making us feel like it was just one big indie-rock birthday party for Ms. Rita, with a balloon drop at the show, drinks at The Dakota and a stop in Chinatown for food at 4am.

The Beauties opened the night with the crowds pouring in, wailing away on tunes like "Wastin' Time" and feel good rockers like "Die Die Die" and "Baby Outta Jail. They looked to be having a blast, celebrating the release of their 4-track EP, playing that wild bar-frenzy of bluegrass/rock/rockabilly/punk. A brilliant cover of the Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting for The Man" led to a closing jam with guests Serena Ryder and Lisa Lobsinger joining trumpet player Michael Louis Johnson for "Do What You Do". For more of The Beauties, be sure to drop in at The Dakota Tavern for their weekly Sunday night barn burner.

As the opening bars of the Top Gun theme played (yes really), Broken Social Scene took to the stage, and didn't stop for about 3 hours. Broken Social Scene is a beautiful, shambling beast with upwards of 20 musicians, each with their own bands and solo albums, coming together to make something wonderful. Members of Metric, Stars, Do Make Think Say, as well as artists like Apostle of Hustle, Feist, Kevin Drew, Jason Collett, and Brendan Canning are all part of the group, and the live shows are always a treat as whomever isn't in the studio or touring themselves tends to show up. One of my favourite "everything is different once I've heard it" albums is Broken Social Scene's "You Forgot it In People"(2002), like nothing I'd heard of at the time. Seeing them play those songs live just gets me every time.

The set roamed through K/C Accidental and Fire Eye'd Boy, then we started detouring as different members of BSS took turns playing one of their songs. I love that each artist has their own sound, but manage to come together in Broken Social Scene to make something completely different. The air was charged with the sense that it was a special night, with balloons suspended from the ceiling. We were lead in cathartic screams to release all that we held inside, Kevin Drew was funny as he picked on the chatterboxes in the crowd and the VIP deck. And it was a celebration that night, as the band was playing without necessarily plugging any one current project or album. Everyone was just having a good time.

At times upwards of 20 musicians were on stage, with 5 guitars and full brass blazing away in frenetic anthemic rock. And then Kevin introduces a guest. It's Issac freaking Brock from Modest Mouse. He comes on and they all play "The Good Times Are Killing Me", which makes a pretty good theme to the night.

A few songs later and the next surprise as Emily Haines of Metric appeared! She's been part of BSS for years, but has been on the road and in the studio with her own band Metric. Her vocals paired with Julie Penners violin made "Anthem for a Seventeen-Year Old Girl" a highlight of the night.

A quick costume change, and then Brendan Canning came back out bedazzling in gold sequin gym shorts for a grooving disco-rific "Love is New".

We were encourage to scream - take everything that holds you back, holds you down, makes you anything less than you, and scream that shit out.

The night culminated in a balloon drop during "Ibi Dreams of Pavement". I've seen Broken Social Scene play a number of times, and this was one of their best nights.

An appreciative band wrapped up the night, followed by Brendan Canning and a few others came out after most of the crowd cleared out to thank those of us who stuck around. Rita told him "It's my birthday" to which he answered with a kiss of the hand. Class act that guy.

We left the club elated, alive, and ready for whatever happens next.

My photo sets:
The Beauties at Sound Academy

Broken Social Scene at Sound Academy

Setlist: Broken Social Scene Setlist Sound Academy, Toronto, Canada 2008 setlist.fm

And a good video collage of the show:

The Sound of Canada with The Acorn, The RAA and Ohbijou

There are times you should be proud of Canada and the music we're putting out into the world. A couple of weeks ago, I got to see a solid sold-out triple-bill of some of the rising stars of the indie-music scene as The Acorn, Ohbijou, and The Rural Alberta Advantage rolled into Lee's Palace and put on a solid show from start to finish. Best $10 ticket I ever bought, and it will seem like a bargain when these bands all start to headline their own seperate gigs.

The opening set from Edmonton's The Rural Alberta Advantage had just started up when we got into Lee's Palace, and the Edmonton-based trio's indie folk-rock got the night of to a strong start with their upbeat energetic percussion and narratives that took me back to the long drives across the prairies of my youth. My interest in them came about from picking up their well-reviewed debut album Hometowns (2008) as part of my eMusic subscription, and that live show got the crowd happy and moving right from the start.

The RAA Don't Haunt this place (mp3)
The RAA Frank, AB (mp3)

Next up was the hometown lovefest for Toronto's Ohbijou, who've been touring with The Acorn in support of a collaborative 12" EP, with The Acorn covering 2 Ohbijou tracks and vice-versa (the entire album can be heard streaming on the Kelp Records site). I'd heard good things about Ohbijou following both a strong debut album Swift Feet for Troubled Times (2006) and a performance I missed at Harbourfront. I had no idea what I was in as guitars, cello, violin, drums and keyboards took the stage. From the first rapturous notes sung by guitarist/composer/singer Casey Mecija, I was hooked on this band, probably for life. Their songs were full of urgent strings and soaring harmonies that bring to mind walking through Toronto's downtown neighbourhoods during that first snowfall of the year. Casey looked pleased to see the crowd, calling out to her and her sister/violinist Jenny's parents out in the crowd. They played a song or two that Casey said would be on their new album, due in the spring. No idea which label is distributing, but they should jump at the chance to release such a band that's bound for glory.

By the time Ottawa's The Acorn hit the stage, I was thinking the night couldn't get any better. The Acorn's critically acclaimed Hope Glory Mountain was a highlight of my listening year. The album is named after it's subject, Gloria Esperanza Montoya, mother of lead singer Rolf Klausener, and it lovingly, beautifully, tells her life story from Honduras to Canada. The songs run over rivers and mountains with layered percussion rhythms and passionate vocals that give a global taste to the music. The live show was passionate and charming, culminating with an encore that saw Ohbijou and The Acorn collaborate on some of the songs from their EP. The look of joy on their faces let you know these musicians love the music, and love doing it together.

Video for one of my favourite songs, The Acorn's "Crooked Legs" (h/t to Stereogum)

I think about some shows I've been to before, those ones that you keep telling people "I was there before they really got big". This show will be one of those stories as each one of these bands made a lifetime fan out of me and many people in that crowd.

Radiohead in Montreal: Everything In Its Right Place

I've been trying to see Radiohead for 13 years, but every time something would come up to interfere, but circumstances always stopped me from being able to go. This time I made it happen, and had all the elements to make my first Radiohead concert a memorable experience. The beautiful outdoor setting of Parc Jean Drapeau; a rain storm that let up before Radiohead took the stage; I got to meet up with one of my oldest friends to see the show; they played a nice long show with 25 songs over 2 hours including the entirety of In Rainbows; fireworks exploded in the sky and we ended up spending most of the night watching the show with Montreal band The Arcade Fire. That's a good night in my book.



A few factors influenced me to see the show in Montreal rather than Toronto, first of which was the fact the Toronto show soldout in a few minutes and now scalpers were getting $200 for lawns. The Montreal show still had tickets, so that plus a bus ticket and I was ahead of the deal.

After 8 hours on the bus, I arrived in Montreal and met up with Nicole, her hubby Trevor, and friends. The show was outdoors at Parc Jean Drapeau, so of course it rained for hours before the show. Being seasoned pros, we brought raingear. Being more seasoned then I am, Nicole brought her custom made Radiohead poncho and her rubber boots, a very popular fashion accessory that day.

The rain had been pouring as we came out of the subway. As we made out way in, the rain slowed. As we waited for Radiohead to take the stage, the rain slowed to a light drizzle, and a double rainbow could be seen. It seemed we were truly In Rainbows.

As the sun went down, Radiohead takes the stage and everything from start to finish was a favourite - great sound out there in the field and mud, and a fantastic light show. To the left and right of the stage were screens showing feeds from cameras all over the stage.

Radiohead are: (left to right) Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, electronics), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesisers), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, other instruments), Phil Selway (drums, percussion).

Nicole and I got separated looking for a good spot to view the show. She calls me on the cell to say she had a good spot farther back. A paradox, I know, but when I got there, there's Nicole and friends, standing next to Montreal's own The Arcade Fire, one of our favourite bands. They were keeping a low profile and were watching the show with the rest of us. We decided not to hassle them by fawning over them, praising how great their music is and how cool it is that musicians like Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, U2, Radiohead and Coldplay are fans of theirs. It’s the Canadian in me, I don’t hassle celebrities if they’re not drawing attention to themselves (drunkenly accosting Richard E Grant on Queen Street aside: "Ohmygod you're Withnail!").

I love every song on In Rainbows, and I whooped every time they dove into their back catalogue, playing a few unexpected tunes like "My Iron Lung" from The Bends. "My Iron Lung" is their answer to the over-exposure they experienced from "Creep", their first hit. It became an anchor around their necks. You’d get a bit sick of everyone demanding you “play the hit”, feeling defined by just the one song. According to Nicole they don't dip into their first album Pablo Honey much anymore. Shame, as I have a lot of affection for tunes like "Stop Whispering" and "You".

Some point around the 9th song of the set, a fireworks display started going off on the other side of the park (some international competion we think), as in "not part of the show". I remember at one point Thom said something along the lines of "They spent so much money on fireworks, the least they could do is put them at the fucking end darlings... and in time."


So at the start of the encore Colin and Thom played "Faust Arp" from In Rainbows. The fireworks were still going off every few minutes. This time they went off and Thom missed some lyrics while having what may have been a giggle fit. Nicole has the video up here.

I have to order one of their Tour t-shirts. There were a number of black t-shirts with faded multi-coloured lettering with different sayings. Two stand-outs were:

'/_ YOU'LL GO TO HELL /FOR WHAT YOUR DIRTY_MIND I/S THINKING'

and

'YOU/USED TO _BE A_LRIGHT WHAT /HA_PPENED ?'

They played classics like "Paranoid Android", "Fake Plastic Trees" and "Lucky", they played "National Anthem". By the time they got to "Karma Police", I was in heaven.

One of my favourite images from the screen, near the end of the concert a black and white Thom Yorke sings to us from the night.

Radiohead closed the show with "Everything In Its Right Place". And at the end of the night, it was, as we wandered off with smiles on our faces and humming songs all the way.

Links:
All videos and photos are under a creative commons license… attribution, no derivitives, noncommercial. Any other uses, drop me a line and we'll talk. Thanks!

Flickr Photoset of my Radiohead in Montreal pictures

YouTube links for some videos I took, plus the one Nicole got:

Faust Arp - Thom gets the giggles - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08 (Nicole's):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_1c62M0Fq4

Paranoid Android - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFALQrYZ-1w

Lucky - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUVW71ETnsk

National Anthem - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKw9hC54Od8

Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ju84aF8BaI

The Roots are my pick for Show Of The Year, and it's only March

Lost: One pair of socks
Where: Knocked off at The Roots concert on Saturday night.
If found please return to Jason.

That was one bad-ass funky damned concert. Damn. I know not everyone is into hip-hop, or don't listen to The Roots, or have any of their albums. But if you want to see a show, I mean an honestly entertaining, energetic, Showtime at The Apollo style show, then go see The Roots. It's maddeningly good. If you aren't grooving and moving, better have a Medic Alert bracelet 'cause you're down and not getting up.

Describing The Roots as a hip-hop act is like saying I watch a little TV: it's doesn't paint a full picture.

They're a live hip-hop act with no DJ or turntables. If they're using a sample, they're playing a sample, such as "Jungle Boogie" by Kool and the Gang and Radiohead's "You And Whose Army" (!). The 6-piece core band performed with a 4 piece brass section Brass Heaven (horn, tenor sax, trombone - the same players from Dave Chappelle's Block Party) plus a gawd-damn sousaphone player (!!) who moves like he just came out of a drumline (probably did). They play everything from funk to rock, with each band member getting a solo at some point in the show. The drummer, "?uestlove" (pronounced Questlove, aka Ahmir), is the frontman, spokesman, and producer, and the lyrics rage with urgency about a world, a society, and a country where “things don’t feel right over here.” Whether it's the government, our culture, or just everyday people let us down, they want everyone to just get their shit together, take responsibility for their actions, and get right.

Categorize that, Jack.

If you have to label The Roots, here it is: The Roots are the best example of what hip-hop can and should be, a positive force for change put to funky beats.

Rando Calrissian and I went to check The Roots out at Koolhaus. We've heard their albums for years, but were hyped about seeing them live after we saw them perform in Dave Chappelle's Block Party, where they performed their own tunes and collaborated as a de facto house band with Mos Def, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu. I've been waiting a few years to see them, as my love for The Roots was over-powered by my contempt for The Docks as a concert venue, the site of their past few shows.

Zaki Ibrahim opened the show, and I was digging seeing a local songstress up there, drawing in the crowd with her beautifully lush voice reminiscent. The sweet lady's style reminds me of Jill Scott. As Rando would say, that was some baby making music. She got more comfortable as the show went on and shone with a sweet charisma. I've written about Zaki before, and I still say catch her while you can.

As the houselights go down, music starts wafting from the back of the arena. We think it's a speaker, but then I see "?uestlove's" afro bobbing up and down. The Roots hit the stage marching, entering through the crowd, getting us all pumped for the hype known as The Legendary Roots Crew from Philly. Black Thought (MC), "?uestlove" (drums and frontman), Hub (bass), Kamal (keyboard), Knuckles (percussion), and Captain Kirk (guitar) take the stage, with the 3 Philly-based Brass Heaven members, plus Clarence Thomas playing a sousaphone (think wrap around tuba). A warm greeting to the crowd and then they start tearing into the set list relentlessly, and don't stop for almost 2 1/2 hours. When have you seen a headlining band play more than an hour and a half? A few songs in, and then they start breaking out into the first of several interludes with select members of the band coming together. The first interlude was a solo by bassist Hub, who always plays with an ever-present chewstick in his mouth and looks like he just wakes up funky. This was followed by a fun bit of James Brown tribute as they broke out The Funky Drummer.

The show felt like a Motown revue show, hitting on different points all over the musical map, led throughout by Black Thought's smooth delivery. The man is a ninja on the mike. Throughout it all I recognized that vibe I saw in their performance in Dave Chappelle's Block Party: they were having as much fun as we were and were feeding off each other's energy. The only part where I was a momentarily disappointed is that they didn't have Zaki come out and sing on "You Got Me", which is sung sometimes with Jill Scott or Erykah. I say momentarily, because I was pleasantly impressed that guitarist Captain Kirk Douglas sang the song quite soulfully.

All through the show, if the Brass Heaven weren't playing, they're grooving on stage doing dance offs with each other. Clarence, the guy on sousaphone, had some good moves.... while still carrying the sousaphone. I mean this guy MOVED. I guarantee that on the Monday after the show, dozens of high school band directors were being asked why they don't have a sousaphone player that smooth. Or even a sousaphone, period.

About an hour and 15 minutes in, Black Thought announces we were at the halfway mark. I thought he was joking, but apparently not. An intermission was provided by the side-project Go Get A Late Pass, with "?uestlove", Kirk Douglas and sousaphonist Clarence Thomas doing their interpretation of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War", more as a performance think piece than merely a song. Rando thought it halted the momentum a bit, but I thought it wasn't about the show so much as needing us to listen up.

And then the party kept rolling, with their smiles beaming out into the crowd. The bass was thumping so hard and phat, Rando and I checked ourselves for nose bleeds. Twice. The Roots were playing together so tight, with some fantastic solos: couldn't they at least make it look hard? I mean there's "?uestlove" just grooving away, smiling with his giant afro swaying back and forth, calling the shots as bandleader.

The encore started off with a roaring "Are you not entertained? Do you want some more?????" before ripping into a rocking cover of "Roxanne" by The Police. My favourite song Seed 2.0 was played, and then we were re-introduced to the band with a Soul Train dance line, which saw "?uestlove" busting out moves to It's Not Unusual aka The Carleton Dance.

Rando turns to me: "Dude's doing your moves?!"

Perfect capper to the night.

MySpace: The Roots

Okayplayer.com - prominent online hip-hop website and community, co-founded by The Roots' drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson. Home to The Roots, Common, and Jill Scott amongst others

YouTube - The Roots "Don't Feel Right" trilogy video