27

now what?

tank you, tanqueray

for providing me with the worst day after drinking day ever. on the hour puking for nearly half the day, apparently i was green, and i couldnt even keep water down. im gonna feel this tomorrow, me thinks. i've said it before, and i'll say it again: im never doing THAT again. ;)

so the occassion was the golden dogs at call the office, and a bit of an early birthday get-down... i mean, who wants to celebrate on a tuesday?

i wish i could say i remembered much about the show, but all i do remember is that it was pretty short, there were at least 3 brand new songs i'd never heard before, and it rocked super fucking hard. no one rocks like dave azzolini. 2 songs in and he'd reached rock-god status (again) with us, the rest was gravy. i do remember a kickass 1985, and thats about all i needed.

i tried to take some pictures... they were pretty weak, but at least i know i was there.

lemons > lemonade

another slip weekend

the long weekend this year brought another little 2 night Slip run to ontario, and for me it also marked the 4 year anniversary since i first saw them at come together in '03.

friday night in Toronto they played at the mod club, and i actually missed most of it, after missing a bus out of london, being on a late running train, and not anticipating that the band might start before 11. i got there around quarter to twelve and the doorman told me they were just about done... sure enough, i only caught the tail end of the set and the encore, moonlight mile, which was cool to see again. when they choose to, they do some great covers.

afterwards, we went over to the horseshoe to hook up with an old friend, and it turned out that Heavy Trash (the sadies w/ jon spencer) were playing to a sold out room... but, the sound at the front of the bar was great, and we chilled inside for a couple drinks and listened to the last couple songs and encore of that show, too.

saturday night in Hamilton was at the casbah and it was a show of shows. totally made up for missing most of the toronto gig.. this is probably mostly of out order, but the set looked something like this:

life in disguise
there's a lie
even rats
weight of solomon (new/alternate version)
airplane/primitive remix
get me with fuji
suffocation keep
heartbreaker (zeppelin cover)
soft machine
yellow medicine
wine and white soda
modern love (bowie cover)

encore:
74

the whole show was one big massive highlight, but for me, it was awesome to see 74, yellow medicine, and weight of solomon... 3 big tunes that i'd yet to see them do live. 74 had a bit of a different flavour, not being played with a banjo - more of a rocker - its been a favourite of mine for a long time and tends to take me back to a stretch of hwy 102 when i hear it, so i was pretty happy when they started it up for the encore.

weight of solomon and yellow medicine are old school classics, and to be honest, i've always kinda come from the camp that never really cared all that much how often they went to the back catalogue to pull some of these monsters out, BUT, i gotta say, after experiencing a yellow medicine live and in-person - yeah, i can see why people want them to reach back a little more often. it was incredible. andrew took a huge solo in the middle of it, and seeing the other guys reactions while he was hammering it out was priceless - brad cheerin' his brother on, marc lovin' it. talking to andrew after the gig he said he realized how much of an "i dont give a fuck" kinda song that is, and they totally displayed that attitude when they laid it on us.

the whole night they seemed to be having tons of fun. they looked really loose, and were obviously firing on all cylinders and knew it, which i think allowed for them to just lighten up and pour it on.

they tried out a techno kinda remix of airplane/primitive that came off really well - one thing i always appreciated about these guys was how different the same song could sound from night to night, and this was a great example of their creativity.

fuji and heartbreaker also featured some great shredding from brad.

i was trying to shoot in hamilton and i mostly wanted to catch their reactions to each others playing, but i was having a terrible time so i gave up to just enjoy the show they were putting on for us. i didnt shoot at all in toronto.

i also brought a couple first-timers to the shows, and after the hamilton show scully told me they renewed her faith in live music.. certainly, i know the feeling. it was that kinda show again from the boys.

i'm no poet.

i wish i could play guitar so i could write a song
to say sorry to all the people who i've done wrong
to let them know how i feel ashamed
and let them know how i'm trying to change

i wish i had the voice to carry the tune
i'd sing it loudly and often and right at you
i'd hope you'd hear it and i'd hope you'd see
i'm just trying to be the best i can be

i saw the arcade fire last night.

so there's lots i havent written about lately... there was a slip show in montreal. a female icelandic string band, called amiina, in toronto. there were the final rheostatics shows in waterloo and toronto, at the horseshoe and massey hall, in all their bittersweet goodbye to heroes laryngitic glory. i've been working on promo, looking into studios, and thinking about taiwan. my stomach went from bad to worse, then i had a cheeseburger at patty's, and it got better again. i've been reading lots of news, and watching lots of hockey. there was sharkwater, and im in the middle of the planet earth series. i saw eternal sunshine of the spotless mind for the first time, and im not sure i ever want to see it again. the words of springsteen and adams have run back into my life like a hurricane... neil's been around, too.

that should bring us pretty close to date, to last night, when i went and saw the arcade fire at massey hall.

take me to the river and wash me in the water.

i was curious how this would pan out during the first song, black mirror, looking around a sold out massey hall, everyone on their feet, but generally apprehensive otherwise - still feeling out the room, the band, the crowd - but i got my answer when the song finished. Win, in a move surely designed to give the massey hall staff a coronary, invited anyone who wanted to to come up as close as they could, use up the aisles, and have a rock n roll party. good call, Win. from then on, it was a massey hall shitshow. the energy in the room went up hundred-fold, the band obviously fed off it and delivered a powerful set of tunes from their records, highlighted for me by Antichrist Television Blues (for jerry falwell, hahahah), Ocean of Noise, the Neighbourhood's Tunnels and Power Out, and Rebellion (lies). sincerely, it's hard to separate it all - one pocket of glory to the next - when you have so much intensity coming at you from all angles, in every moment of the night. the arcade fire use upwards of 10 humans with big voices and a wealth of energy, heavy percussives, driving bass and guitar rhythms, organs, keyboards and string instruments to create this monstrous apocalyptic wall of sound gospel rock. it may not sound anything like what you think gospel music would sound like, but hell if it aint near religious to some degree. they can also contain it all, mellow it down and tug softly on your heart strings, which despite its brilliance, leads to my only critisism of the show: coming out for the encores, with so much of the crowds energy in the palm of their hand, and pulling off a mellower tune.. great perfomance, but the rocker in me wanted them to use our energy up for all it was worth.

and i didnt get to live a Wake Up in massey.

off-stage, the highlight was easily the toronto crowd. *gasp*!. i know. did i just say that? its true, though. the crowd was incredible. easily the most diverse and eclectic group of people i've ever seen having the same reactions all night, and as if it wasnt enough to just be simply having reactions, as most toronto crowds are pretty dull, these folks were into it, BIG TIME! from start to finish, i've never seen massey hall entirely on her feet. absolutely beautiful.

tonite is night 2, and i can only imagine what they have in store for that crowd.

go see the arcade fire if you ever have the chance.

friends...

this afternoon with you was something like a letter. the kind that someone writes but never sends. and when you look at me like that, i know someday its gonna end. and when you get old, i bet you miss your friends.

these things inside me they repeat like broken records, spinning pretty somethings behind my eyes. and when i cant look at you, i can paint your picture perfectly in my mind. and when i get old, im gonna miss you all the time.

- r.a.

what's eating grampa?

if you've got a clue, i'd love to know.

the stones have left the building, and the brunswick's being bulldozed.

spring has flushed the swedes from the coast and brought the winds of lament, so thick you can taste the yeast in the air. batty and blue.

but, we escaped russia, alright.

if that's all we ever do....