roam the city.

Life is back to normal. Well some kind of normal. Canadian Musicfest ended last Sunday –although in reality it pretty much ends Saturday night for most. It is always strange how quiet the city becomes after a big event like this. You almost feel empty after so much schmoozing, drinking and partying. I wish every day was CMW . Then again, I probably wouldn’t survive. Moderation, moderation.

I wandered the streets on Friday night, going from one venue to another (I got a wristband after all), and it was quite impressive to see how many people were out there doing the same thing. Of course, that also means having to wait in line to go in venues such as The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern.  I just can’t get myself to do that.  Blame it on my ADD.

So here are a few shows that I saw:

Blacky Jackett Jr. at Tattoo Rock Parlour at 8:30pm Friday. My favourite show of the festival.  This band is the side project of James Black and Rick Jackett from Finger Eleven. Not a big fan of the latter, but Blacky Jackett Jr. was exactly my type of show. With back vocals from the sensuous Sandra D. and songs about lost love, whiskey and the desert, this was alt-country at its best. I could have listened to them all night!

Ladies of The Canyon at Rivoli at 10pm Friday. I was very curious to see this country-folk chick band from Montreal (one of the guitarist and the drummer are male but all 4 singers are female). The girls have phenomenal voices and all have their own particularities which creates a beautiful balance in the group. They play keyboards, guitar, bass and even a standup bass (which I loooove!). The only thing that lacked, I thought, were well-written songs.

The Superstitions at Silver Dollar at 11pm Friday. I don’t know why I was expecting much better from this band, probably from what I had heard, but I was very disappointed. I was hoping for some good ol’ rock ‘n roll and this band was a little too pop for me. People seemed to enjoy themselves though, so maybe it’s just my narrow taste in music that made me leave before the end of the show.

I tried to go see Hollerado and Priestess at Sneaky Dee’s but after standing in line in the freezing cold for far too long, I realized the bouncer was only letting people who tipped him generously in to the venue so I moved on to meet some friends at El Mocambo. Needless to say that I don’t plan on going back to that place any time soon after witnessing such behaviour.

Caught two shows at ElMo: Colin Munroe and The Johnstones. Colin is a multi-instrumentalist who can certainly entertain! He is quite something to watch. I’m always blown away by musicians who can do it all. The Johnstones are a punk-ska act that play the visual aspect of their show to the max with no shame. Fun times were had by all.

After all those shows, I met up with more friends from out of town and partied the hell out of this ol’ body of mine. There was a very welcomed stop at Bovine Sex Club for good conversations and more drinks. Our last stop was The Mod Club to gather up more of our friends at the end of the night  –just in time to witness a fight. Not the biggest fan of that club…it is filled with too many uncultured thugs and macho losers for me. It is not a bad place, just not my crowd. At all.

In the end, if I felt like a rockstar Friday night, I did experience the pain of my 29 years the next day. Oh boy!  Gotta drink more water next time!

~More on the festival in a later blog. Gotta get back to work now.~

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sugar coated.

Yesterday I had the honour to be part of a private Sony showcase for a band called The Respectables.  I have known them for a very long time, one member personally, as they have been playing in Quebec for over a decade now (known as Les Respectables). I have always been a fan of their music not because it is the best out there, but because their energy on stage mixed with frontman Seb Plante’s cocky attitude make for a really fun show. Their tunes are catchy and danceable and sometimes that’s all you need.
Up until now I had only heard them sing in French (they catered to a Quebec audience) while I know that in their beginnings their songs were mostly in English. They have now gone back to those roots (hence the change in the band’s name from ‘Les’ to ‘The’) and the new album recorded at Willie Nelson’s studio in Texas will be coming out in April. I am certainly looking forward to hearing and seeing more of them in English Canada in the near future!

Also, last night was the kickoff night of Canadian Musicfest and Tattoo Rock Parlour had a special soiree that was filled with ‘industry people’  but most importantly included Inward Eye performing a late night gig. I could not wait to see this band play and they did justice to the hype surrounding them. Great punk band from Winnipeg, like you seldom see; pure and raw. Music these days, I find, is too polished and prearranged so watching these guys was very refreshing. Check them out: http://www.inwardeye.com/

Today, my friends from Montreal invade the city. I will keep you posted on what happens next as the week unfolds and music takes possession of our souls.

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