Everything is Alright

Date: 31October2010

Venue: House of Blues

Guests: Carmen

Tickets: $35

I stumbled across Motion City Soundtrack when searching for a Jem song from the show Wonderfalls six years ago. I felt in love with the "Commit This to Memory" Album the summer of 2005. The band is from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Scott and I caught a show in Seattle in February 2006 when we were dating, and then again when they came to Edmonton in 2008. I jumped at the chance to see them again when in Chicago for their Halloween show. They played with Say Anything, Saves the Day and Valencia on this tour. I found another Muppet at this show also.

Set List:

Everything is Alright

Broken Heart

Her Words Destroyed My Planet

My Favorite Accident

Antonia

Last Night

Hysteria

The Red Dress

A Lifeless Ordinary

Stand Too Close

The Weakends

The Future Freaks Me Out

Pulp Fiction

Make Out Kids

This is For Real

LG FUAD

Hold Me Down

Disappear

The Hallowieners took the stage after roadies dressed as condiments set the stage. The band stayed in costume the entire set and during a brief meet and greet afterwards.   The show was great! They had great energy on stage, and the crowd was into the show and generally having a great time. I would have liked to have heard my favorite song off of "Even if it Kills Me", Calling All Cops, but they were promoting their new "My Dinosaur Life" Album, and there is only so much time to get to old favorites and new material in an 18 song setlist. I suppose it's a good thing, to be kept wanting more. The band also played the night before. the setlist included "When you're around", "Better Open the Door" and "Don't Call it a Comeback", all of which I wanted to hear also, but in comparing the two set lists, I'm glad I heard the show that I did. 

Venue:

I was incredibly disappointed in the House of Blues venue in Chicago. Initially entering the venue, the bouncers were abrasive and a little rough with the pat down. They had three floors of viewing space, but all along the sides of the second and third floors were private rooms that you could rent for a couple hundred dollars on top of ticket prices. The rooms were mostly empty, with 6 or 7 people in each on average, but took up a ton of floor space. It's an interesting concept, but it felt like a bit of a money grab. The only seats available were wooden stools around the main floor which were available to rent for $30 for the night. The merch booth was set up late and difficult to get to, so I was planning on picking up a vinyl after the show. The booth was closed down by the house of blues staff before the show was finished, so unfortunately, no vinyl for me. The bouncers were very pushy getting the place cleared out immediately after the show, and even kicking out the Hallowieners who were mingling with the crowd. I understand that the venue is large and there are a lot of people to move, but I've never felt less respect at a venue than I did at House of Blues.

All in all, I was happy with the show and thought the band did a great job. The venue left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth after the evening was complete, but the set up was unique with the three tiered viewing area and decor. The band was friendly as always, and met up outside to chat with fans after being evicted from the venue.

Gotta Have You

Date: 29 October 2010

Venue: Space

Guests: Carmen

Tickets: $20

I was first introduced to The Weepies in the spring of 2010, after my friend Meg mentioned they seemed up my alley. I was immediately hooked once "Gotta Have You" found its way onto our iPod during a trip to Vancouver. Wikipedia says it best, describing this California-based band as "subtly intoxicating folk pop". They recently started a family, and cut their touring dates down drastically to fit this new lifestyle. When I found out they were playing in Chicago when I would be there for a course for work, I wouldn't let a sold out show stand in my way. After  an added adventure of getting horrendously lost in the rental car on the way (Chicago Ave stops and starts all OVER Chicago... I ended up paying 30$ in roaming so my phone could get us back on course). Thankfully, there were two shows, and we were an hour early for the late show. Once there, through patience and some mild eyelash batting, my good sported coworker Carmen and I sneaked in to the small back room where the show was playing just in time.

The Weepies:

Fantastic set. The band started off dressed up as "The Creepies", although slowly, one by one, in a last man standing type challenge, costumes were shed to reveal the band. (I would like to say that quite a few audience members really were in the Halloween mood! I love how enthusiastic Chicagoans are!)

 

Set List:

Please Speak Well of Me

Hideaway

Can't Go Back Now

I Was Made for Sunny Days

Orbiting

Riga Girls

Gotta Have You

Painting by Chagall

Hard to Please

Nobody Knows Me at All

Be My Thrill

Citywide Rodeo

Hope Tomorrow

Antarctica

World Spins Madly On

Just Blue

Not a Lullaby

When You Go Away

Love Doesn't Last

I really love the variety of the music as the songs switch between Deb and Steve on lead vocals. They are so sweet and complementarity to each other, vocally and on stage.  They prefaced the songs with cute stories (how "When You Go Away" was written for their son, how upset he gets when playing peek-a-boo, or how "Riga Girls" was inspired by email spam). If you ever have a chance, these two put on a wonderfully balanced set. Fun fact: Can't Go Back Now was used by Obama during his 2008 Presidential run. I guess the Chicago connection comes full circle.

Edmonton Folk Fest

Date: 04 to 08 August 2010

Venue: Gallagher Park

Who: Niki & Scott

Co Starring Shelley

With Guest Appearances by  Ute, Kathy, Jill, Shannon & Tiago

This was our first year as volunteers for the Folk Fest. It was a lot of fun, but it was also exhausting and a lot of work. Scott and I were on Liason Security duty, which involved walking around helping people, searching for lost parents and children, patrolling off limits areas for fire codes, and waking up passed out patrons when it's time to go home. One of the perks, apart from catching lots of awesome music and being a part of the festival, was the food they serve. Delicious!I didn't have a chance to attend any of the after parties, but maybe next year. I also got to play with large metal tent poles in a thunderstorm to take down after the festival :)

Here are a few highlights:
Basia Bulat:
An amazing artist from London Ontario, I first saw her in March at the Starlite room. Very mellow and folksy, with a very distinctive voice. She is very down to earth and sweet, and definitely someone to keep an eye on in the years to come.She plays the piano, guitar, hammered dulcimer, ukelele, and the Autoharp, which matches her distinctive vocal sound. Her brother Bobby plays drums and Alice supports on the violin, which really make the sound rich.

A few of my favorite songs of hers are:
In the Night
Gold Rush
If Only You
Run
Snakes and Ladders
FUN FACT! Before I Knew was in a Subaru Outback commercial last year.

Patrick Watson:
From Hudson, Quebec, I'd actually heard of Patrick Watson from two different sources: My sister and Kyle Lanyon... but it took me until now to realize they were one in the same. I fell in love with the song: "To Build a Home" by the Cinematic Orchestra about a year ago, but didn't clue in that it was Patrick Watson singing until Scott pointed it out.... I just thought that he did an awesome cover. He also sings  "The Great Escape", which has been featured in Grey's Anatomy and One Week, as well as that tropicana commercial...
He was the lead on a couple workshops we attended, I think because he's used to many collaborations. He didn't play any bicycles or spoons, but they did some interesting collaborative improvisational songs.

Brandi Carlile:
Definitely the surprise favorite moment of the festival. I had never heard of this Washington singer until the festival, and she rocked the main stage. Her original stuff was pretty good, but when she played Mad World and Folsom Prison, the hill just rocked. It was amazing. 

Colin Hay:
Mr. Hay comes from a land Down Under... and he put on a great show. His new material was great, but when he played his Men at Work... really fun. From his new stuff, I love I Just Don't Think I'll Get Over You from Garden State, and Beautiful World, from when he was on Scrubs as the troubadour (although, Overkill was a Men at Work song... I prefer the acoustic version... in the supply closet).

 

Other notable Concerts:
Ben Harper: He put on a great show! I was on security at the time, so I was a little preoccupied with keeping the rowdiness under control,  but it was a great concert none the less. Favorite songs: Diamonds on the Inside and Steal my Kisses.




Dala: A band that Shelberta recommended, they were very sweet and I really liked the way the harmonize their vocals. They won best new vocal group for the 2010 Canadian Folk Music Awards. Their song, “Lennon and McCartney", was my favorite, because of the sweet story behind it. Apparently, Sheila once dressed as John Lennon at a Halloween party as a teenager. The boys were a little turned off, inexplicably.


Colleen Brown: To add to Dala's Story about Halloween, apparently Colleen Brown dressed as Elton John for Halloween. Not just once, but a could years in a row. If you though John Lennon wasn't popular with the gents... try Elton John... Wonderful stage presence, Edmonton local, Love You Baby was all over CBC 2 last year, and Boyfriend is also a good'er.

 Sarah Harmer: I'm really liking the Oh Little Fire Album. Captive and Late Bloomer are my two favorite tracks. She was an integral part of my favorite workshops.


Corb Lund: He wasn't slated to play, be we caught a set he snuck on with Ian Tyson. Maybe this Alberta thing is sinking in, but this is the kind of country music I can stand behind, it's fun, with the train rhythm like Johnny Cash than twangy pop. Listen to Hair in my Eyes like a Highland Steer or The West Just Fades Away.

Tanya Tagaq and Celina Kalluk: Inuit throat singing was amazing, and kinda hot. It was amazing the sounds they can make. We just heard a couple songs, but it was a great experience!

What a fine life we are living....

Date: 29 July 2010

Venue: The Starlite Room

Guests: Carla & Scott

Tickets: $15




Opening Bands:

Aidan Knight:

Just caught the end of his performance as we were running a little late, but liked what I heard. Have a listen for yourself. Mellow but upbeat, with interesting instrumentals. My favourite song of his is Jasper. He has done a lot of support work for Dan Mangan and Hannah Georgas to name a few.

We are the City:

Good performance, with a pile of passion in their songs. They won a competition earlier this year form The Peak in Vancouver. They are up and comers and I'm hoping to hear more from them later this year as they put their winnings into prize development. This is from last December, Astronomers, my favourite song of theirs. They were a little quiet and subdued for an opening band, but that's their style.

Main Act:
Said the Whale

Set List:

Dear Elkhorn 

This City's a Mess

Love is Art/Sleep Through Fire

BC Orienteering

Black Day in December

The Light is You

Howe Sounds

Out on the Shield

The Gift of the Black Heart

A Cold Night Close to the End

Strong Swimmers

False Creek Change

My Government Heart

Camilo (The Magician)

Goodnight Moon

Plans for the Future

Emerald Lake, AB

Curse of the Currents

Oh, Said the Whale. You are quickly on your way to being my favourite band. This is the third time I've seen you at the Starlite room/Brixx in the last 9 months. I am eagerly awaiting the next album for sure!  My favourite song of this concert has to be the Curse of the Currents. Ben played it on acoustic guitar and it sounded hauntingly beautiful in my opinion. 

Trumpet, xylophones and ukulele all were featured in a song or two in the mix which was quite fun and added some variety to the set. We Are the City and Aidan Knight were popping up behind the boxes and came on stage for a song as well. You can tell from the chemistry that have a good friendship going and they all really are having fun on the tour. Speaking of working in collaboration, I wish I could have seen them as the Malahat revue. They played concerts as part of bicycle tour they did on Vancouver Island with Hannah Georgas , Aidan Knight and Jeremy Fisher in the summer, biking between venues and played in some teensy intimate venues along with Sugar and the VFMF.

July 18 | Vancouver Folk Music Festival 

July 16 | Nanaimo Entertainment Centre 

July 13 | Roberts Creek Hall 

July 11 | Duncan Garage Showroom 

July 10 | Sugar in Victoria

July 9 | | Pender Island Community Hall 

July 8 | Salt Spring Island Artspring Theatre

 As an aside, Said the Whale just recently was mentioned in USA today with Hey Rosetta, another great Canadian band. I love the energy and contrast between Tyler and Ben on lead vocals that are at works with the last album, Islands Disappear; they played all the songs I was wanting to hear, and are apparently in the process of getting a new album up and on the way. I also love the irony of Ben's hat here, in reference to my favorite song of theirs, False Creek Change. It is an Expo '86 hat. Awesome.

 I think that Spencer from Said the Whale does an incredible job on the drums. Scott and I had the unique perspective of an eagle eye view in April with Plant and Animals. Look at the posture on Matthew here also. The view which gives me a new found appreciation for drummers. Also guitar hero helped a little with that appreciation too...

Here is goes again....

Date: 09 July 2010

Venue: The Starlite Room

Guests: Ryan & Scott

Tickets: $20

As an aside... we lined up an hour early to get three of five coveted seats in the house... which were pretty awesome. During the one hour of waiting, torrential downpour and thunder storms. Needless to say, we were a crew of three, very damp and soggy Neufelds. Ryan jumped the gate to try and get under the awning by the Starlite entrance... but was throughly rebuked by a bouncer. I found a cheap umbrella at City Centre Mall... through, predictably, upon returning it to the boys, the rain  ceased. 

Opening Band:
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald
Three guys from Calgary. They warmed up the room really well! He had good energy as a lead singer and the keyboardist and the guitarist (both names Steve) played well too. I loved that they played a cover of Baby Got Back... a rendition that sounded quite sweet.  I like when an opener plays cover songs, since often I am not familiar with the original songs they play, and it helps get into the show. He also played the next day at the Sounds of Old Strathcona on Saturday. Normally, I like to do a little research and listen to an opener before the show, but up until we arrives inside starlite, the opener was "And Guests". 

Main Act:
OK Go

Set List:

Invincible

Needing/Getting

A Million Ways

All Is Not Lost

I Want You So Bad

White Knuckles

Oh Lately

Good Idea

Here it Goes Again

What To Do

Last Leaf

Don't Ask

Get Over It

Back From Kathmandu

End Love

This Too Shall Pass

WTF

Skyscrapers

Do What You Want


Oh, OK Go. You are always a good time. I find the music is a blast to dance to and the guys are original and fun on stage. The videos really got me hooked a few years ago, quite original and upbeat... and they most certainly check their egos at the door, and you can tell that they have fun with what they do. OK Go just left their record label, EMI, to start their own label, which they are pretty stoked about . From the fans perspective, it looks like there will be a lot more YouTube videos and creative freedom with this switch. As a downside, there were no albums for sale as merch at the concert... as they haven't pressed any of their own vinyl as of yet. Luckily, I have iTunes and the most awesome Edmonton Public Library to help me through the tough times until I can have a vinyl of my very own. 

The show was a great experience! There were confetti cannons that showed the room with colourful paper. The front-man Damian came and played in the middle of the floor, for an entire song as well as in the middle of a song or two song, and pulled up the guy who was one person behind us in line to play his guitar on stage (who did really well!). The band played with the space quite well, and as an encore, played WTF, Skyscrapers and Do What You Want with awesome lighted jackets that were quite fun, and furry neon-lighted, laser guitars. 

Now, for the heart to heart: I was a little disappointed there was no band dancing, like we saw last time... although they had to use a recorded track for when they did "A Million Ways" in Seattle in 2005... The band skedaddled pretty quickly after the show; although my superfan-in-training, Scott, was able to track down three of the four band members for a chat as well as grab signatures for our Million Ways vinyl single from the first show we saw them at. And they didn't play You're So Damn Hot...  the gateway song that first got me tuned into to OK Go 6 years ago... A couple others I was hoping to hear were Love Cats and Television, Television...but I guess you can't always get what you want... sometimes, it's pretty damn close.

If you ever get a chance to see OK Go, I heartily recommend them. Fun, fun, fun.
Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

The New Pornographers

 

Date: 08 June 2010

Venue: Edmonton Event Centre

Guests: Steph, Angela & Scott

Tickets: $30

Opening Band:
The Mountain Goats

I enjoyed the opening band; I was expecting a band that was more local, as The New Pornographers hail from Vancouver, and The Mountain Goats are from North Carolina. Nothing they sang particularly stood out to me, but they did have good energy, and a similar sound to The New Pornographers. Angela wiki'd them during the show and we were astounded to discover that they are exceptionally prolific. The band originated in 1991, and there are 17 albums to date. The most recent success they have was from "The Mountain Goats will cure your Bieber Fever" meme from early May.
They have an album called Heretic Pride, and all the songs are based on biblical verses, which appeals to me as I love albums with a unifying theme and that are written with a certain method to the madness. Also, scattered throughout the 17 albums, there are different song series, which also have a theme through them. The "Going to..." series reminds me of "Away We Go".
All in all.... 6 out of 10 stars. (7 had they been/become Canadian.)

Main Act:
The New Pornographers

Set List:
Sing Me Spanish Techno
Up in the Dark
Myriad Harbour
Use It
The Laws Have Changed
Crash Years
Jackie, Dressed in Cobras
Adventures in Solitude
All the Old Showstoppers
Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
Challengers
Moves
A Bite Out of My Bed
Testament to Youth in Verse
Your Hands (Together)
My Shepard
Twin Cinema
Silver Jenny Dollar
Mass Romantic
The Bleeding Heart Show

Jackie
It's Only Diving Right
Slow Decent into Alcoholism

The New Pornographers hit the stage at about 9:30, and played for a solid 90 minutes. There were 8.5 members of the band (Dan Bejar would mysteriously leave the stage then occasionally stagger back on for about half of the songs with a brew in his hand). The main singing was done by (A.C.) Carl Newman and Neko Case, with Kathryn Calder and Kurt Dahle on backup vocals.

I thought the vocals were great, although the speaking between songs was a little garbled and difficult to understand. I was throughly disappointed that they didn't play My Rights Versus Yours, I believe it was requested but they didn't play it as it was a downer... and they didn't remember all the words, but this was in the garbled sections between songs I didn't fully catch. It's my favourite of their songs, not to mention the third most popular song of their on iTunes, so the fact that they didn't get to this song is a dash in the negative category.

The band didn't seem to engage with the audience at all... with the exception of Kathryn and Carl, who seemed into the show. Kathryn Calder seems genuinely excited to be there during the show, and stuck around afterwards and mingled with the few people that stuck around after the show. Dan Bejar was very strange on stage... when he was on stage and wasn't singing vocals he would face the drums with his back to the audience... and when he was facing the audience, he was nursing a different beer every time he hit the stage. A beard-less John Collins also stuck around after the show to talk to people, which was appreciated.

The band has been around for 13 years, so there is a lot of material to go through, and a lot of great songs to choose from. I loved all the different instruments and the way the band used them, there was an electric cello (played by guest instrumentalist Ben Kalb; when looking into his other credits, I see that he had contributed to, my fellow Claremont 2002 alumni, Kendel Carson's Alright Dynamite album) harmonica, vibraphone, accordion, kaossilator and other synthesizers, and adept whistling, especially on "The Crash Years". The vocals were rich with so many members, but also it was hard to pick out any individual sounds of the instruments with SO much going on.

Fun fact: Todd Fancey, the guitarist for The New Pornographers, sang the song that Jan played during the Dinner Party episode of The Office... :)

All in all, I would say the show was an 8, but it could easily increase with a bit more engagement with the audience, visiting with fans after the show, and of course, playing "My Rights Versus Yours".