Arriving just as JD Era was taking the stage I leaned up against the Indian statue and took in the show. I enjoyed his set - more than Shad's previous hiphop opener - and he did write a few interesting hooks. DJ TLO rolled the beats for him, which already helped to improve his status in my mind but he actually could rap in addition to that. Whereas Shad sings "I self-deprecate more than I boast - and I boast a lot", JD Era just boasted. He claimed on more than one occasion to have the best flow in Canada, which I'm going to have to disagree with despite his solid performance, but there are a number of excellent Canadian hip hop artists these days. (6.5)
Of course a name that shoots right to mind when I think of them is the man himself - Shad K. Coming off a performance at the Polaris Music Prize gala the night before (where Shad sadly missed out on the prize to a deserving Caribou) Shad still seemed just as stoked about playing a small, though packed room in little old Guleph. The crowd was behind him the entire way, waving hands and clapping at the request of the main man, or singing their part without much encouragement necessary. The set was much the same as in Waterloo the week before, with the notable addition of the acoustic part of the set as it wasn't plagued with technical difficulties as before. Actually there were a few tense moments for me as he picked it up and strummed without anything reaching my ears. This went on for a few seconds, before a bit of fiddling and switch flipping remedied the situation and the chords burst forth from the speakers, filling the Vinyl with sound. Using the acoustic he played 'Rock to It' and the 'Fugees sampled 'Nappy Heads' tune. After packing the guitar back up he had TLO whip out the 80's mix for a bit til again it was cut off in favour of 'I don't really like to'. 'The Old Prince Still Lives at Home' went over extremely well yet again and Shad seemed to feed off the energy for the rest of the show.
As an encore Shad broke into the free-verse style a capella that he'd used in place of his acoustic set a week earlier. Having the opportunity to listen to it twice (this time sober too!) made me appreciate not just how lyrically dynamic Shad is - but in his style and mannerisms as well. For example, rather than just say what he meant to with words, he would do things like start a verse that was a joke, then say he was playing, rewind it back and start it again similarly but this time seriously. I hadn't realized how calculated this approach was on the first go around, but I was thoroughly impressed upon realization this night. Shad really is a hip hop artist that is a cut above the rest in Canada - many would probably argue that he has the best flow in Canada. (9)
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Shad with a new (JD) Era
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Hey! Shad K
Mantis, and his buddy Justice, put on an entertaining enough set for a couple of wanna-be MCs. They each spit a few rhymes that were interesting enough and tried to exude showmanship but I didn't see too much substance underneath it all. Nonetheless it was a good backdrop to a couple of warm-up beers.
Hey Ocean! came on next - a bit of an awkward sandwich of a full indie-rock band between a couple of hip hoppers. However they played a solid set that I thoroughly enjoyed. The lead female vocalist was something to look at and when "the beatboxer who broke her heart" actually started beatboxing I was impressed further. That was a standout song from my view - though the track featuring Shad, that likely prompted this tour, was well done also.
The main event (at least when playing so close to his home of London, and in the town where he went to school) finished the night off with a loose and fun set. Playing a bunch of tunes from The Old Prince he pleased the sold-out crowd at the Starlight who all seemed to be there for him. With his silly looking hat on, he busted out "quest for glory" and "compromise" among others. On "the old prince still lives at home" we got to clap out the end of the beat that the old prince was too cheap to purchase - it went over well (if you don't know what I'm talking about listen to the album cut). Next he had his amazing DJ TLO break out some old skool 80's beats before getting him to wind it back, cuz as Shad said, sometimes "I don't really like to."
The only disappointment of the night led to probably the most entertaining part. Attempting to slow it down and bust out the acoustic guitar Shad found that there was nothing coming out of the speakers. Rather than fiddle with it he handed over the guitar to the tech and started rhyming a cappella into the mic. He started slow but quickly picked up his flow and in moments had the crowd in stitches. Every other line was incredibly constructed and totally hilarious - and with the guitar troubles continuing so did Shad K. He didn't run outta material for the full 5 minutes that he waited before trying the guitar again without luck and deciding to move on with the set. As I told Shad when I bumped into him after the show- it was probably my favourite part of the evening. The rest of which was solid, and included a rather short and impromptu encore before he turned it over to DJ Teelo for a lesson in scratch that concluded the night. It was good enough for me to plan to return and see him again in Guelph on Tuesday at the Vinyl- this time hopefully the acoustic guitar will be ready to go!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Will Currie and the Ruby Country French Coast
Ruby Coast have been likened to Tokyo Police Club and I can only further that comparison. They are young, from near my home (Aurora as opposed to Newmarket) and play upbeat guitar based indie rock. I'm not sure they are quite as catchy as TPC but they put on an entertaining show nonetheless and I do look forward to when they record and make some of their music available for home consumption.
Will Currie is a younger man than I had expected - either a current student or recent grad of the local Laurier University (though he mentioned he's taking time off to tour with Sloan - understandable Will). He leads the band on the keys, and leads the girls in the crowd with his charm and blond hair. In fact most of the crowd around me were young girls who I like to think Will had befriended while at school in order to build a legion of adoring female fans. It worked. Oh and the music was great too. Besides his own piano, there were more keys, a sax (Will's sister?), bass and drums and an actually pretty great guitarist. Only being familiar with one song the entire set was solid, though Surprising Me (introduced as Purple Rain - hardy har) was a standout imho. The crowd response was so great that they "will"ed themselves through an additional tune as an encore (though they never left the stage) that they apparently hadn't practiced for ages. It hardly showed and much like the rest of the set they looked at ease with what could be the beginnings of a successful endeavour into the Canadian music scene. If Sloan has you coming along for the ride that can only mean good things for the future.
Alexis the Second
Johnny Truant crashed through what sounded to me like a very similar set to the show at Guelph the week previous. Even with some familiarity to their material I'm still not totally won over, but that is probably just because I'm no longer into the metal-scream scene much at all these days. Instead of getting the guys to turn to their female friends this time and tell them what relations would inevitably be happening between them sometime over the next four years of university he reversed the gender roles at this show. Otherwise it was another solid set that probably won over a number of fans.
Alexis came out to a raucous crowd - especially considering the small size of the venue, or perhaps that added to it by reverberating the energy off of the low ceiling and close walls back at the crowd and the band. George said that it was the best show they'd played all tour (and it was the final night of the tour!) and he probably wasn't just playing to the crowd. The bodysurfing left a bunch of people on stage since there was practically no gap and this allowed George to not only take a guy's bandanna before tossing him onto the sea of hands, but also to pick a girl right up and chuck her at the low over hanging ceiling. It was a scary sight and you could see the shock on Dallas' face when it happened. After the song Dallas joked that she was dead until her friends and her made it clear that she'd survived the crash. George promised her anything from the merch table if she decided not to sue them. It was a funny scene.
We'd heard beforehand that soundcheck had been cut short since Dallas' voice had been paining him and it was apparent in a few of the songs as he refused to hit the higher notes, and sometimes trailed off to allow the crowd to fill in the words. It was a valiant effort though and during the closer, again Happiness by the Kilowatt, he carried on (and also dropped the Constantines lyrics - mustn't have just been a Guelph shout out).
Though the setlist was mostly (if not entirely) the same, the order had been changed up except for the show closer, and the encore. Accidents this time was a family affair as all of Johnny Truant could be seen onstage, and offstage, on top of the crowd, as there was quite a bit of stagediving. In fact Kenny from Moneen again was invited onstage, this time for the encore, and ended up surfing while singing, and nearly pulling some raised scaffolding off of the roof and down onto the crowd. As an observer from the back it was a tense moment though I imagine Kenny, the band and the mosh pit were oblivious to the near destruction. It was a fitting ending to what appeared to be a rocking tour from the two shows I'd taken in.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Kid Koala and Kameel
John Kameel Farah is exceptional at the keys. He played an eclectic mix of music - mostly over a backbeat or "song" from his laptop, while layering overtop of that some incredible show with his fingers. Sticking primarily to his piano he added an intricate level to the music. Occassionally he would move over to one of his synths, and sometimes he would play a couple keyboards at once. It was rather cool, and I can't really explain much deeper because it was completely new to me and so I was intrigued but don't have the background to comment further. The first few songs I was really impressed, especially with the abrupt tempo changes and unexpected turns that the songs would take. The electo/techno backbeats were more to my liking, and his final couple of songs that stuck more to simple tracks with piano overtop did become a bit monotonous since I could barely see while standing at the back of a packed Mitchell Hall. Having come for Kid Koala I found that this was a pleasant bonus treat.
The general feeling in the room was that most people had come for the second half of the double bill - and some were impatient with the wait for him to get started (and with the plethora of chairs taking up most of the space in the cramped room). All of these minor annoyances were pushed away when the kid finally took the stage at nearly 1am. After a brief but informative introduction to his equipment, and an assurance that there was no tricky business going on in the background, he began his set. It was extremely interesting to watch on the overhead projector as he mixed, scratched, faded (those are the only DJ key words I know..) on his three turntables creating a great melange of sounds. Sticking to mostly obscure samples (at least to me) he still managed to build great songs of a great variety with his nimble hands that my eyes could barely keep up with at times. Like a seasoned vet he changed out record after record, only letting the music come to a stop at rare occassions to speak to the excited crowd that had immediately pushed the chairs outta the way and huddled around the stage. In the second half of the set he busted out a few recognizable samples (Paper Planes, Blue Orchid) much to the delight of the audience. There were elements of jazz, blues, reggae, dance, hip hop all mixed in there, and he finished off the set with his mother's favourite song - an oldie that he magnificiently mixed. I don't know what the term is but when he picked up and placed the needle repeatedly in different spots on the same record to make a rhythym I found very entertaining. Having waited so long and been impressed by the main set we wouldn't let him get away without an encore and he came back to scratch out a dub tune that took us right to the 2 o'clock hour. Now that I've witnessed him live I have a much greater appreciation for both Kid Koala and DJs on the whole.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Alexis O-week Fire
Johnny Truant were a brash metal band from the UK, that cursed and ripped through a decent set. They were pure screaming, though not screamo, tending towards classic metal stylings with a side of thrash. The shirtless frosh in the pit certainly enjoyed it, though the well-dressed timid girls in front of me didn't really know what to do with themselves. Dallas checked them out behind me until getting swarmed by girls, and Wade hopped on stage to rasp through a song with them as well.
After some disappointing showings from UoG frosh/crowds in recent years (such as the Moneen/Silverstein show with <100 people a few years back) I was impressed to see the gym rather full with rabid Alexis fans. The bands seemed to appreciate this and played off of it. Plus when I go to AoF again on Monday in Waterloo i shouldn't hear "you guys are so much better than those aggies down the road at Guelph."
Alexis opened with the Crisis opener, Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints which I believe I remarked on after their last show since that opening line of "This is from our hearts - sincerity over simple chords. It's a long time coming when you're givin' it everything" is a great opening statement. They were as tight as ever - playing the vast majority of Crisis actually with Boiled Frogs and Mailbox Arson being some standouts. Naturally there was the crowd-pleasing .44 Calibre Love Letter (straight from my heart!) and a smattering of older tunes throughout. I'd noticed that the guitar tech setting up the stage looked really familiar and my suspicions were verified when they asked Kenny Bridges of Moneen to join them onstage for a song (and AoF tune). Exciting news is that they are working on a brand new album and they busted their way through a couple new tunes from that. The first was rather screamy, call and response chorus that featured mostly George screaming. The latter allowed Dallas to showcase his vocals at points while keeping the energy up. Seems that the follow up to Crisis has promise - and I can only hope that it is on par. During one of the songs Dallas dropped an ode to Guelph by including a verse from the local faves the Constantines - "years from now, they will make water". They closed the set with Happiness by the Kilowatt which didn't seem like a suitable ending to me. Luckily they came back for an 8-minute jazz encore. At least that was the joke before ripping into a satisfying rendition of Accidents.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
AlexisonGuelph
Heads up that Alexisonfire are playing the University of Guelph's frosh week - Tuesday Sept 8 at 8pm. Details are sketchy but it is probably a student/friends of students only concert, likely at Peter Clark Hall (basement of the UC) as has been tradition with bands such as Moneen
UPDATE: The school gymnasium will be closed Tuesday, apparently for a concert, which now seems the likely venue. CSA offices don't open til THAT morning so details are likely to be sketchy until then..
Friday, August 22, 2008
Blue Rodeo and the Ritter
Blue Rodeo (with Josh Ritter)
Arriving there we realized our giant mistake of buying lawn tickets but not bringing a blanket. This was compounded by the goose droppings that littered the field. We lay in the feces grass after carefully selecting and further clearing a spot while Josh Ritter played some American folk rock that was actually quite enjoyable as the sun dropped in the sky and the lights on the rides at the exhibition began to light up.
Just before BR were to hit the stage we realized that the 4th section of seats were largely unoccupied and unguarded. These seats provided us a much better view of both the stage and the big screens as well as another bonus spectacle. Jim and Greg got the crowd going with "Til I am Myself Again" and "Rain Down on Me". At the start of the show they showcased some new material which was rather pleasant but unknown to me. 'It Makes Me Wonder' brought us back to some hits before Keelor showed off his chops with a few solos before slowing it down with a keys/guitar version of "Dark Angel". The show picked up steam with '5 Days in May" and an incredible singalong to "Hasn't Hit Me Yet" with a firework display (part of the Chinese Lantern festival I suspect) went off in the background. In stark contrast, despite the incredibly tacky backdrop of an animated diamond soaring through a mine shaft the song itself, "Diamond Mine" was pretty darn good too. A few tracks later they said their goodnights and left the stage.
It took quite a lot of clapping and hooting before they finally came back for a two-song encore. Since the last time I saw them play Massey Hall and inconceivably to me they didn't play 'Lost Together' I knew that it wasn't a sure thing and I was beginning to wonder how many times I would have to see them before they included it. Luckily twice is enough as they closed the finale by inviting Josh Ritter, Luke Doucet, a member of Cuff the Duke and a female whose name I didn't catch to join them on stage for it. Josh and the female each had a verse to do on their own and though Josh sounded good the female really made that verse her own and impressed all of us thoroughly. Again they departed.
However the house lights/music didn't come on immediately leaving a possibility for an additional encore. And this time with less of a break they returned for a final tune, a cover of a song I didn't recognize, and with security having left their post to help with the mass exodus we managed to walk right up to the edge of the "floor" and take Blue Rodeo in in all their glory. It was a solid show all around and the boys have polished their show and prove why they have such a large following with performances like that.
Dance Hall Free for .. Boats!
Caught a solid double bill for a Tuesday in Guelph at the Albion. Here are some thoughts.
Boats! played a similar set to the previous time at the Albion. We arrived after they had begun but managed to hear a few of the songs I enjoy; 'You Have Nothing to Lose (except your arms and legs)' and 'Scenic Gorges' included. It takes some getting used to the high pitched voice that the lead singer employs live (through an effects pedal I now believe) but they still were upbeat and fun. Again they closed with the singer on the keyboard and the rest of the members with drumsticks drumming on most anything around the venue they could find. 7/10
Dance Hall Free for All were playing a show in their hometown and it seemed that many of their high school classmates (and some parents too) had come out to support them. They didn't disappoint playing their funk/rock/dance mix of tunes with their impressive male lead vocals overtop. The lone female was missing (apparently due to a broken jaw) but they still had a trumpet and a sax rounding out the brass section. 'Something Collective' (my personal fave) and 'Dollface' were standouts though the entire set was enjoyable and even those around me who weren't familiar with the band were digging them. They played an even better set than their Hillside debut last summer which managed to win a tonne of people over and if they keep this up they have a promising future. 8/10
Monday, July 28, 2008
BSSetlist
Here is what I can piece back together of the amazing closing set of Hillside 25.
lover's spit
shoreline *with Lisa Lobsinger
fire eyed boy
kc accidental
church under the stairs
fucked up kid
*another spirit if track
hit the wall
cause=time
ibi dreams of pavement *I think
it's all gonna break
As Kevin said when introducing Lisa, "You know it's not that one girl 'cuz she's on Sesame Street, Emily's busy and Amy's on the island, but we've got someone else special for you."
(Hopefully a more complete review to follow).
A really great performance (as BSS shows usually are) that was a perfect cap on an incredible weekend.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday Hillside 2008
Spiral Beach and the magic and friends did a workshop that got the day going right. Then some real Tibetan monks did this interesting music and dance in costume. There was a cool local youth band called Mandala that did a few reggae tunes with a bunch of guitar/bass and a brass section. Back at the mainstage Old Man Ludecke who really isn't that old played us a bunch of banjo tunes including my fave of his "Proof of Love". After him i ran over and caught the final song by Jenny Omnichord, who invited her pal the leadsinger of her band, The Burning Hell. Anyways these 2 did a kids song about where your pets go when they die that was pretty great actually. Elliott Brood were the first band of the day to totally knock my socks off though. The 3 of them played their banjos, ukes and harmonicas to perfection and I got up and danced at the front with the crowd. Next were the Burning Hell who again were excellent though they played nearly the exact same songs that they'd played when they were at the university a few months ago for a free lunchhour concert. Still Grave Situation Part 2 and It happens in Florida and Bretton Woods were all highlights. The Akron/Family were supposed to play but I went to their stage and found nothing as they'd been held up at the border but I stuck around to get a good spot for Plants and Animals. To kill time a guy from the Bass Lions did a tune with just a guitar and a friend and then Andrew Whiteman (of BSS and Apostle of Hustle fame) did 2 tunes with a guitar and a buddy on drums. These were National Anthem of Nowhere and My Sword Hand's Anger, the latter of which is one of the few AoH songs that I actually enjoy. Next up were Plants and Animals who I'd seen play the festival last year, and again at a free show at the school, and they tore it off this time. Highlights were Lola Who? and the obvious closer (that I called) Bye Bye Bye. After napping through Sarah Slean I was slightly refreshed and I went back over to the dancier tent for Thunderheist who I'd heard a lot of word-of-mouth hype about this weekend but never before. It was a black female singer who sang/rapped dance songs while Graham her DJ dropped some pretty good backbeats. The energy in the tent was way up and that made it enjoyable. After Thunderheist I grabbed a friend and a few songs from Jason Collett (wanted to hear I'll Bring the Sun, but had to settle for Fire). Then we went and danced-out to Spiral beach who were really good - especially the song Voodoo that I really really enjoy. After the set they got called back for an encore though, and there was big confusion as to whether or not they could/would/were allowed to come back. They assembled on stage then played 3 chords and waved goodbye saying they didn't know any other songs. It was awkward. Back to the mainstage for the beginning of the Sadies who are supposed to be great but were just rambling folky stuff which was decent (and had a cello) and I did hear one song i recognized before taking off again for the Born Ruffians. Some guitar sound troubles hampered the start of the set, and then I was thrown off as they were doing very different versions of their album songs that I could hardly sing along to (not like the last show I saw of them that i loved) but I think I adjusted to this and enjoyed the second half of their show more, though the 2 new songs were good they were not necessary in a live setting. Foxes mate for life was rather enjoyable and Hummingbird closed the set which was excellent - who doesn't love yelling "Fly away little hummingbird!"? I caught the last song of Joseph Arthur who was surprisingly solid and stuck around for the first couple tracks but Justin Rutledge - though he was much more laid back and country live than the few songs (including Greenwich Time) by him that I like, so I quickly peaced outta there. At the dance tent we rocked out to Montreal buzz band "We Are Wolves" who had some more danceable beats but weren't much of anything special. They did successfully pull out an encore though.
At the main stage some reformed band of 20 years ago "the bourbon tabernacle choir" were exceeding their already extended timeslot much to the chagrin of everyone under the age of 45. Finally they quit and then there was a rather long delay between sets. Islands took the stage 15 minutes before official quiet hours were to come into effect. They played some old, some new (the arm, kids don t know shit, don t call me whitney bobby etc) and were actually sounding really impressive (with their 2 violinists) but then they were told to shut it down (after about 35 mins for a headlining set..) so they started up one more song and turned it into a 10 minute one. Then they said they had 2 more left, "our best 2", but management said absolutely not, and they pleaded and tried to get one more but there was no budging and Nick (formerly Nick Diamonds) the lead singer made some discouraging remarks about Hillside and we walked off into the night with a bittersweet ending to a great music filled day.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Outside of the City (and Colour)
The live taping of the Vinyl Cafe on Sunday evening of Hillside promises a "special guest." Originally hoping for Basia Bulat I discovered she was busy with the Calgary Folk Fest. Feist was next on my list but she's not on tour (though she could play then stick around to do the Social thing with BSS later) however she's a huge name to keep under wraps. However as we were waiting for Hawksley to come on tonight my friend and I heard them playing City and Colour over the loudspeakers. Traditionally at Hillside they only play bands that are at the festival this year (since we heard Spiral Beach earlier in the night it would appear they are keeping with tradition). Therefore I would feel pretty confident saying that Dallas Green could be the "special guest." He just played Rogers Picnic last weekend in Toronto so he's not too far away - and had a few other festival gigs earlier in the summer but is not busy this weekend. Also he has a history with Hillside having played Hillside Inside in February of this year. Evidence is adding up!
UPDATE: I must admit that this turned out to be incorrect. The special guest (so I heard) was Ron Sexsmith. However I can't elaborate because when I heard that I decided to stay with JayMay who was excellent.
