Take Me To The River

In my last blog, I mentioned how it had been a year since I had last blogged. That was in May 2007. I became disinterested in writing these things for a multitude of reasons, mainly because it just felt somewhat futile. We’ll leave it at that in the interest of brevity. However, after seeing Okkervil River perform at Les Saints this evening, I knew that this particular show would mark a (perhaps temporary) return to blogging.

“So why is Jon returning to blogging now?” you’re asking. That, or “why does Jon continue to pump this tripe out for no money whatsoever?”. It’s one of the two. There’s a simple answer if you were asking the first question. If you asked the latter to yourself, shame on you. This was just one of those shows that as a fan of rock and roll, just frankly inspires you to go home and write about what was just witnessed and what it meant to you personally. The challenge for me is to keep it brief.

I’ve actually seen a ton of good music since that the last time I chose to blog: Wilco at Massey Hall in Toronto, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Gogol Bordello in New York City on New Year’s Eve, The New Pornographers, The National (who I think are the preeminent overrated band of this decade), Lee “Scratch” Perry, Alejandro Escovedo, Radiohead, Oasis, and I’m sure a few have slipped through the cracks. As good as any of these were (Ryan Adams & The New Pornos in particular), none of them made me say to myself “go home, sit in front of your laptop and get all those opinions, thoughts and feelings onto jonselig.blogspot.com! So, with that said, here I am at 1:45am writing about that show I saw tonight, because it was just THAT inspiring a thing.

I discovered Okkervil River in late 2007 when a couple of bloggers I check out often enough couldn’t stop gushing over their 2005 release “Black Sheep Boy”. It was described as “you need to own this CD”, which is a very different statement from “I enjoyed this CD”. So, on a trip to Boston, I picked up “Black Sheep Boy (with a 2nd disc included that was an “Appendix”), along with 2007’s “The Stage Names”. No sense in reviewing those two selections here, but let’s just say that almost a year later, both these discs are still in my regular play rotation, along with their very recent release, “The Stand-Ins”. I was extremely disappointed this past spring, when they toured with the New Pornographers and chose to bypass Montreal. Needless to say, when I heard they were coming to town, I did not sit on my ass when it came to getting a ticket for this one; I was all over it like Jack Layton on a microphone.

Okkervil River is a hard band for me to describe when people ask me to describe them (which only happens when I mention their name). There’s nothing overtly different about them, but they are very unique to me at the same time, simply because their songs are damn powerful and compelling. Maybe that’s another reason why I’m making my return to the blogosphere; I want to take the time to properly describe their sound to the masses (or to the three of you who are actually reading this….).

Musically, there’s really quite a bit there. At the heart of it all is an intense, somewhat-snarling dude with an acoustic guitar. Will Sheff is a pretty darn intense songwriter and performer. Did I mention that he’s intense? If I didn’t, please take note. His most memorable songs (and there are many), can be described as angst-ridden anthems. There are no shortage of hooks, memorable lyrics, punchy choruses, and “it” moments in his songs. Surrounding Sheff is a six-piece ensemble that includes several multi-instrumentalists, and an unconventional drummer who knows every lyric to every song (and yet for some reason, doesn’t have a microphone in front of him). Other than Sheff’s acoustic (and the bass & drums), one can see and hear electric guitars, mandolins, keys, trumpets, accordions, percussion, and violins. A few artists that can be found buried within the Okkervil sound: Wilco, Nick Drake, Johnny Cash, Old 97’s The Clash, The Smiths and I STILL don’t even know who else. It’s melodic, American-style rock-roots music, with a punkish edge, loads of angry, angst-y lyrics & vocals, and an absurd hook-y/catchy goodness. Some of it can be downright dark, disturbing and depressing. And no, that use of alliteration in my last sentence was not intentional. I’m not one to really pay too much attention lyrics, but at some point, I will have to sit down with this band’s liner notes to really try and dig into what it is they’re singing about. I know it’s not typical pop fare. Sheff likes to use his songs as vehicles to demonstrate his broad vocabulary. They use some, uh, really, uh…. big….words in their songs!

Sheff has this outright weird look in his eyes – like “Stand back! Don’t mess with me, you sheepish hipsters (who comprise the bulk of my visible fanbase)!!! I have an acoustic guitar in my hands, and am NOT afraid to use it!!!!!!”. He looks like he’s had 8 cups of coffee, a few shots of bad tequila, little to no sleep, and just rolled out of bed after being awoken at 8am by his own annoying doorbell after going to bed three hours earlier. He’s unshaven, unkempt, and he & the band choose to perform in buttoned-down shirts, worn-out suits, and loosened-around-the-neck skinny neckties. I don’t know how they perform such an intense (there’s that word again) show dressed this way. It must get pretty hot. It must be said, however, that the fact that Sheff looks out of his mind more often than not is, in my mind, the mark of a great performer. He sings with a sense of urgency, a bit of panic, and emotion. Moreover, they have oh, so many of those “it” moments which as a rock fan, you begin to anticipate the very moment you hear the opening chords to whichever powerful tune they’re playing.

There’s no point in running through the setlist. The bulk of it was from the aforementioned last three albums. All of it kicked ass. A few highlights for me included “Black”, “John Allyn Smith Sails”, “All the Latest Toughs”, “For Real”, and “Unless It’s Kicks”. This band was a well-oiled machine from the first notes, taking very little time in between songs. It was all pretty seemless, punchy, and the crowd was loving all of it.

While at the center of it all, Sheff does his best to ensure that the show isn’t all about him. He makes it a point to shine a spotlight on his bandmates and what they do for the band. He moves around the stage to rock out alongside each bandmate, and shows them all some love in some way over the course of the evening.

Lastly, it needs to be said that the right crowd usually contributes to a great show. I’ve been to shows where the artist is putting forth a gorgeous acoustic number, and there’s always some yahoo hooting at some point during the song, ruining it for the rest of us who just want to listen to the delicacy of it all. When Sheff did one of his morose, quiet acoustic numbers, the crowd didn’t utter a peep, and we were able to hear every note and strain in his voice. Thank you Montreal Okkervil River fans, thank you.

Don’t miss this band next time they’re in your town, even if you don’t know their stuff. However, if you do choose to invest time and or dollars into their music, you’ll more likely than not be bragging to a friend about some band you just discovered all on your own.

And with that, ladies and gentleman, is the conclusion of my un-retirement. I must say that it’s been satisfying. I may have to do this more often.

"In Wilco I Trust"

It's been almost a year since my last blog. In that while, many of you have asked me "How's your blog going?". I've sheepishly had to tell them in a quiet tone "Been a while since I've done one of 'em", all with that classic hang-dog look on my face. As I've mentioned in the past, it's not because I've been uninspired, but more because I'm just plain lazy. I'm also pretty hard on myself in that I want to write in a perfect manner. I feel I need to be funny, intelligent, and gramatically sound. Not always easy to do after a long day of work or a gruelling game of pickup basketball.

Over the course of the last year, there have been many moments where I've been damn inspired to write about this, that, or whatever. I've even had ideas which don't relate to music, making me feel that "hey, maybe I could do this writing thing". Not much managed to convince me to sit at a PC to


While this expression may sound cheesy - it's something to live by. Sure, not EVERY Wilco track on EVERY album is "that" track (you know - the one that you LOVE), but what Wilco fan can say that they really dislike any one particular Wilco album? Odds are none. REAL Wilco fans have found varying degrees of charm and endearment in each of the band's 5 previous discs. It may have taken time to get to know one or two of them (for me, it was Summerteeth), but after 8-10 listens of whichever disc it was for you, you probably started to wonder how you didn't love it right off the bat.

Bottom line is that I am willing to give Tweedy and company the benefit of the doubt if I don't like a release of their's after, say, three listens.

I can't say I'm "there" yet with Sky Blue Sky...but after around 5 listens, I can honestly say that I want to keep exploring it, and seeing if it can continue to reel me in with each listen. I think that's all an artist can ask for from a fan: that they just keep giving it chance after chance, hoping that each additional time listened, the listener continues to derive additional utility from the CD. Sorry for the pretentious introductory microeconomics reference, but sometimes you just need to write what flows - exactly as I am doing right now (see how I did that? Clever, eh?).

I think that in the long run, this Wilco disc will hold its own against it's more renowned competition within the WCDF (Wilco Compact Disc Federation). For now, who cares? It's worth enjoying....

The Church of Wilco

I’ve seen a fair bit of decent music these last couple of months. OK, well, more like a couple of indie shows at Sala Rossa here in Montreal. Both of which were great, and inspired me to write a blog for the first time in, like, ages. Alas, neither ever of these blogs ever materialized. The thoughts I had accumulated for each one faded out as the NHL & NBA seasons raged on, the Montreal International Jazz Festival seduced this recent Montreal returnee, and as the World Cup bored me to tears (not the excitement surrounding it, just the actual games. That headbutt by the French dude was cool though. A few more moves like that per game, and I will subscribe to that Soccer channel on my cable box).

But tonight – tonight is a night to blog, for, I have just witnessed ANOTHER – yes ladies & gentlemen – ANOTHER outstandingly, jaw dropping Wilco show.

While it’s true that many of the songs they played tonight have been recent and predictable mainstays of their playlist, they managed to a) throw enough new twists into them to keep their fans honest, b) play three brand new tunes I had never heard, and c) play a few unexpected nuggets from the album that got me hooked in the 1st place nine years ago, “Being There”.

My first comment about this show, is that Tweedy (no introductions needed to those in the know)’s stage persona has really evolved to the point, where you would never know that he used to be this brooding, quasi-shy, sarcastic “frontman”. He’s still sarcastic, but makes far more of an effort to entertain and charm the crowd. He’s less afraid to be a goof. This keeps things light. However, when this band picks up their instruments, they're all business.

I’m really diggin’ the “new” Wilco lineup. It’s around two years now that they have been together, and things are really tight. This was the fourth show I’ve seen with the latest incarnation of Wilco, and by gar, I think this Tweedy fellow is really onto something. Nels Cline really grabs attention with his spastic, yet well-timed solos which sound like perfectly well-organized chaos. Multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone also adds some kitsch with his Pete Townsend windmills and the “I’m-insane-and-I’m-draping-my-body over-my-keyboards” bit.

On a side note, I brought a buddy to check out the show. I had managed to get him an assortment of Wilco tunes on a CD a couple of days before the show, but he had no time to check it out, so he was going in blind (or deaf).

Musical highlights included Misunderstood, where Jeff managed to belt out forty-four “NOTHING!”s (yes, it’s true – sadly, I counted them), Theologians, Hell is Chrome (what a winner THIS song is), and a Kidsmoke that was accompanied by a whizbang light-show demonstration.

We also were treated to three new tunes. All were enjoyable, and I’m confident that after a few listens, they won’t be leaving my head for a while.

I mentioned earlier my appreciation for the “Being There” tunes. It has seemed that over the years, Jeff’s been slowly more adverse to playing those numbers, perhaps as a way from distancing himself from his now-unfair “alt-country” label. He had been weaning the setlists off of being dependant on older standards from “Being There” and their debut classic “A.M.”. Perhaps Jeff has realized that legacy means something, and that these tunes need to be acknowledged, as hey, everyone appreciates a grassy ditty, or far more importantly, Rawk ‘n’ Roll - “Monday” kicked ass (can I say “ass” on the internet???) .

Moreover, a “Being There” tune provided me (and probably many others) with the highlight of the night. This had nothing to do with the actual song, and everything to do with the audience participation portion of the evening. During “Kingpin”, Jeff asked for a volunteer who is familiar with the “Kingpin” call-and-response shtick to come onstage, and coach the rest of the crowd through it. Some kid with curly hair and glasses (no – NOT me) hops RIGHT up onto the stage, grabs the mike from Jeff, and says “Alright – how’s it going Montreal?”. He then explains the rules of the game to the cheering spectators. Basically, he tells us “Tweedy (as this dork referred to him)” is going to call out the “How can I…” lyric, and the audience is supposed to let out an exhilarating “Whoooooo!!!!!!!”. Buddy then asks them to take a trial run. This guy was classic – you just had to be there. He was so thrilled to be standing next to his idol. Tweedy clearly liked this guy. There was much mutual friendly patting (get your minds out of the gutter!). The kid decided to try to exit the stage via the back right corner, vs. returning to his front-row spot the same way he got ONTO the stage. He basically used that opportunity to slap bassist John Stirratt and Sansone a couple of high fives. It was only once he go to the back of the stage (and when Tweedy made the announcement to the crowd), that he couldn’t get down from there. He had to come allll the way back….classic stuff. You had to be there. The kid was SO thrilled to be onstage with his idols.

This was my ninth Wilco show. Yes, that’s a lot of times to see one band - I’m aware. It doesn’t matter though. The band brings a particular intensity and professionalism every time I see them, and they never have disappointed me. Can’t speak for the rest of y’all though. Hopefully, they won’t let me down when I catch them this Saturday evening at the Ottawa Blues Festival.

If anyone wants a photo or two from this show, I actually took some nice ones. Email me if you want a peek. I don’t have a website other than this one.

Lastly, the show is already available for download. This internet thing is getting scary.

Opening act the M’s played standard indie rock fare. No point discussing them. They didn’t impress my friend. When the Wilco show was over, I asked him what he thought. His sarcastic answer was “I can’t decide which of the two bands we saw tonight was better”. Another convert. My job here is done….

Belle & Sebastian in Montreal and the Expos Fans Who Love Them

I’m a little bit wired. After all, I just returned from my most anticipated concert in quite some time. Tonight, I saw Belle & Sebastian, my band-du-year, at Metropolis. I had been awaiting this show (which sold out) for quite some time. In fact, I had been waiting to see this band for quite some time. As it’s late, I will be uncharacteristically brief, and moreover, not all that witty.
It’s always a good sign when you walk away from a show with the “Man, that was worth it” feeling. With a super-fun opening act in the New Pornographers, heaps of trademark B&S catchy, singalong tunes, and the usual upbeat disposition of frontman and key songwriter Stuart Murdoch and the rest of B&S, this kind of show was difficult to not enjoy – if you like this kind of music.

Usually, I expect shows to open up with a high-energy number, as the rockn’roll gods decreed. However, by playing mellow oldie “The State I Am In”, they did a good job doing what they do best – bucking logical convention.

Want to hear more of a review? Don't worry it's coming...bear with me. There's a method to my scatterbrained writing style.

A few things about seeing Belle and Sebastian that are completely refreshing. Firstly, the band members shuffle around a lot between different instruments, and sometimes a certain member may be playing no instrument at all. This approach allows most members get showcased to varying degrees (the drummer and keyboardist stick to their trades in an exclusive fashion), and more importantly, gets their fans to realize how much each member brings to the band’s overall sound. Personally, I admire musicians who can handle more than one instrument. The second thing that I think is truly great, is the fact that much like the jambands I used to go see exclusively, B&S plays a completely different setlist from show to show. Some bands rehearse a very finite number of songs for a tour, and recreate their previous night’s gig, um, nightly. Just looking at setlists from a series of shows earlier this month, one can see that they really cover a lot of ground in a given night. In other words, they play a lot of gems from their back catalog of 5 albums and countless EP’s. With a new disc to plug, they played a number of expected cuts from their new CD “The Life Pursuit” (the review of this has been in the works for a couple of weeks now – I’ll finish it soon – I think). The catchiest of these include “Another Sunny Day” and "Funny Little Frog”. Another one which grows on me the more I hear it is the Glam-my “The Blues are Still Blue”. While I do enjoy the new album, I was particularly keen to hear some songs which got me hooked on this band in the first place. In no particular order, the following were played over the course of the show. Please forgive me if I’ve left out something obvious:

Seeing Other People
Mayfly
Judy and the Dream of Horses
Dog on Wheels
Stringbean Jean
State I am in
Electric Renaissance
Piazza, New York Catcher
I’m a Cuckoo
Jonathan David
Sleep The Clock around

I’m know of two in particular I am missing. Sorry!

I also appreciate entertaining stage banter. Ad-libbed commentary on the city, people they meet, and the venue they are performing in can really say a lot about the intelligence of the performers. There was no shortage of it. Stuart poked a fair bit of fun at himself and the rest of the band by noting that they can only speak English (vs. French), by pointing out how many errors they made in Seeing Other People around, and also by admitting to the crowd he needs a lyrics sheet while delivering a performance of Piazza New York Catcher. Speaking of “Piazza”, I was telling my friend Christian, how it’s unique that a bunch of Scottish musicians happen to be baseball fans (which they apparently are). As soon as I said that, Stuart was asking the crowd whether or not there are were any fans of the dearly departed Expos. I was the first to let out a whoop, followed by a light smattering of other cheers. Stuart then made some sort of comment, based on the lukewarm reception about how it may not be all that surprising that they’ve left. I’m not really sure that the feelings of 2000 fans at a Belle & Sebastian concert represent those of an entire city (which incidentally has been numbed by the way it was mistreated and disrespected by the powers that be at Major League Baseball), but I guess the lack of enthusiasm for the name “Expos” was sort of telling. Just thought I would share that with you.

The biggest problem with a Belle & Sebastian show, is that they just have too many good songs, and can’t cram them all into an allotted two and a half hours. There are around six or seven songs off the top of my head which I would have loved for them to have played. But they didn’t – so I had to “settle” for what they did play. Oh well…woe is me.

A quick note about the New Pornos – great opener, and I will definitely make an effort to check out more of their stuff (I own a copy of Twin Cinema), and try to catch them when the next time they headline a gig in Montreal. It’s always a good sign when you find yourself catching onto a song’s hooks the first time you ever hear it. That happened a couple of times last night.

To sum up, I was not disappointed by this show in any real way. I have been a huge Belle & Sebastian addict and shill to friends for the last several months now. I was hadn’t been this excited for a show in ages. Since the concert ended, I have been wondering “when will I get to see B&S again?”. They don’t exactly make it to North America very often, with the last time having been in 2003. My plans to go see them in Amsterdam in May have been already kyboshed. Things are looking grim. Time to throw on Tigermilk.

Oh yes, and as for that whole "I'll be brief" thing - I lied.

Mmmmm....Feist-y!

I left last night’s Feist show at Metropolis thinking “it’s early, I have some solid observations about this show, and thus, I will review this it for my blog RIGHT when I get home!”. Upon my exit, I had just begun to recollect and reflect upon the performances of the various numbers, formulate my thoughts, and was on the verge of mentally grading her performance.

Then, I stepped outside.

The one thing that really distracts me from my own thoughts, is a possible flight from safety. Now that you have a clear understanding of this, I’m hoping you can forgive me for not remembering every nuance of this show, as my safety was put in peril by completely frozen sidewalks. The forecast earlier in the day called for freezing rain, and the weatherman’s prediction became a reality while I was inside watching this concert.. As I stepped outside, my thoughts about how hot Feist is evaporated, and were replaced by the terror I was experiencing as a result of wearing very flat-soled shoes on a sheet of ice. The great thing about shows at Metropolis, is that it’s about a 5 minute walk to the venue from my apartment. The bad thing is that if we are faced with inclement weather which hits the city while I am inside the venue, I am stuck walking home in it. Snow isn’t a problem at all to walk home in. Rain is a bit more of a hassle. The cold just plain sucks, but none of these is really a big deal. However, frozen sidewalks will triple time of the walk home, and if you happen to slip on the hard, frozen concrete, it’s going to hurt. To complicate matters I live on uphill sloped street. When I am describing the location of my apartment to people, they all realize where I am, and to obtain confirmation regarding their own understanding, they will state to me “Oh, you’re up the hill, eh?”.

Thankfully, I only slipped once. No real injuries or pain. It was a pretty stressful walk. But the moment I got into the building, I decided I was going to attempt to re-gather my thoughts, and pound out the review I initially was gung-ho to write. And this is it. Ready? If you’re not, go take a break. Five minutes, ten minutes, an hour – it will be back here when you come back to the screen. If you are ready, read on.

I’ve owned Feist’s second (and breakthrough) disc “Let It Die” since the summer. By that time, she had already reaped heaps of critical acclaim, and has practically been anointed Canada’s leading lady of indie rock, and quite possibly, the queen of the global indie rock kingdom. Between her solo efforts, and her status as a part time member of Broken Social Scene, she has become indie rock’s “it” girl. Moreover, she recently re-mixed her cover of the Bee Gees’ tune “Inside and Out”, and it’s been all over mainstream radio playlists. So, it didn’t surprise me when they decided to move the show from the originally-slated venue of Le Spectrum, down the street to the more spacious Metropolis.

Her disc wasn’t hard to like. She has this amazingly beautiful voice, and she has a natural allure in voice and appearance. It wasn’t hard to convince myself to buy a ticket to her live show either.

She came onstage, looking out at the crowd, while shaking arms, hips, neck, and head. This was before a single note was played by her or her band. This said to me that this lady was ready to perform. Moreover, when you see her do this, you can tell she is going to enjoy herself over the course of the next 90 minutes. Or at least, she will make you think that she is going to enjoy herself.

The woman looks far better in person than she does on an album cover or in press shots. She has 3-4 backing band members, and I was completely unaware about how much guitar she plays. Switching between a huge Gibson guitar (take a look at these pics – NOT from the last night’s show), Feist enthusiastically proceeded to charm the audience for the next hour and a half.

If you were looking for a show that will keep you dancing the whole night, this was not the show for you. The music is very relaxing & soothing, as much of it is built around Feist’s lush, yet fragile vocals. Her style can be described as a mixture of crooning and warbling, all with an underlying air of seduction. She played a mixture of stuff from “Let It Die”, and a number of tunes from what I assume will be her new album. People who love “Mushaboom”, “Secret Heart”, and (a modestly rearranged) “When I Was a Young Girl” would have gotten exactly what they paid to see. Where there may have been a disappointment, was with “Inside and Out”. This was part of her encore, where she announced something to the effect of “This song is going to a masquerade ball”. Of course, I had NO clue what she was talking about. The song started off boring, slow, and Feist on electric guitar. By the time the chorus rolled around, it was obvious she had really slowwwwed down what is most likely her most recognizable and popular number. It was no longer the danceable, catchy tune that may very well have been responsible for many a ticket-sale. I’m curious to know to what degree this upset people (and if it didn’t upset anyone, I have greatly underestimated her fan base, in which case I apologize).

All in all (bad bar service at Metropolis notwithstanding), I enjoyed this show. It certainly isn’t an all-time personal favorite as far as memorable concerts go, but Mlle. Feist was definitely worth the price of admission.

Montreal Show Review Redux

Upon my return in mid-August, it became apparent that there were a lot of upcoming club gigs which featured all kinds of indie-set buzz bands. I was starting to get excited being able to see a lot of exciting live music that was all within walking distance of my downtown apartment. After having missed a couple of shows I said I was going to check out, I finally went to check out Brendan Benson playing at Main Hall on St. Laurent. I think it was a Monday night.

I had no clue what to expect….I had never seen a real club show in Montreal – my own hometown. That’s a topic for another blog. I arrived, and found out that I had an hour to kill before the OPENERS went on. Sheesh. Anyway, the openers were a local act called “The Ideal Lovers”. They were right up my alley, as they had a Wilco-type style, emoting a lot of blue-eyed country-ish soul. If you don’t know what that means, pickup Wilco’s double-LP “Being There”. No guarantees, but you should get the idea of what I am talking about. They played a couple of covers, and had about six solid originals, and were just plain enjoyable.

By the time Brendan Benson and his band marched onstage, there were a grand total of fifty people in the crowd. This is a guy who is on a major label. His crowds SHOULD be bigger than this. The guy is in a newly-formed band with Jack Black of the White Stripes – doesn’t this city KNOW that??? Anyway, Brendan saw there was a pretty lame crowd, proceeded to run the his catalogue and the motions all at once, and took off without even any pretense that he and the band were going to give the forty diehard or so fans who stuck around until the bitter end an encore. Not impressive for a guy who sounds like any pop-rock act out there. C’mon Brendan – build some bonds with the faaans, man. Kiss our ass just a little bit. Make us feel special, like we know some sort of secret that everyone else doesn’t. Show a little love to those who came out on a Monday – the night of the week where no one has ANYTHING to do. You’re clearly no household name, and can’t afford to come off like someone who’s too cool for school.

Next up, I checked out Jason Collette and Apostle of Hustle at Pop Montreal. This festival is a week long, has around 300 bands, is the buzz of the city, and yet I was only able to drag myself to see one “spectacle”, the Arts-and-Crafts showcase. In fairness to myself, I selected to go see this show over two others taking place at the same time: Black Mountain and labelmates Stars. I had seen the Apostle earlier in the year, as detailed in a prior blog. However, I had never seen Jason Collett, and had recently purchased his latest CD. I had always liked what I had heard from this guy. I figured that if I don’t like his act, the Apostle was a good safety net for the evening. None of the other bills had bands or acts I wanted to check out. It was an alright showing by Collett, but the Apostle chose to do the evening acoustic, and “sans-band” - which sucked.

Lastly, in mid-October, I went to see the kind of act I used to exclusively see – the jam band. Well, I don’t know if I would call Victor Wooten a “jam band”. He’s the bassist for Bela Fleck, who smelly hippies everywhere go bonkers over; so therefore, he’s a jam band guy by association (at the very least). If you’re into bass-wankery, surrounded by a fantastically talented backing band who know how to funk it up, rock it out, and make your head spin a bit, these are the guys for you. One of the cooler things about Victor’s band, is that his brothers play guitar and keys alongside him. These sibs are in addition to fellow Flecktone Futureman. That must have been one bitchin’ household growing up. I wonder if their parents used to yell at them for not bringin’ enough funk to the dinner table. So that’s a bit about what I’ve seen and smelt so far. Stay tuned for more of my inane ramblings...

Resolution for 2006 - End Procrastination!

Author’s Note: This blog was originally started on November 16, 2005. As I sit here with a mild hangover from last night’s New Year’s Eve bash, one of my resolutions (which will no doubt fall by the wayside in a week) is to be more diligent about completing projects I start. I’ll finish this blog up after the all-night Planet of the Apes marathon that’s JUST about to start…

I had tried to start this blog, oh, around four times now. Yikes. When I looked back at the number of separate Word documents I had begun to create – and not completed – I grew frustrated with myself. “Why am I not finishing the blogs I start?” was the pivotal question on my mind. I wasn’t sure if it was because it’s been so long since I last wrote & posted a blog (and thus am out of practice), if I haven’t had any thoughts around music in the last 7 months or so, or perhaps I suffer from some form of writer’s block. To determine the root cause, I felt I needed to turn to science! To do so, I donned a white lab coat, printed myself a fancy-looking laminated security badge, set up validation tests on myself, took blood & urine samples, and battered my psyche with a series of potentially dangerous experiments. The results arrived earlier tonight, and for those of you who know me, the answer will shock and astound you. Clearly, without any shred of evidence to the contrary, the tests conclusively demonstrate that I am…… lazy. Not just regular lazy, but the mainframe computer report which is sitting on my desk describes me as “slothfully lazy”. Ouch.

“It’s true” I thought to myself. I AM lazy. I have tons of ideas. I’m even too lazy to write them down in a centralized place when they pop into my head. Actually, that’s more disorganization, than laziness. But I digress. We’re all entitled to have two faults, especially me.

So, I figured that no time would be like the present to hash out some of my thoughts and opinions about music and other things that will amuse a certain segment of the population (translated, this means friends who read this blog out of pity).

Topic for discussion A: The Montreal Music Scene
Remember what I said about me being lazy? Well, it is not only a fact, but it’s proof as to how much better the music scene in this city is compared to…well, compared to how lousy I thought it was going to be. In reality, I have never had a context for how good or bad this city’s scene was. My opinions were solely formed on the fact that Montreal doesn’t get nearly the quality and quantity of shows that Toronto did (or does – like I said, what do *I* know???). How is my laziness proof of how good the music scene is here? Well, we need to examine the number of shows I have not gone to see that were of interest to me (ones that I said “Hey, Band X is in town – I should mark that on the calendar!”). I’ve passed up chances to see Controller Controller, American Analog Set, New Pornographers, Spoon, Black Mountain, Magenta Lane, The Golden Dogs, and a bunch of others that aren’t springing to mind. Some of these bands I know, and others I have only heard buzz about. But, either way, there is not a shortage of talked-about acts coming to Montreal to play.


Topic for discussion B: Shows I Have Seen Since I Have Returned to Montreal
My new life in Montreal kicked off with an ass-busting, fully-packed car ride to Montreal upon my permanent departure from Toronto (and after a night where I had only had around 4 hours or actual sleep because I was packing up my place until the wee hours), whose sole purpose was to get me into town early enough so that I could get down to Metropolis quickly enough to snag a ticket to see Wilco, with openers My Morning Jacket. This is as good a double-bill as I am ever gonna get. Mind you, if Wilco’s the headliner, it wouldn’t matter if Ryan Malcolm from Canadian Idol fame is the opening act (truth be told, I would settle for William Hung, from “making-a-jackass-of-himself” fame).

Lesson learned. Wilco never disappoints. They always put on a top-notch show, beginning to end. To me, all of their songs are winners, and to the 1200 or so fans who showed up to this show. I scored a seat (actually a barstool) in the upper balcony, dead center, a perfect view, and with no shaggy haircuts entering my path of sight. I was a happy, happy man. Music aside, the most gratifying aspect of this showgoing experience was the fact that I bought a ticket off a scalper below face value. God bless ticket scalpers.

I then took off for the entire summer to see the continent known here in North America, as “Europe”. I think this is a wonderful time to let you give your eyes a rest. I’ll have a follow up blog posted in a day or two, so that you can learn more about my zany antics in La Belle Province.