Category: Concert Reviews

Last Wednesday, Mike and I went to see Silversun Pickups, Cage the Elephant and An Horse at the Civic Center. Unbeknownst to us, this was a non-beer event which made it quite lackluster once we arrived after a chilling 45 minute walk to discover there just wasn’t much to drink. Also, it was held in the Exhibition Hall and not the regular hockey arena. Strange! It felt like a school cafeteria.

We caught the last half of An Horse, a duo from Australia who were alright. We then met up with another Mike and his girlfriend Vero and we chatted for awhile until Cage the Elephant came on. Now, the only thing that I know about this band is their hit single ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’ which is quite the fun tune to play on the guitar. So my expectations were wide open…and they blew me away! Their single does not accurately portray what this band is…I would like to say that there quite a lot of energy on the stage tonight. The singer’s spastic movements on and off stage (quite a few times he jumped off the stage and at the end he did a nice stomach first crowd surf) were the highlight of the next hour. The set list was energetic and good rock and roll. They reminded me a little of Billy Talent for their sheer onslaught of force. We were all quite impressed by their live show.

The highlight of the night (and for me, perhaps the highlight of the past year in concerts) was the Silversun Pickups. Out of LA, two albums and one EP into their career, they are regarded as the next Smashing Pumpkins. Their use of wicked effects pedals earns them that moniker. Heck, they even have Nikki Monninger on bass guitar just like the Pumpkins usually have a woman up there. I loved their Carnavas album and I REALLY love their latest disc Swoon. It’s quite amazing. I haven’t taken it out of the car for the past few months.

That being said, as soon as they took the stage, I knew we were in for a treat when they opened up with my favourite track from the new album -> Growing Old is Getting Old. A moody, somber atmospheric piece that starts out with a good bass line and explodes near the end with everything the band has to offer.

What I really loved about the band in a live setting were the little things that were different…of particular note was the drummer who was not sitting directly facing the lead singer position, but off center facing the bass player’s corner of the stage. Perhaps this was to show off his Dave Grohl like head banging while playing the drums. Heck, he even had this high-hat which was literally seven feet tall…so while the rest of his drum set is at a normal height, he would have to reach and hit the high-hat which was quite entertaining.

Nikki on the bass seemed to have a great time. She would do little hops and had a smile a mile wide the entire concert. Brian Aubert was the main man, handling both guitar and vocal duties. I was quite surprised to see that only one man was responsible for the sonic assault of screaming guitars for the next two hours. I expected them to have another guitarist for their live set. However, it probably helps that they have someone on keyboards dealing with the addition of some atmospheric sounds.

What can I say about this band other than the fact that it felt like a buzz saw was going through me at certain times. They brought the energy to an all-time high and I was impressed with the Ottawa crowd this time around (whereas they usually disappoint me. Perhaps the secret is in the youth.). Heck, a mosh pit even started during Panic Switch.

I can’t really put into words what I felt this night of seeing them…I was very inspired by their live show and I haven’t been this inspired in a LONG time. The last time I was this inspired was probably at the last Pumpkins concert I saw. The light show, the thunder of the drums, the soaring guitar work…everything rolled into an amazing package and I was blown away by them. If you want to see an amazing show, please, please, please do the band and yourself a favour…

Around noon, I was sitting outside Joelle’s house waiting for her to arrive for the grand U2 trip.  She was already prepared when she pulled up in her car including her excellent concert going shoes which increases her height of 5’3″ to 5’8″.  May I also point out that I notice Bono was wearing the same shoes at the show?

We then headed to Barrhaven to pick up Claude, or rather, have him pick us up as we were taking his sweet Mazda6.  We didn’t have time to peruse his new house as we had to hit the road!

I will admit that I had been stressing out over the logistics of the trip….”Will we hit rush hour if we arrive in Toronto around 4:30-5:00?”, “Will we be able to find a decent parking spot?”, “Will we get a decent spot on the General Admission floor area?”, “Will we have time to eat before the show?”.  The entire summer long I had played it cool and then cracks in my mental foundation started appearing and people were having a good chuckle over it.

In the end, we packed some food for the trip down just in case we couldn’t make it with time to spare.  In the same end, we arrived in downtown Toronto around 5PM with no traffic encountered whatsoever and we managed to find a great parking spot (actually, it was the same exact parking spot that I had used when seeing Pearl Jam the month before, which in turn is the parking lot that Dana parks her car in!) and headed to the Rogers Center which was within view of the lot.

Claude had a few tickets to get rid of so he managed to get rid of them at a loss.  We then scoured some merchandise booths to find out where I could get a Toronto specific poster.  The booths said I would have to go inside to do so and I couldn’t exit the building after.  Luckily, I thought ahead of this eventuality and packed a poster tube to carry it in.  However, just before entering the building we spied another merchandise booth that DID carry the Toronto specific posters so Claude and I picked one up and he returned to the car to drop off the tube.  The poster has now replaced my Vertigo tour poster in my living room.  It’s good to switch it up once in awhile.  I actually like this poster a lot better as it doesn’t have Bono in a ridiculous cowboy hat and is four times larger than all the other members.

We then entered the Rogers Center and made our way down to the General Admission area on the baseball field.  The 360 Tour stage (aka The Claw) was quite a marvel.  It was massive!  I have read a few articles about it…costs $40M to create, takes four days to assemble and two days to disassemble.  It consists of a 360 degree big screen so that anyone in the stadium can take a look.  All in all, it looked like a giant spaceship!

We made our way down to the floor and planted ourselves about five meters in front of the front rail.  Joelle was about four meters away as she wanted to be in the best spot possible.  So to explain where we were in terms of the stage…there is a stage.  Then out from the stage is a pit of people.  Let’s say that pit of people is about 15 meters deep.  Then you hit the catwalk which is a ring around the stage.  Well, we were five meters from the catwalk which was great.  So when the band members would come onto the catwalk, we were quite close.  In fact, even with them on stage, I found myself watching the stage more than the big screen as we were close enough.

Krista, Ben and Vince finally found out is in the crowd (they had come up in a separate car).  They had a beer in hand but I had decided that in a moment like this, it’s impossible to move in and out of the crowd to get a beer.  From 6:00 onwards, no drinks or food were to be had in order to maximize our spot.  Claude, unfortunately, had a headache, got some water which led to him leaving for the washroom at one point and he never made it back to us.  There were just too many people.  There were 13,000 people on the floor, 50,000 people in the stands!  We held our ground.

Snow Patrol opened for U2 and they put on a great show.  Krista introduced me to Snow Patrol and I quite enjoy their second album.  They played quite a few tunes from it and the frontman, Gary Lightbody was quite the entertainer while he laid on top of amplifiers or walked around the stage trying to get the crowd into singing along.  They played all their great hits and we were all impressed by their show.  I was quite impressed when the 360 degree big screen turned on and it was quite brilliant and clear.  What a massive screen!

After Snow Patrol left the stage around 8PM, we waited until 9PM to finally hear the opening song Space Oddity (David Bowie) playing over the PA.  This was it!  The crowd was wild at that point.  Many people were trying to get in front of us.  One girl said “Our friend is right in front of you!”  I asked “What’s his name?”.  They replied “John.”.  “John!  JOHN!” I cried to the people in front of us…alas, no one turned around.  Nice try ladies.

The lights descended and it was a beautiful sight.  Let me tell you something that was extra special about this night….the roof on the Rogers Center was open.  In the history of the Rogers Center, they have only done that for one other band…Bruce Springsteen in 2003.  AC/DC couldn’t get permission, Coldplay couldn’t do it either…but when U2 comes to town…Wow!  The sight was amazing…to my right, the CN tower (which I never knew had a light show at night!  Also…someone on the U2 Interference forums indicated that the opening song had their light show synced to the CN Tower, or vice versa.  Nice!)

The band came out in a stage full of lights and smoke.  They all took their place and ripped into Breathe from their new album No Line on the Horizon.  The crowd was loving it.  I coull tell it would be a better night compared to the night before where I heard the crowd was a little mellow.

They played a string of four songs from their new album…I really enjoyed the live version of the song No Line on the Horizon.  Get on Your Boots is also a fun one even though Vero despises it!

Then the hits came…starting out with Mysterious Ways, they level of enthusiasm skyrocketed.  I couldn’t keep my eyes off the entire scene surrounding me…63,000 fans, a beautiful starry night, the CN Tower beside me and U2 in front of me!  Incroyable!

They went through a good selection from all of their albums.  Claude was quite disappointed that they cut Pride (In The Name of Love) from their set (which was quite strange as it’s a staple song from the past two decades.)

Here’s some general comments of the show:
– First time we had ever heard New Year’s Day in concert.
– Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of…acoustic…excellent.  I had a laugh when Bono was chatting away while The Edge got his guitar and mic set up and he finally said “Edge, what’s taking so long?” and it turns out that his ear-speaker hadn’t been working for the last couple of songs so they had to fix it.  Also, at one point, Bono stopped the song and asked the apartment buildings overlooking the Rogers Center to flick their lights on and off if they were watching.  Sure enough, a slew of apartments started flicking their lights on and off!  We loved it, the crowd went wild.  Imagine the view from up there!
– During City of Blinding Lights, Bono pulled up a boy from the pit and ran around with catwalk with him and lent him his glasses for awhile.  It was quite a great moment for that kid.  The newspaper had interviewed Lucas the next day and he was ecstatic!  Turns out that a woman I work with knows the kid’s parents.  Fancy that.
– The remix of I’ll Go Crazy was quite fun and different to hear.  Larry Mullen Jr. walked around the catwalk pounding his jambe drum.
– I should mention that the cooler stage device was the big screen which actually separated to form a large bee-hive cone at various parts in the show!  Also, the band had a couple of bridges linking the main stage to the catwalk.
– Walk On was an interesting ending of the main set.  They had volunteers with cut-out masks of Aung San Suu Kyi fill the catwalk.
– I personally felt that the main set ended on a down note with Walk On.  I think if they would have continued with One and Streets, it would have been killer.  But they left the stage for a few minutes, returned to play One and then played Streets.  Streets usually evokes this powerful energy in the crowd and I didn’t feel it this time around.  Something was missing.  The second encore started out awesome with Ultraviolet and Bono with his coat full of frickin’ lazer beams (!!!), ended with some killer version of With or Without You which had me yanking Joelle back over to our area and then they ended with Moment of Surrender from the new album.

All in all, while the show was quite amazing, I preferred the structure of the set lists from the previous Elevation and Vertigo tours.  The energy was lacking near the end of the show and I think if they cut out one encore and coupled One and Streets into the main set, it would have made a giant difference.  I can’t complain too much though.  It was a really, really great show and I hope that everyone out there reading this gets a chance to see them when they’ll return to North America in 2010.  I will probably go out again.  But we’ll see.

After the concert, it took us awhile to find Claude but we did, and then we headed for home.  Unfortunately for us, our trip was marred with the disaster of construction on the 401 Express Lane.  It was my own fault…I read the sign on the DVP that said “Express Lane closed for Construction.” but when we saw people entering it I said “Let’s take it!  Maybe the sign is wrong!”.  Sure enough, it was not wrong and it took us 45 minutes to crawl two kilometers while we stared at the collector lanes zooming by.

We arrived in Barrhaven around 4:30AM, picked up my car and then headed for Orleans.  5AM I snuck into the house and stayed up for awhile.  I guess my body was trying to compensate for staying up that late and my brain was saying “It’s alright, we don’t need sleep!”.  But as soon as my head hit the pillow, I slept like a baby until 3PM the next day.

Good times were had all around and I think for Vince, Krista and Ben’s first time, it was legendary.  I did manage to get a bootleg of the concert which isn’t half bad and I have a lead on a DVD of the show as well that I may pursue.

Setlist:

Breathe
No Line on the Horizon
Get on Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Still Haven’t Found
Unknown Caller
New Year’s Day
Stuck In A Moment
Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I’ll Go Crazy If I don’t Go Crazy Tonight Remix
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On

Encore:

One
Streets

Encore:

Ultraviolet
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

*Photos come from the PJ forum user sharptoe*

The next morning, Carrie and I wake up, chat with Nanny, Aunt Dinah and Uncle Richard and figure out things that will happen for the rest of the day. Aunt Dinah and Uncle Richard are gracious enough to lend me both their GPS unit as well as their cell phone for my trip downtown Toronto. I have realized that I am going to look into getting a pay as you go cell phone. It’s quite handy in the circumstances like this where I am heading downtown Toronto and need to meet up with some friends but they have no way in getting in touch with me.

We headed off around 11AM so that I could drop Carrie off at her cousin Jon’s place as they were heading out to a wedding. Fast fact: Did you know that Carrie has lived with 43 different people in her life? We figured that out on the way down. I know you are all intrigued by that fact. How many people have YOU lived with in your life?

I then headed down to Queen’s Quay street (which is pronounced Queens’ Key which posed a problem when I was inputting it into the GPS Unit and did not know that fact. Where the heck did that pronunciation ever come from?) where I was parking my car near Dana’s place. Dana was the lucky winner of joining me for the Pearl Jam concert as both Vero and Mike were unable to come along! I had never been down to Queen’s Quay before but it is quite the nice spot to live as it is right next to the Rogers Center as well as the lake.

After parking the car (for $30 for two days), I walked around downtown in search of a CIBC machine as I had zero cash. I did manage to leave Samantha’s phone number back in the car so I had to hoof it back there in search of it. I did phone Samantha who was up with her friend Kelly to see the concert as well. It’s nice to see that Kapuskasing had a good turn out at the concert!

After meandering around downtown (and stumbling into an excellent CBC Museum which had Mr. Dress-up and Friendly Giant artifacts), I took a nap in Union Station waiting for Sam and Kelly. When I woke up, they phoned and said they were at the station and we decided to head to Jack Astor’s for a little food and drink. We had quite the exuberant waitress!

We then hoofed it down Queens Quay but gave up that mission soon enough and hopped onto a streetcar whose name is probably not Desire, but Awesome as Luke the driver let us get on and pay whatever we wanted as well as let us know where to get off to get to Ontario Place. What a swell guy. Please note that it always helps to be the only guy amongst two beautiful ladies and let them get on first. I’m pretty sure the ‘pay whatever you want’ did not apply to me.

We showed up to Ontario Place and I had visions of winning some sweet seats in Row 1 (as the Ten Club (Pearl Jam’s fan club) has a random lottery for those who purchase tickets via the Ten Club. Alas, it was not meant to be but I got some excellent seats in Section 203 along with a gazillion other fans.

We walked around Ontario Place for a bit, munching on some ice cream and then getting a beer. I had to go back outside to give Dana her ticket but it turns out that she was not outside Ontario Place but at the entrance of the CNE (which was celebrating it’s 175th birthday and was a zoo) so I went back in to the beer garden while waiting for her to show up. I finally found her and we celebrated the fact that Kapuskasing had a few Pearl Jam fans anxious to see the show.

When we hit up the merchandise booth, I must say I was disappointed by most of the choices. I did end up getting a ‘Toronto’ themed tour shirt but I have heard that there is another special one with a vintage Toronto Maple Leafs look to it that I would have rather have. I will scour Ebay for it in the future. I also noticed that the poster I ordered for $42 was selling for $30. I had heard through the years that these posters sell out fast so I decided to order it from the site (another Ten Club perk) but peace of mind came at a price of twelve extra dollars!

An amazing event happened after Sam and Kelly were playing Guitar Hero at the Xbox 360 booth. The guy working there mentioned that we can text a number to see if we win upgraded seats. Dana didn’t win, Kelly didn’t win, but Samantha DID WIN! Incredible! They ran off into the night with the Xbox guy and we figured we would see them later. A great part of this story is the fact that Samantha didn’t have a proper ticket stub (she printed the tickets off) as a memento but now she did!

After snagging a beer and some pizza, Dana and I found our seats in Section 203 and settled in for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. I was quite excited to see them as I am a big fan. I was also hoping to catch Eddie Vedder play an acoustic number or two before the opening act as he usually does.

Sure enough, around 7:30PM he hits the stage! People go wild. However, there was a little special something planned for the night. He explained that The Pharmacists were backstage ready to come up, but Ted Leo was unfortunately stuck in the States due to some border crossing issues. Eddie then proceeded to play two Neil Young covers…Sugar Mountain and The Needle and the Damage Done! He then invited Mike McCready up to play a few more tunes…one song was about his daughter and another one I didn’t recognize. Stone Gossard did come out and play a Johnny Thunders tune, which I knew from Duff McKagan’s version on The Spaghetti Incident?! Then Jeff Ament and Eddie came out for some Bee Girl. The Pharmacists then took the stage and played a few tracks and had Eddie and Mike come back out to play Search and Destroy. Excellent! Mike was shredding away during that song. It was blistering.

Halfway through the opening set we managed to find Samantha and Kelly. They were sitting more in the center of the amphitheater and a few rows behind us. We joined them in the Xbox area and manged to get a waitress! Excellent! Dana and I then decided to scoot over to the seats in the Ottawa Sun area as there was no one there as the Xbox one filled up quickly. In the end, this paid off in spades as we got a better view of the stage and a waitress for the rest of the night! People did up in the box but just assumed we were invited there was well so they all stood around with us rocking out! I especially enjoyed this one woman’s (Anne) company as she knew all the words to the songs as well so we rocked out together for the most part. That’s what I love about Pearl Jam fans….they are just there to have a good time.

After the opening set, the band came back out around 9PM and tore apart all known boundaries of awesomeness and opened with ‘Of The Girl’ which is a rare one indeed. The setlist for the night was Yield Album heavy which is fine by me. Off that album we got Brain of J, Given to Fly, Faithful and Do The Evolution.

Some highlights:
– The Fixer and Got Some (from the upcoming album) were excellent. I also think the fans really enjoy The Fixer.
– The fans in Toronto are rabid and they didn’t let up for a moment. The band were really enjoying themselves.
– Off He Goes was a real treat!
– Mike McCready was on fire that night…1/2 Full, Black, Alive, Porch…come on….it was incredible. Sometimes I would look at the video screens and they would be on Mike and we would be lost in his own world rocking out.
– Lukin/Not For You was the highlight of the night. THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!
– Porch followed by Rocking in the Free World left us in awe. I wasn’t disappointed at all to not hear Yellow Ledbetter ending off the night. Although I heard that it was on the setlist.
– Eddie going out into the crowd!
– Eddie falling on his ass during Even Flow

I am hoping that I may see some video footage of Dana and I rocking out during the last song as the guy in front of us was taking an extended video of the entire crowd. I did give him my email address so you never know. However, I am going to bank on him NOT sending me the footage as I also noticed that at one point he asked his girlfriend to flash him and I was behind her at the time so I didn’t get a look at what happened but she did do something that put a smile on his face! So the odds of me getting that footage are slim to none!

All in all, seeing Pearl Jam from 7:30PM – 11:30PM with a little break in between was more than I could ask for and it was a grand night indeed. I can’t even begin to say how many thumbs up this concert deserved. In the future I know I am going to follow Pearl jam to each concert for an entire tour. They put on the best show on the planet. I’m glad that we got to have a taste of it on Friday night.

Thanks to Samantha and Kelly for hanging out with me on Friday as well as Dana coming along for the ride during the evening and hosting me for the night after the concert!

Setlist:
1. EV – Sugar Mountain
2. EV – Needle and the Damage Done
3. MM – acoustic song
4. MM – acoustic song
5. SG – You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory (Johnny Thunder cover)
6. EV and JA – Bee Girl
7. Pharmacists – Hybrid Moments
8. Pharmacists – Lions Den (French Toast)
9. Pharmacists – Treble In Trouble
10. Pharmacists – Blitzkrieg Bop
11. Pharmacists – Search And Destroy (Iggy Pop) (w/Ed Ved and Mike McCready)

Set List: Of The Girl, Corduroy, Severed Hand, Why Go, Brain Of J, I Am Mine, The Fixer, Given To Fly, Off He Goes, Even Flow, Unemployable, Faithful, Down, Got Some, 1/2 Full, Lukin, Not For You/(Modern Girl – Sleater Kinney), Do The Evolution

1st encore: Inside Job, Wishlist, Black, Alive

2nd encore: Small Town, Wasted Reprise, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Porch, Rockin’ In The Free World

Opening band: Tim Hus (his band was also Stompin’ Tom’s backing band)

 

I’m sitting here in Montreal typing away in what I must call a modern snapshot. I’m surrounded by items that may or may not have come from Ikea, but it all works together and it’s pretty darn cool sitting here while watching a swivel HD TV in front of me. Granted, it’s on the Country Music Network and I’m not sure why I haven’t turned it off.

For my birthday, Vero got us tickets to see Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, otherwise known as the geniuses behind The Guess Who as well as Bachman-Turner Overdrive. I would consider them to be the Canadian equivalent to Lennon-McCartney, Jagger-Richards and Palmer-Palmer.

Our friend Benoit tipped us off to a Bed and Breakfast that he and Cinthia frequent in downtown Montreal. It is called Les Bon Matins and is located directly across from the Bell Center. We called and arranged to stay at a satellite bed and breakfast as they were all booked. Because it was a Wednesday night that we were heading up and they hadn’t booked it already, they gave us the apartment style accommodations for $150! It had a bar, a fridge, a living room, a jacuzzi tub and all the other things you need to have when hitting up Montreal for a night.

We arrived around 7PM in what appeared to be an interesting area of town (Papineau and Rue Ontario) but then discovered that you should never judge a book from its cover. As soon as we walked inside we were amazed by the place. Thanks to Benoit and Cinthia for recommending this place. It definitely beat out a hotel room in downtown Montreal which I’m sure we would get for the same price.

We walked up to Theatre St-Denis and headed in to the sounds of Booker T playing. The usher brought us to Row E which was 10 rows from the stage! It was a great view and the seats were super comfortable. Booker T is not known to either of us but from his comments, he has been around for awhile considering he recorded some songs with Otis Redding back in the sixties. After hearing a few songs from the end of the set, we sat back and waited for the main attraction to hit the stage.

When the show started, they had a montage of video and photos from Bachman-Cummings lives together. They were quite young when they started out! They then hit the stage along with their backing band who were quite entertaining, especially the bass player.

What a show! A little context for you…I don’t own any albums from these prolific songwriters but that’s something I shall rectify. They pulled out all the stops…they started off with some well known tunes like Clap for the Wolfman and You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet. They chatted a lot between songs about their travels together and apart and how they respected each other as songwriters. Burton Cummings played a solo track from his new album and then he left the stage to allow Randy Bachman to play a jazzy number from his new jazz album. They both took the stage again and played all the hits…American Woman, These Eyes, No Sugar Tonight, Let it Ride, Hey You…I’m sure I’ll think of more later on. I really enjoyed the showmanship of Cummings as he would play the piano like he was born to do and then get up and rock a little bit while showing off his skills. Bachman soloed as well as any other guitarist out there and he looked like a rocker with his leather pants and t-shirt. I really enjoyed the intimate feeling of the concert as they chatted about how they wrote some songs (No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature being two separate songs written in the same key and joined together). They encored with Share the Land and Taking Care of Business which got the crowd going. I really enjoyed the crowd tonight. The majority of the show was spent sitting down but Vero and I felt comfortable getting up to rock out for a few choice tracks that we loved.

This was the last show of the tour and we feel privileged to see them. I would definitely check them out in the future although I’m not sure if the setlist would ever change all that much. It was packed with the hits and even though I don’t own an album, there were only 5-6 tunes that I wasn’t familiar with and even if I wasn’t, it didn’t matter. They were professional musicians who played amazing music. I’m happy that Vero surprised me with tickets to this show. I love you!

We then headed back to the room where we enjoyed the pleasures within…namely a bridge with some cold Boreale beer!

So I hit here the morning after thinking about how different my life would be if I lived in downtown Montreal in a place like this. It would be amazing. Oh, there’s Vero. Must run. We’re off to see Philipp for lunch and then bring him to Ottawa. He’s leaving Canada soon and he needs to visit the embassy as the Montreal-German embassy has closed down for some reason.

Setlist

 

Rock ‘n’ Roll Train
Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be
Back in Black
Big Jack
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Shot Down in Flames
Thunderstruck
Black Ice
The Jack
Hells Bells
Shoot to Thrill
War Machine
Dog Eat Dog
Anything Goes
You Shook Me All Night Long
T.N.T.
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock

Highway to Hell
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

 

It was a long ride through the Gauntlet but I must admit, it was a fun ride this year.

For some reason, there weren’t too many bands that I was dying to see, but there were enough that made me want to check them out. A good litmus test would be to say “Who would spend $60 to see?” vs. “Who would be good to see for $20?”.

Logistically, I thought Bluesfest had everything going for them this year. I thoroughly enjoyed the no-wristband policy for the entrance as it allowed me to sell of tickets I would not have used anyhow. The beer wristband policy was a pain some days as the lineups to get a wristband were as long as the beer lineups. I understand completely why they wanted to do this but I am not sure if it sped up matters. In the time it takes to check my ID and take my cash at the beer counter, the person getting the beer has returned from the back. So it’s not like they are wasting TOO much time. Either way, this is a minor, minor issue.

The selection of food is great, the stages are set up nicely, the sound bleed isn’t TOO bad. This year was the year of ‘abide by the by-law and don’t crank music over 90 decibels!’ I thought that some concerts were lacking in their oomph of volume (Sam Roberts) which took away from the otherwise perfect show. I wonder if there is a way to get an exemption to a by-law or how much the fine is?

Once again, the lawn chair war was waged. I can’t say I encountered too many lawn chairs as we had a good system of avoiding them by hanging out near the walking path. The KISS concert incident where Vero got pinched and shoved by lawn chair people made me realize once again, that it wouldn’t be a bad thing if they had a separate section for the lawn chairs. I am not entirely sure why they don’t bother trying that again.

I also enjoyed that Vero had a pass and came out every night with us. It’s nice to share these moments with your girlfriend.

My favourite night would have to be Thursday when Metric and Ben Harper with Relentless7 played. What a night, what a couple of shows! Incredible!
Standout Acts:
Metric
Ben Harper and Relentless 7
Stone Temple Pilots
KISS

Acts that I Knew Nothing About But Turned out to be Amazing:
BEAST
Paolo Nutini
Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Acts that I thought I would think were amazing but really just dragged on:
Jeff Beck

Two thumbs up to the organizers of Bluesfest this year. They have outdone themselves with the amount of great acts they managed to bring to our fair city! Cheers!

On Sunday, we headed over to Duncan’s (my) old place in Bayshore to help him move. He was moving out at the end of the month and there was a lot of work to be done. Luckily, they managed to rent a truck which was the best idea ever. We would have been there for days if he didn’t have that truck with him.

Unfortunately, Duncan had not really packed anything beforehand so it was a little awkward to always ask him where certain things went. Mike and I dealt with the heavy stuff…getting that couch out of the basement was ridiculous and even more so after we realized we had to throw it into the trash! Bayshore House had accumulated approximately 20 roommate’s worth of junk since 1998 when I first rented the place. A lot of good memories were had there and I will miss the place. It has now become nothing of its former self…Duncan lives with two roommates which he doesn’t really talk to as they are not friends with us. He decided to finally bite the bullet and move out with his girlfriend.

So there we were, throwing out BBQs, patio furniture, furniture that had been there for years and no one would use…packing the moving truck. It wasn’t a hard move, but it wasn’t fast moving either! No matter, it was a decent day to do some moving.

The greatest part of the day was when I started hauling stuff from under the stairs to discover that it was primarily some stuff I had left there for the past decade! I found an old pair of skis, a dumbbell and the Holy Grail, my old record player! Beauty! Too bad that the left speaker input seems to be blown. I’ll have to see if I can re-solder it one day.

We then packed everything up, headed to a storage area where he’ll keep his stuff while the basement gets renovated in Kristen’s house and voila, the day was done by 6PM which was great timing as I was heading back out to the final day of Bluesfest.

I was in no shape to go to Bluefest and it wouldn’t have bothered me not to go. I was tired from moving, tired from Bluesfest, tired from the night out…I was tired! But Vero and I decided to go for the final night and I was pleased with the decision.

First stop was the food tents…I picked up some excellent fish and chips while Vero picked up some random pad thai dish which tasted like an Italian pasta dish. Vero was not pleased, threw it out and then bought a poutine instead. We sat down to watch The Dead Weather, which seems to be on everyone’s mind solely from the power of Jack White (of White Stripes/Raconteur fame) being in the band (on drums nonetheless!). Perhaps it was the fact that I was dead tired and hungry, but I didn’t really appreciate anything coming from the stage so we headed over to see Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women which was some country/blues band who were entertaining as Dave played guitar with an backing band of women. I had a nap over there and when I awoke, we headed over to catch the final act of the night, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Benoit had told me he thought this band was excellent and I had heard this from a few other people as well. We positioned ourselves center stage and when the band finally hit the stage, it was…interesting. The music was quite catchy in an indie/punk/dance kind of vibe. It took awhile to get used to the singer who would basically sing and then scream into the mic. Vero didn’t really care for the vocals at all but I must admit that we both thought the band was decent musically and I’m sure I will enjoy studio versions of their songs.

Oh, I forgot that they released this giant inflatable eyeball into the crowd which stayed there for the better part of the night. At one point one guy actually ran away with it which was hilarious as this eyeball was quite large. I didn’t think one guy could handle it.

They definitely have convinced me to pick up an album of theirs and give a listen which is probably the best thing a band could ask for!

For the life of me, I can’t recall what I did on Saturday afternoon…I’m assuming we relaxed around the house for awhile. But at night, we headed back out to what had to be a great show…Lynyrd Skynyrd! We arrived while Ludacris was playing the Rogers Stage, grabbed a beer and headed to ‘the spot’. We couldn’t get close to ‘the spot’, so we just planted ourselves where we would be comfortable as well as convenient to nab a beer. We did end up right in front of Joe’s brother Ivo and his wife so that was fun.

Lynyrd Skynyrd did not disappoint whatsoever. Only this band would call their tour the ‘God and Guns’ tour and they had a backdrop to show it! I don’t know MANY songs from the band, but Mike was loving every moment of it. We did manage to make it closer up front near the end of the set and at that point, there was a guy chatting to Mike who was PLASTERED drunk but was amusing. He even saw me and say “Hey, do you know this guy (pointing to Mike)? I work with him!” where Mike just shakes his head meaning “I have no idea who this dude is!”. We managed to convince him that his friends were ahead of us so he shuffled off closer to the stage.

Of course, the highlight of the night was witnessing Free Bird in the live format. Mike and I were ecstatic! This was THE song which has infiltrated rock and roll pop culture…I’m sure if Beethoven were alive, someone would ask him to cover that song! It was great and definitely one of the better 10 minutes in rock history for us. Awesome!

Mike, Matt and I then headed down to the Market to meet up with (another) Mike’s bachelor party which was in full swing. Thank the Lord for cellular phones as we would have had no idea where to meet them. We stood in line at the Heart and Crown before deciding to hit up the gentleman’s club which was going to be their next stop. Then it turned out that they decided to go elsewhere and that we should meet them at the Heart and Crown. There was Mike in all his glory and I had a good laugh seeing him in a blissful state. It was good to see a bunch of the guys I haven’t seen in awhile. Shannon made it down for the event which was great!

We ended up deciding to head out to another gentleman’s club so we piled into the truck and by the time we got to the club, we had lost half the entourage as they had gone home for the night! What the heck?

In the end, the night was decent…there was another bachelor at the club who was beyond repair and was amusing to see. I also noticed everyone in the bar wearing Corono straw hats and I found out later that there was a promotion that night if you bought a bucket of beer.

The night ended as it always does…too soon…but it was a good time all around.

Mike, Vero and I went to Bluesfest on Friday night to catch some old faves, some new ones, and one that we skipped altogether. Cake was playing the Rogers stage and they were entertaining. Karilee was upset that they didn’t play The Distance but I didn’t notice whatsoever as the band had a good rapport with the crowd and played a few tunes that I recognized as well as some tunes that I thought were simply outright funny. It was sprinkling on us a little from the clouds overhead but we didn’t let that deter us.

Onwards and upwards…we decided to skip out on Blue Rodeo to check out a supposed sensation..Paolo Nutini…some Scottish lad with an Italian name. My colleague Visar was heading out to see him so I figured he must be a decent act if people who don’t generally frequent Bluesfest are now coming out.

He had quite the band up on stage…rockers and horn section and everything. Ben had described him as a crooner but he definitely was not. His music did resemble the classic 50s style bands where their music had one goal…to make people dance! I swear I was part of the Enchantment Under The Sea dance from Back to the Future at one point! Paolo was definitely a fun act to watch and I believe I shall pick up his album. He had so much energy and the band was great as well. Vero couldn’t get over the fact that he seemed to be hunched over like a Hunchback while singing. I didn’t really mind it…I suppose it was his ‘thing’.

Most of the set was quite energetic and then they hit a slower song spot before getting back into the energy. Every band has this going for them but I thought his slow set was quite long. 4-5 songs from what I remember. It is a shame that they never came back out for an encore as the crowd was demanding it. This also happened with Metric earlier in the week. I guess there’s a strict ‘no encore’ for non-main stage bands?

I give as many thumbs up as I can for this act. It was fun, the crowd was loving him, and he was slugging beer like a true Scotsman. Good show!

On our way out, we headed towards the main stage to catch the end of Blue Rodeo’s set. We heard “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet” as well as “Try”. Actually, we heard these songs while walking back to the car. I was just too tired to stick around for another few songs and then have to push through 30,000 people to our car. We called it a night and headed home once again.