The trio had already taken to the stage as I sauntered up. Elliott Brood's country-tinged clap-along music fans were already beaming and people were converting by the song. Songs like Second Son and Without Again chugged out and they even borrowed from The White Stripes catalog with a blistering version of Hotel Yorba. Perennial favourite Oh, Alberta was perfectly geared to a Canada Day crowd with its Great White references but was upstaged by Chuckwagon which received the heartiest response of the day.
Showing posts with label elliott brood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elliott brood. Show all posts
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Elliott Brood @ Confederation Park (7/1/10)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Brooding Over It
Twas a strong but small crowd amassed for the concert at Vinyl (March 25). Local songstress, Patty Bell Smith was unfortunately lost in the din of the dank club, and her excellent vocals were practically drown out by the time they reached me hanging out near the band at the back. Once the fringe-rock trio of Elliott Brood took to the tiny stage everyone clamoured forward, perhaps in anticipation of hand-outs to come. It was a customary Brood set with the drummer pounding away, seated guitarist and those unlikely vocals emanating from that unassuming looking fellow - not to knock their live performance in any way since it is notoriously stellar. Having seen them just recently at a riled up Olympic show in Vancouver there weren't many surprises throughout the night. As per usual they built up their songs, whipping the crowd into a frenzy, so much so that some members decided to join the performers on-stage, much to their chagrin (as they explained later that a past experience of audience participation had resulted in busted instruments). To make up for it they handed out instruments that were meant to be banged about, in the form of dollar store pots and pans, for the final few songs. All songs were equally well done, with the only stand-outs being due to my personal preference. However I was pleasantly pleased by the one surprise of the night, which was when they went beyond their 10pm curfew to play an encore rendition of Miss You Now.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Polaris Shortlist Reaction
In keeping with my polaris coverage - I'll give you my initial reaction and fire it off without much thought.
Well I went 6 for 10 which is barely a passing grade of D. Somewhat disappointed in neither of my buzzed darkhorses, Coeur de Pirate and Timber Timbre, making the short list. Guess that means my overall prediction of TT is absolutely wrong!
Of the four new ones, Metric is okay but pretty boring really. K'naan deserves it and is doing something unique at least - probably my fave of these four. Granted the only short list album I haven't heard (or at least haven't listened to) is Fucked Up - so I guess I'll have to check it out. Malajube was alright - perhaps I didn't get into it because it is french (so I can't sing along as easy) and perhaps it made the short list because it is french (and they wanted to diversify)?
I can see why the Arkells didn't make it - their album is solid but not too different and really it is their live show that makes it. On that note, I'm pleased to see that Elliott Brood slipped in! Also somewhat understandable that Wolf Parade didn't make it since this album didn't even surpass their own debut.
Gotta say I'd be underwhelmed if any of Joel, Metric, GLS won.
Having to make a new prediction of my winner I will root for Hey Rosetta! and say K'naan also deserves it (and make a point of sitting down with the Fucked Up album).
Short list follows the jump!
1. Elliott Brood - Mountain Meadows
2. F*cked Up - Chemistry of Common Life
3. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
4. Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs
5. K'naan - Troubador
6. Malajube - Labrinths
7. Metric - Fantasies
8. Joel Plaskett - Three
9. Chad Vangaalen - Soft Airplane
10. Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Elliott Brood & the 'Buckles
NQ Arbuckle came out of the gates well, and I was into their sound despite the twang. They even marked the Remembrance Day occasion by singing a song with the lyrics lifted from a poem written about fighting in the trenches in WWI. After the fourth song or so I began to grow a little weary of their sound - perhaps the amount of country I can take in a night had been used up by that point. They continued with a bit of ramblin' country-ish tunes that had a few excessive breakdowns, and sure did wear down my appreciation for them.
Elliott Brood opened with a mostly instrumental - with the banging drums that would be a prominent feature of their set all night. For a three-piece they really create a large sound on their assortment of folky instruments including ukes, banjos, acoustic guitars, tambos and harmonicas. With that distinct Brood voice (I can't really describe it - just listen to a song) they chugged through a thorough set of new and used songs from their collection. The R3-popularized tunes that I knew well such as Without Again and The Bridge stood out and were excellent. Other notable selections were Second Son, and President's Dead - but the biggest standout of the evening was a romping rendition of the Elliott Brood classis "Oh Alberta!" which ends hilariously. For their final song (of a 90+ minute set) they busted out a huge sack full of percussion instruments for the crowd to play along that included pots, spoons, tambourines and all sorts of other dollar-priced goodies. This made this tune a lot of fun and the fun continued into the encore which consisted of the new album "Mountain Meadows" opening track, followed up by another great tune (that I'd forgotten about til they started it) Miss You Now. Despite the show's length I was rather entertained and continually pleasantly surprised as they broke out song after song that would reenergize the crowd.
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