Van-city, Day One

The band played three shows in Vancouver. The first was at a fantastic deck party hosted by Joy and Jacob from the band The People Versus.

It was a great afternoon of music on a roof deck overlooking Commercial Drive. A couple of my favourites were the the bands e.s.l. and Johnny Wakeham and Featherwolf. e.s.l.'s singer Marta has a really cool voice. She also plays with the band girl nobody, who have a new album coming out on Jericho Beach this September.

After the deck party Slow Down played a set at Hokos, a cool little venue/sushi/karaoke bar. I played the mini piano for a couple songs. The owner filmed a lot of the show and posted it on YouTube (click the link). The All Purpose Voltage Heroes also played an extremely energetic set, while dressed in construction outfits and making boxes. Check them out, they really rock. Ryan Walter Wagner rounded out the night with an acoustic solo set.

Oh, Alberta

Here are some photos from the first leg of the journey. We left Saskatoon Friday around noon, and arrived in Calgary just in time for some bacon wrapped corn at The Palomino, where the band played. They played a good set, up next to local acts Summer Abney and Drunken Public Love. I sold several CD's, and one of the guys pictured in the fan club photo paid me five bucks to watch his sweater. I'm glad to have made a contribution.

Then it was back in the van for an overnight drive. Patrick handled the worst of the driving, and then Ryan drove all morning until we got to Merritt. The fourth photo was taken just as the sun was coming up in the Rockies. It was a beautiful drive.

Slow Down, Molasses: ON TOUR

WHERE: West Coast
WHEN: Aug. 31-Sept.9

www.myspace.com/slowdownmolasses

Hi Mom,

I'm in Vancouver, on tour with this band. We are all alive and having a great time. Internet use is too scarce, but perhaps photos and more posts will follow!

-Jeanette

Field Festival

Field was... well, it was last weekend already.

Because of the monsoon-like conditions I left my camera locked in the trunk of a car for the entire weekend. So, no pictures from this event, but a few thoughts.

Interesting:

1) Lily's On Mars.

This band came out of nowhere. This group makes the strangest music, but that's what makes them incredibly interesting. Five word description? Punk Rock Albertan Gypsy Music. Girl-wonder Duck sang in Cree, Spanish and French, and singer Dusty Ross counterbalanced with his strange 1950s movie-star style. Combined with hula hoop performance, it's clear they do whatever they want to. It's on the verge of working seamlessly.

2) Emaline Delapaix and the Delistocracy.

Who is she? What does she do? I have no idea, but she did sing some ABBA. Didn't really get the crowd going, but she has a very pretty voice.

3) Birds are Dinosaurs.

Not content to be crazy with just a horn section alone, this Regina octet has an oboe. Trippy, transcendental or whatever they were going for. Late at night in a grove of trees, it worked.

Tried and True:

Also saw some good local acts who are always fun to watch and/or heckle. Paul Kuzbik is now a trio, and a good-sounding one. Featuring former Despitado members, Regina lads Geronimo are doing some good things. Saw the Deep Dark Woods play a ramblin', old-time rockin' set, and Volcanoless in Canada destroyed a box of macaroni.

Oh, and The Weakerthans were there. They played some new songs, which were nice, and some old songs, which were nice to sing along to. John K. Samson is cute.

Field Festival has some promise. In bridging the distance between the province's two largest cities, it definitely has the potential to be a truly Saskatchewan festival. If they continue to think about showcasing local acts, along with bringing in a few solid headliners, there is room for this event to grow in the next few years. Kudos to the organizers for making an attempt, and to the community of Craik for getting into it as well, letting a couple hundred people trample all over their nice little regional park.

Field Music Festival

Field Music Festival is this weekend. The weather network is predicting cold, I'm bringing a toque and mitts, and I'll dance to keep warm.
With two stages going all night and camping it should be fun if the cold doesn't get us down.
The line-up this year is pretty impressive. The festival had a number of applicants from as far away as England, but they've kept the focus mainly on artists from the Prairies. While it might have something to do with cost, it's also acting as a way for local artists to get some exposure up next to The Weakerthans, who in their first Saskatchewan show in a long time, are likely to bring a sizeable crowd.
Check out this article for more about the band.
Check out this link for more about Field Festival.

Line Up

Friday:
MAIN STAGE
4:00-5:00 PM Joelle Fuller Band
5:30-6:30 PM The Nancy Ray-guns
7:00-7:30 PM Emaline Delapaix & The Delistocracy
8:30-9:30 PM Volcanoless in Canada
10:00-11:00 PM IBO & Kindread
11:30-12:30 AM DEF 3
1:00-2:00 AM Grand Analog
SECOND STAGE
4:45-5:45 PM TBA
6:15-7:15 PM John Fettes
7:45-8:45 PM Birds are Dinosaurs
9:15-10:15 PM Tribal Vibes
10:45-11:45 PM Bunnyhug
12:15-1:30 AM DJ Neon
1:45-300 AM The Gaff
3:15-4:30 Record Playing Grant
DAY 1 ENDS

Saturday:
MAIN STAGE
1:30-2:30 PM The Deep Dark Woods
3:00-4:00 PM Paul Kuzbik
4:30-5:30 PM Arms Up
6:00-7:00 PM The Wheatmonkeys
7:30-8:30 PM The Rebellion
9:00-10:00 PM Geronimo
10:30-11:30 PM The Weakerthans
SECOND STAGE
2:15-3:15 PM Lily's On Mars
3:45-4:45 PM John Powers
5:15-6:15 PM Li'l Andy
6:45-7:45 PM Slowdown Molasses
8:15-9:15 PM These Hands
9:45-10:45 PM Adverse Vital Signs
12:00-1:30 AM Square Sound Round Body
1:30-300 AM Hard Toe
3:00-4:30 Mikhail
DAY 2 ENDS

Immaculate Machine

WHO: Immaculate Machine
WHERE: Amigo's
WHEN: Aug. 16

I've been listening to Immaculate Machine's Fables albums since slightly before it came out this June (just had to assert my street cred).

Sometimes it really helps to get to know songs really well before shows, which is admittedly something I don't always do. I liked that the Victoria-based trio mixed up their old ones with the new, although the new really did seem fresher, sparklier, and strangely more youthful.

I would have loved to hear Kathryn Calder (who does some time with The New Pornographers) sing more ballads from the new album. I was waiting for the Regina line — "I've never been so glad to see Regina before" — in the song Northeastern Wind, but I think I may have missed it. Her voice is such a treasure, so quiet and unassuming, yet enchanting and incredibly nuanced. At times fellow vocalist and guitarist Brooke Gallupe's voice overpowered hers, as he puts a lot more push behind it, but some of the best moments vocally were when the pair listened carefully to each other in their harmonies.

Immaculate Machine did play C'mon Sea Legs, which was redemption for me. I didn't realize it but that song has infected my brain on several occasions, and served as a rallying cry for any scary thing I've had to do during the past few months.

The group is just about done their summer tour behind the album, then according to drummer Luke Kozlowski, the hard-working band is travelling up and down the west coast, then over to the east coast, then perhaps overseas in the new year. It might be all work and no play, but the unmistakable joy I detected on Kozlowski's face as they locked tightly into their up-tempo songs shows that it's worth it. And it was worth it for me, so they should know their hard work isn't wasted on these ears. Cheers.

Pictures coming soon.

Spiral Beach

WHO: Spiral Beach
WHERE: Amigo's
WHEN: Aug. 16/07

Spiral Beach blew my mind.

"How old are these guys?" I heard from audience members over and over.

What I was focused intently on was their aesthetic. They decorated the stage with rope lights and pylons before the show. They had a sign with their names on it up behind them, just in case we couldn't remember who they are. Their merch table was illuminated, with a shining, rotating disco ball and black light glowing on the prices for their stuff.

The skinny foursome is travelling around the country on their own, like a rag-tag band of orphans, societal misfits, Oliver Twists. Two of them are brothers, their parents are folk singers. On one hand I feel like someone should just take them in for the evening and mother this Toronto-based foursome, but on the other hand it takes astounding gumption and maturity to hit the road as a Toronto-based indie-band when you are just barely old enough to buy cigarettes.

It's not their first tour either. Definitely more is to be expected from these young, ambitious upstarts, with their keyboard based pop. They put so much energy into the show, and creating not just a perfunctory performance, but actually trying to entertain their audience.

I was too transfixed to take pictures, which is unfortunate, because their frizzed hair and matching outfits added greatly to the neon horror-movie vibe. So cool.

Check out their myspace: www.myspace.com/spiralbeach