seriously.
once upon a time i thought i might have shit to say.. now im not so sure.
and who really cares, anyway?
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
new website and blog address
ok - so we're going through some changes over here.
i've switched to a blogspot address for the blog here, so if you've had this page bookmarked, you'll have to rebook it - http://scottography.blogspot.com is the new address.
it's also received a slight make-over to coincide with the much larger make-over received at www.scottography.com - check that out when you've got some time as well.
i'll get that link fixed over there, too....
i've switched to a blogspot address for the blog here, so if you've had this page bookmarked, you'll have to rebook it - http://scottography.blogspot.com is the new address.
it's also received a slight make-over to coincide with the much larger make-over received at www.scottography.com - check that out when you've got some time as well.
i'll get that link fixed over there, too....
Friday, February 23, 2007
do.make.say.think.02.22.07.cto
pure post-prog orchestra rock.
the bar was packed, the band was loud.
i closed my eyes and watched a picture show.
did. made. heard. thought.
the bar was packed, the band was loud.
i closed my eyes and watched a picture show.
did. made. heard. thought.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Sunday, February 04, 2007
golden dogs 02.01.07
.. caught the golden dogs at call the office last thursday night after bowling (we took 5), and they completely rocked the place, as was to be expected.
a short set, also kind of expected, that ploughed through mostly newer stuff, but threw in a few from the first record as well.... opened with birdsong, closed with Yeah!... highlights of the night for me were Dynamo, and 1985... the Dynamo just got so huge with everyone locked in, just some big ass rock 'n roll, and 1985 is such a disgusting Wings cover they do, when dave gets rippin' into the solo, it's all over.
no encore, which was a bit of a bummer considering the shortness of the set, but i guess that gives them more reason to come back.... and soon, i hope.
a short set, also kind of expected, that ploughed through mostly newer stuff, but threw in a few from the first record as well.... opened with birdsong, closed with Yeah!... highlights of the night for me were Dynamo, and 1985... the Dynamo just got so huge with everyone locked in, just some big ass rock 'n roll, and 1985 is such a disgusting Wings cover they do, when dave gets rippin' into the solo, it's all over.
no encore, which was a bit of a bummer considering the shortness of the set, but i guess that gives them more reason to come back.... and soon, i hope.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
nero reunion shows
so a couple weeks ago i went to ottawa with scottie and diane (and a crapload of nero fans spanning half the country) to relish in the nero reunion shows for 2 nights at maverick's. January 12th and 13th 2007. a lot of familiar faces from a lot of places, and the tunes we'd all been missing since the band took a hiatus after their new years 2004 show, was recipe enough for one of the best weekends of live music atmosphere i can recall.
first of all, i had a sh!t eating grin on my face all weekend, since about belleville, on the way up. i remember saying to scottie at one point that there's enough people travelling up that damn highway for these shows that they better open with 401 Theme. if not, it could potentially ruin my weekend.
thanks for not ruining my weekend, nero. ;)
but, really, think about it... so many chapters of nerodom gathered in one place.... i think chatham had a representative from just about every city, but we (team london) represented... there was team k/w, guelph, hamilton, team toronto, peterborough came to play, folks from kingston, likely quebec, and i know the maritimes were out in full force with folks from fredericton, moncton, saint john, and the island.
and then of course, there's the home team. team ottawa. we converge on them and, with loving arms, they open their doors to their couches and their floors... and oh, what a time we have...
so, you have all these people converging on one place, for 2 nights, to see these 3 guys play their music that they havent played for 2 years. that's a lot of miles, but not really. not for this. what's more is that's a lot of power in that music to get those wheels moving, i think. to bring all those people together. 2 sold out nights, there was some serious energy in that bar. like i said, many chapters of nerodom... having toured relentlessly when they were around, they developed a legion of devoted fans, and really, created some kinda community around them. starting in ottawa playing 2 gigs weekly in town, then branching out playing festivals, and eventually touring the regular circuit in ontario, and coast to coast. they seemed to touch people wherever they went, which is evidenced by the amount of travelers, and the miles logged, and even moreso evidenced by the atmosphere they have created around them... friendships formed around a love of 3 guys and the sounds they create - it's quite a feeling being in that room when nero is rocking out.
the music itself, what we were all there for, was incredible. i went up expecting them to be sharp and wanting to play good shows, not just play for the sake of playing, but i dont know if i expected them to be quite that good. really, i mean, 2 years off? they hit their changes, controlled their tempo well, and just plain tore the roof off the fuckin' place! friday night was a huge rock show with stuff like the year of... and medicated. holy sh!t, medicated. one of my favourite moments of friday was standing behind tungsten during medicated and watching him get his head blown off. that sh!t was so heavy. a half hour condor? thank you. i liked the dead flowers cover, totally un-nero, but a great tune. i really felt like dave really went after it that night, he was just eating his guitar... a big sound from the guy for sure, he seemed to really enjoy playing with a band again and rocking out.
i dont know what i can say about the saturday night... i was totally immersed in the music from start to finish, at times their sound was just like this perfect little couch for me to sink into.. i dont think i ever stopped moving, whether dancing or swaying and spacing... i loved it. opening the show with a half hour effervescence > miko mard really set the tone for the night: this was night 2, it was going to blow the roof off, it was going to be special, and it was going to leave you wanting more. going back to johnny joe and dropping a new song on us were 2 surprises that came in the first set - the new song, i especially liked as it sounded pretty "slippy" to me, which is always a welcome sound, hahaha. the drumming, to me, was reminiscient of 'airplane/primitive', and some of dave's playing was very brad barr-ish... listening to the recording i can pinpoint the moment (around the 7:30 mark) i said to andre "dude, that was soooooooooooo brad barr....", but i digress...... the 2nd set was where it was at. i think the band knew it, too. it was some of the most energetic live music atmosphere i've felt in a bar in a LONG time. my memory of the night is so vivid, i can literally still see reactions across the stage, people gettin' down, people losin' their heads, people raising their arms in disbelief at the monstrous beauty coming from the stage, the band rocking, people jumping, it was incredible. they came back from setbreak and opened with pink floyd's 'hey you' and it was on. my favourite moment of the weekend came during that song, when Jay surprised the entire bar and took the lead vocal for the 2nd verse... i do believe it was his first time singing with the band, and the reaction from the crowd was explosively appreciative... i remember i had my eyes closed, heard the voice, heard the crowd, looked up, and there was jay, grinning ear to ear in acknowledgement, singing out the last couple lines... beauty... the jam that came after, leading into centranogme was a four on the floor shitshow of a throwdown if i ever saw one. the punk locked into this wicked bass riff and just tore into us... into a run like hell, back to centranogme, into a whispy mountain wonder, and it was a good 45 minutes before they gave us a chance to breathe. unbelievable. the sounds, atmospheres, and sonic pockets they took us to were immaculate, and impeccably placed... they played the tension and release game to a T, and left us wide eyed, salivating, and demanding more... so, on came the lemondust encore and we were given one last chance to dance like it was our last chance to dance - hopefully it wont be, but i can tell you if it was, everyone in that bar gave it everything they had. what a great way to finish these 2 great nights of music.
i just really thought these were 2 incredible shows musically that also felt like a lot more personally - there arent many bands that do that, and for a while there we'd lost one. nero means so much to so many people, it was good to have 'em back even if just for a weekend.
so with that, thanks for a great weekend boys, and here's to another one down the road!
night one:
ero
Friday, January 12, 2007
Mavericks, Ottawa, ON
Set I
-----
401 Theme
Tonto's Underwater Paradise
The Year Of...
Downside Up > Basheeba > Downside Up
Set II
------
Chocolate Monkey Machine
Medicated
Dead Flowers[1]
Condor
Encore
------
Breakline
get it on the archive here.
night two:
nero
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Mavericks, Ottawa, ON
Set I
-----
Effervescence >
Miko Mard
Johnny Joe
Everlasting Beautiful Night
Darius
Set II
------
Hey You[1] >
Centragnome >
Run Like Hell[1] >
Centragnome >
Whispy Mountain Wonder
Zedonk
Encore
------
Lemondust
get it on the archive here.
first of all, i had a sh!t eating grin on my face all weekend, since about belleville, on the way up. i remember saying to scottie at one point that there's enough people travelling up that damn highway for these shows that they better open with 401 Theme. if not, it could potentially ruin my weekend.
thanks for not ruining my weekend, nero. ;)
but, really, think about it... so many chapters of nerodom gathered in one place.... i think chatham had a representative from just about every city, but we (team london) represented... there was team k/w, guelph, hamilton, team toronto, peterborough came to play, folks from kingston, likely quebec, and i know the maritimes were out in full force with folks from fredericton, moncton, saint john, and the island.
and then of course, there's the home team. team ottawa. we converge on them and, with loving arms, they open their doors to their couches and their floors... and oh, what a time we have...
so, you have all these people converging on one place, for 2 nights, to see these 3 guys play their music that they havent played for 2 years. that's a lot of miles, but not really. not for this. what's more is that's a lot of power in that music to get those wheels moving, i think. to bring all those people together. 2 sold out nights, there was some serious energy in that bar. like i said, many chapters of nerodom... having toured relentlessly when they were around, they developed a legion of devoted fans, and really, created some kinda community around them. starting in ottawa playing 2 gigs weekly in town, then branching out playing festivals, and eventually touring the regular circuit in ontario, and coast to coast. they seemed to touch people wherever they went, which is evidenced by the amount of travelers, and the miles logged, and even moreso evidenced by the atmosphere they have created around them... friendships formed around a love of 3 guys and the sounds they create - it's quite a feeling being in that room when nero is rocking out.
the music itself, what we were all there for, was incredible. i went up expecting them to be sharp and wanting to play good shows, not just play for the sake of playing, but i dont know if i expected them to be quite that good. really, i mean, 2 years off? they hit their changes, controlled their tempo well, and just plain tore the roof off the fuckin' place! friday night was a huge rock show with stuff like the year of... and medicated. holy sh!t, medicated. one of my favourite moments of friday was standing behind tungsten during medicated and watching him get his head blown off. that sh!t was so heavy. a half hour condor? thank you. i liked the dead flowers cover, totally un-nero, but a great tune. i really felt like dave really went after it that night, he was just eating his guitar... a big sound from the guy for sure, he seemed to really enjoy playing with a band again and rocking out.
i dont know what i can say about the saturday night... i was totally immersed in the music from start to finish, at times their sound was just like this perfect little couch for me to sink into.. i dont think i ever stopped moving, whether dancing or swaying and spacing... i loved it. opening the show with a half hour effervescence > miko mard really set the tone for the night: this was night 2, it was going to blow the roof off, it was going to be special, and it was going to leave you wanting more. going back to johnny joe and dropping a new song on us were 2 surprises that came in the first set - the new song, i especially liked as it sounded pretty "slippy" to me, which is always a welcome sound, hahaha. the drumming, to me, was reminiscient of 'airplane/primitive', and some of dave's playing was very brad barr-ish... listening to the recording i can pinpoint the moment (around the 7:30 mark) i said to andre "dude, that was soooooooooooo brad barr....", but i digress...... the 2nd set was where it was at. i think the band knew it, too. it was some of the most energetic live music atmosphere i've felt in a bar in a LONG time. my memory of the night is so vivid, i can literally still see reactions across the stage, people gettin' down, people losin' their heads, people raising their arms in disbelief at the monstrous beauty coming from the stage, the band rocking, people jumping, it was incredible. they came back from setbreak and opened with pink floyd's 'hey you' and it was on. my favourite moment of the weekend came during that song, when Jay surprised the entire bar and took the lead vocal for the 2nd verse... i do believe it was his first time singing with the band, and the reaction from the crowd was explosively appreciative... i remember i had my eyes closed, heard the voice, heard the crowd, looked up, and there was jay, grinning ear to ear in acknowledgement, singing out the last couple lines... beauty... the jam that came after, leading into centranogme was a four on the floor shitshow of a throwdown if i ever saw one. the punk locked into this wicked bass riff and just tore into us... into a run like hell, back to centranogme, into a whispy mountain wonder, and it was a good 45 minutes before they gave us a chance to breathe. unbelievable. the sounds, atmospheres, and sonic pockets they took us to were immaculate, and impeccably placed... they played the tension and release game to a T, and left us wide eyed, salivating, and demanding more... so, on came the lemondust encore and we were given one last chance to dance like it was our last chance to dance - hopefully it wont be, but i can tell you if it was, everyone in that bar gave it everything they had. what a great way to finish these 2 great nights of music.
i just really thought these were 2 incredible shows musically that also felt like a lot more personally - there arent many bands that do that, and for a while there we'd lost one. nero means so much to so many people, it was good to have 'em back even if just for a weekend.
so with that, thanks for a great weekend boys, and here's to another one down the road!
night one:
ero
Friday, January 12, 2007
Mavericks, Ottawa, ON
Set I
-----
401 Theme
Tonto's Underwater Paradise
The Year Of...
Downside Up > Basheeba > Downside Up
Set II
------
Chocolate Monkey Machine
Medicated
Dead Flowers[1]
Condor
Encore
------
Breakline
get it on the archive here.
night two:
nero
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Mavericks, Ottawa, ON
Set I
-----
Effervescence >
Miko Mard
Johnny Joe
Everlasting Beautiful Night
Darius
Set II
------
Hey You[1] >
Centragnome >
Run Like Hell[1] >
Centragnome >
Whispy Mountain Wonder
Zedonk
Encore
------
Lemondust
get it on the archive here.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
good morning, 2007
well, it looks like i slept in a little, but here i am. wide awake in 2007... or something like that. so far, it's been a good start to the year, if even a little lazy... errr... umm... or a lot lazy.
i rang in the new year with a nice little year-ending musical roadtrip (fitting), first down to plattsburgh, ny / burlington, vt to meet up with some friends and catch apollo sunshine opening up for grace potter and the nocturnals at higher ground in burlington on the 30th - apollo sunshine were pretty good, though their set was marred by sound problems and the blowing a bass amp. phyllis was definitely the highlight of the show, and it seemed to be the tune where they got to let off the most steam, hahah. grace potter and the nocturnals started out great... when it was just grace potter singing a sweet gospel/blues type number, acapella, and playing a bit of organ for the first 4 minutes or so... once the nocturnals kicked in, though, it was lights out. i didnt enjoy that band anymore than i would have enjoyed any of the other thousands of bands playing watered down white blues funk. there was no identity there, just a lot of predictability, a lot of cheese, and a lot of things i've already heard a thousand times before. too bad, cuz that lady's got some pipes! i dont think we gave them more than half a dozen songs before we hit the road.
on the 31st, i trekked from plattsburgh up to ottawa for a 3rd straight new years, and for the 2nd time to celebrate it with the burt neilson band. i had a great time at the show, and actually thought it was pretty good overall, 2nd set especially. the first set had a bit of a different feel to it, im not sure if it was the room energy, or what, but the bar didnt feel all that energized, even though i thought the band was playing well. 2nd set was a different story. a total monster, highlighted for me by the No Quarter cover, coming by surprise at the end of holes. the band certainly did their part to change the atmosphere in the 2nd set, coming out with a rage on and not really ever letting up throughout the long set right on through the near 20 minute chevron encore. well done, boys!
the afterparty was a great time, though it seemed to fly right by. always seems to be the way up there: never enough time to spend with everyone you want to. still a great way to ring in the new year, though - im glad i went!
after sleeping the day away on the 1st i made it back to london in record time (5hrs. 5mins!), and basically went back to bed for 2 weeks, waking only to bowl and for the occassional video game.
decompressing, destressing and trying to learn how to relax again. i started the yar unemployed, and not having a store to manage and a dozen people to be responsible for has taken some getting used to... that lack of responsibility... lack of a place to be in the morning.. a bus to catch, etc... it's weird. but i cant say i dont enjoy it. it's my time, and now that im starting to wake up, i think that 2007 is gonna be just fine.
and if last weekend's nero reunion shows were any indication, i think im right. could the year have started any better? more on that later....
i rang in the new year with a nice little year-ending musical roadtrip (fitting), first down to plattsburgh, ny / burlington, vt to meet up with some friends and catch apollo sunshine opening up for grace potter and the nocturnals at higher ground in burlington on the 30th - apollo sunshine were pretty good, though their set was marred by sound problems and the blowing a bass amp. phyllis was definitely the highlight of the show, and it seemed to be the tune where they got to let off the most steam, hahah. grace potter and the nocturnals started out great... when it was just grace potter singing a sweet gospel/blues type number, acapella, and playing a bit of organ for the first 4 minutes or so... once the nocturnals kicked in, though, it was lights out. i didnt enjoy that band anymore than i would have enjoyed any of the other thousands of bands playing watered down white blues funk. there was no identity there, just a lot of predictability, a lot of cheese, and a lot of things i've already heard a thousand times before. too bad, cuz that lady's got some pipes! i dont think we gave them more than half a dozen songs before we hit the road.
on the 31st, i trekked from plattsburgh up to ottawa for a 3rd straight new years, and for the 2nd time to celebrate it with the burt neilson band. i had a great time at the show, and actually thought it was pretty good overall, 2nd set especially. the first set had a bit of a different feel to it, im not sure if it was the room energy, or what, but the bar didnt feel all that energized, even though i thought the band was playing well. 2nd set was a different story. a total monster, highlighted for me by the No Quarter cover, coming by surprise at the end of holes. the band certainly did their part to change the atmosphere in the 2nd set, coming out with a rage on and not really ever letting up throughout the long set right on through the near 20 minute chevron encore. well done, boys!
the afterparty was a great time, though it seemed to fly right by. always seems to be the way up there: never enough time to spend with everyone you want to. still a great way to ring in the new year, though - im glad i went!
after sleeping the day away on the 1st i made it back to london in record time (5hrs. 5mins!), and basically went back to bed for 2 weeks, waking only to bowl and for the occassional video game.
decompressing, destressing and trying to learn how to relax again. i started the yar unemployed, and not having a store to manage and a dozen people to be responsible for has taken some getting used to... that lack of responsibility... lack of a place to be in the morning.. a bus to catch, etc... it's weird. but i cant say i dont enjoy it. it's my time, and now that im starting to wake up, i think that 2007 is gonna be just fine.
and if last weekend's nero reunion shows were any indication, i think im right. could the year have started any better? more on that later....
Monday, December 25, 2006
Thursday, December 14, 2006
and so ends the first half
and we finished somewhere in the middle of the pack. we closed out this half of the bowling season with a 4 - 1 loss to the Strike Force! king of the jungle tim ware and his gaggle of chatty cathy's simply dominated the hardwood and we had an uphill climb with an absent doctor and a monkeyfistin' mike. $hakey used the monkeyfist (as per my advice) for the first 2 games to no avail, while walter and i tried to keep our heads above water. i actually had a career night, smashing a 585 triple, with a 235, 162, and 188. so close to that 600... i'll get it soon.
next week we start a fresh 2nd half. we win it we go the final. we lose it we go to church.
go stones.
next week we start a fresh 2nd half. we win it we go the final. we lose it we go to church.
go stones.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
the slip southern ontario run
the slip boys treated us to a few great nights of music last week/end, starting in guelph, ending in toronto, and hitting hamilton in between. wrapping up their tour, which started back on Nov. 7th, in support of new release Eisenhower. the shows ranged from seriously epic, to loose and fun, to straight up full throttle rockin'.
it was great to get 3 big sets, there was lots of room for your favourite eisenhower cuts, plus a few new tunes.. and maybe even a surprise or 2. i thought it was great that they came out and dropped completely new stuff on the audiences this tour, as well, after playing mostly the same repertoire for so long - i dug the irony of mixing it up that way on a cd release tour. let there be horses is a gem, as is the (as of yet untitled?) "black telephone"... and the new song that has the bobby deniro lyrics and a title we're not supposed to quote (it's on the tapes) is awesome, if not a little familiar sounding. i can see this morphing into a monster of a song. marc's strat playing in toronto was incredible to watch. some excellent cover choices as well over the 3 nights... tomorrow never knows in guelph was such a surprise and a great treat - they pulled it off well with a great lead into a rockin' december's children to close the night... hamilton had a super slick it's a long way to the top (if you wanna rock n roll) by ac/dc spliced into a poorboy... it seemed to slide right in outta nowhere, brought the devil horns out immediately, and a slick transition back into the poorboy - well done! toronto had a HUUUUUUUuuuuuuuge baba o'reilly... i dont know what i can say about it, it was packed with energy and launched the crowd into frenzy mode, great choice and probably my favourite version of that tune from them.
they seemed to set the tone right away with the airplane/primitive opener in guelph. they just stepped up and launched into it, and it was like "here was are, now listen!". they had a real command of their sound, and i gotta say, there was no shortage of "jamming" or "improv" or whatever you wanna call it - it may be disguised a little more, but isnt that the mastery of it? their sound is so huge now, there's so much to play with and so much room to play in, and with creative minds like these its inevitable they're going to have some fun with that. the wizardry and proficiency was on display all over the 3 days, and i was glad to see how well they were holding up after such a long tour. they seemed to be totally together, in sync, and right in the pocket. brad's voice was especially impressive over the course of the 3 nights - i'll be honest, i thought for sure it'd be shot by the time they rolled over the border.
here's how they looked on paper..
12.07.06 - Vinyl, Guelph
Airplane Primitive
Even Rats
White Wine and Soda
The Shouters
If One of Us Should Fall
Moderate Threat >
Cowboy Up
First Panda In Space >
Soft Machine
Suffocation Keep
I Hate Love
The Original Blue Air >
Paper Birds
Encore:
Let There Be Horses
Tomorrow Never Knows >
Children of December
12.08.06 - Pepperjack's, Hamilton
First Panda In Space >
Soft Machine
Even Rats
Chasing Rabbits
Airplane Primitive
Sleepy Head
Cupid
Get Me With Fuji
I Hate Love
Untitled New
Cut From The Cloth
Suffocation Keep
Poor Boy >
It's A Long Way to The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N" Roll) >
Poor Boy
Encore:
Let There Be Horses
Children of December
12.09.06 - El Mocambo, Toronto
All I Saw Was You
Original Blue Air >
Paper Birds >
Even Rats
Chasing Rabbits
Airplane / Primitive
I Hate Love
Moderate Threat >
Cowboy Up
Untitled New
First Panda In Space >
Soft Machine
Suffocation Keep
Children Of December
If One Of Us Should Fall
Baba O'Riley
encore:
"Black Telephone"
here's how they looked to me: Slip SoOn Run Photo Gallery.
stats:
50 songs heard / 27 different
probably 6-ish hours of music
probably 6-ish hours of sleep
3 cities / 2 couches / 1 futon
428 kilometers / 2 cars / 1 bus
immeasurable amounts of good times and good friends.
out.
Monday, November 27, 2006
joel plaskett - london - 11.24.06
checked out joel plaskett at call the office on friday night... and it was the first time i just didnt enjoy a joel show. after all these years of seeing him with the hermit, the emergency, and on his own, i guess that's not bad, but really, this was just a disappointing show. this time it was the emergency, and they dropped a lot of new stuff on us - bad new stuff. these songs sounded like he was really trying to write a "plaskett" song, but c'mon, we dont need another 'come on teacher'.. "drunk teenagers" was possibly the worst song i've heard in 2006. the direction he was headed with la de da was such a step forward, but this show took the songs 2 steps back... none of the songs had much power behind them with this new emergency arrangement, there wasnt much depth to the sound, and overall they just felt sluggish to my ears.
i guess if you go see someone for long enough you're bound to see something you dont like - i've seen disappointing shows from all my favourites - and i guess this time it was joel's number that was up.
i'll say im very much looking forward to the next show, though.
i guess if you go see someone for long enough you're bound to see something you dont like - i've seen disappointing shows from all my favourites - and i guess this time it was joel's number that was up.
i'll say im very much looking forward to the next show, though.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
rollin' stones
we've been on a bit of a tear recently.. 5 points to start the month, 4 points 2 weeks ago, and 3 points this past week... still hangin' on. we limped into the alley down one doctor, up one nurse, walter with a bum back and me low on blood, and luckily $hakey's brain was no where near the exam he was to have the next day - hope it went well, buddy.
a game pitting the Twin Towers of Brunswick Huron against each other, we steamrolled game 1, and dropped the next 2 against the mooseknucklers, thanks to a couple huge 200+ games from one of their guys.. but we stayed close enough those games to get the overall score and the extra point to take the series 3-2.
the week prior we dominated the bombers, who lived up to their name and did nothing but get bombed all night. good show. we bombed the last few frames of the last game and it cost us the game and the 5th point, but still a solid 4 points and a total team effort on the lanes.
only a few weeks left in the first half and then we'll have to kick in high gear for our second half rise to the top...
a game pitting the Twin Towers of Brunswick Huron against each other, we steamrolled game 1, and dropped the next 2 against the mooseknucklers, thanks to a couple huge 200+ games from one of their guys.. but we stayed close enough those games to get the overall score and the extra point to take the series 3-2.
the week prior we dominated the bombers, who lived up to their name and did nothing but get bombed all night. good show. we bombed the last few frames of the last game and it cost us the game and the 5th point, but still a solid 4 points and a total team effort on the lanes.
only a few weeks left in the first half and then we'll have to kick in high gear for our second half rise to the top...
Sunday, November 12, 2006
burt neilson band 10 year anniversary photo story
vil and schwampy
burt neilson band - opera house
mike and vince spilchuk
serena southam (w/ jeff in background)
mike filipowitsch
mike and peter elkas
josh williams and jer
todd gilles and jeff
jeff heisholt (w/ gavin mcguire in background)
mike filipowitsch (gavin in background)
danny simmons (banjo) and b jay nathans (mandolin)
the bass laser
mark crissinger
mke and mark
scott farmer
jer little
mark crissinger hitting it!
from L - R: danny simmons, jeremy little, josh williams, mike filipowitsch, matt barber, shelby kerr, steve "elmo" murphy, mark crissinger, jeff heisholt
SET ONE
By the Door
These Days >
The Bench >
Yellow Pants (1)
Finer Than Fine Print (2)
Holes
Stop Draggin My Heart Around (3)
Full Tilt (4)
Hungry Heart (5)
Rotan (6)
Waves (7)
St Andrews
In the Belly
SET TWO
Distraction
Fresco Lopez >
Revolution Blues > (8)
Fresco Lopez
Stuck Inside (9)
Down with the Sound (10)
Glad Tidings (11)
Whipping Post (12)
Martian
Stop 28
E1
Acadian Driftwood (13)
Funkin Shoes (14)
E2
Don't Do It
(1) w/ Vince Spilchuk on trumpet
(2) Bodega song, w/ Andrew Rodriguez on guitar/lead vocals
(3) Steie Nicks & Tom Petty cover, with Serena Southam on lead vocals
(4) w/ Serena Southam on backing vocals and Vince Spilchuk on trumpet
(5) Bruce Springsteen cover, with Peter Elkas on lead vocals/guitar, Serena Southam on backing vocals, Robbie Grunwald on organ
(6) Fat Cats cover, with Todd Gillies on guitar/lead vocals, and Josh Williams on vocals/harmonica
(7) with Todd Gillies on guitar
(8) Neil Young cover
(9) with Danny Simmons on banjo and B Jay Nathans on mandolin
(10) with Shelby Kerr on backing vocals and Mark Crissinger on guitar
(11) Van Morrisson cover, with Scott Farmer on lead vocals and Peter Elkas on acoustic guitar
(12) Allman Brothers cover, with Mark Crissinger on lead vocals/screaming guitar
(13) The Band cover, with Matthew Barber, Shelby Kerr, Steve Murphy, Scott Farmer, Mark Crissinger, Todd Gillies on lead vocals, plus lots of people on stage... all the other performers and friends, and Danny Simmons on fiddle
(14) with Shelby Kerr on vocals, Robbie Grunwald on clavinet, Vince Spilchuk on trumpet
what an incredible show!! cheers to the burt neilson band and congrats on 10 years - cant wait for the 20th anniversary!
once the boys settled down and stopped worrying about playing a great show, and just started playing, i thought they put on an amazing show. some great guest appearances - it was nice to see these guys going off and challenging the bnb boys... gilles, andrew rodriguez, crissinger, particularly... they werent novelty guests, they obviously came to play. the 2nd set was an absolute monster highlighted for me by the fresco > revolution blues > fresco - they destroyed that neil cover! what a heavy hitting beast that was. stuck inside followed, and that was a real treat for me - it's been a favourite of mine since i first heard By The Door, and i dont believe i'd ever seen it live.. but when picked up the acoustic and the harmonica, i mean, i didnt know it was comin'.. but i knew, y'know? sweet tune. the crowd picking up the down with the sound vocals was tingle worthy and whats to say about crissinger on whipping post??!! martian makes me move exactly the way i love to move, and the encores were fantastic.
quite a rager afterwards, and the whole night was just a big celebration. so great to see some old faces and meet some new ones. thanks to everyone involved, it certainly was quite a night.
these guys are canada's premier "jamband", but they're truly the definition of "indie"... having crisscrossed this vast country a good 15 times, on their own, released 4 albums independantly, and developed a legion of fans across canada by word of mouth, the sharing of music, and keeping it entirely grassroots, these guys are the real deal and we're lucky they keep doin' it for us.
long live the bnb!!
Monday, November 06, 2006
and in other news...
... bob dylan played the JLC on friday nite... and it was terrible. i missed the thunder of the double drums and the dual guitar attack from the previous show i saw, and this didnt even carry any of the energy i witnessed at darien... this band sounded to me more like watered down blues for a soft rock radio station. i actually like what dylan does with his arrangements, i like his attitud and approach in that regard.. i just didnt like the way the band played them. they werent engaging in the least, and quite honestly, i found myself nodding off at least half a dozen times. the 3rd wasnt the charm this time...
5-0 stones
few days late and a few dollars short, but the stones came up big last thursday with a 5-0 vic against greg's ladies... which was a bit of an anomaly, considering neither greg was there, nor were enough of his ladies to make them plural. 9-pin Lynn was there for her team, but that 10th pin just never seemed to be and it cost 'em... BIGtime. $hakey rolled off as well, so with just the 4 of us on the lanes, we cruised through a relaxing few games in record time and got a much needed boost to the point total just in time for our big climb. walter's got a new ball and it's working like a dream, and i've found myself a new line that's keeping my ball from crossing over brooklyn, and i've been smashing the pocket. i had a perfect no-tap game in my 2nd. walter also did the monthly mystery score roll off and, like $hakey a month before, struck on his first ball to go to a final... where he landed an 8, matched by his opponent to go to one more sudden death final... where he lost 9-6... that's 2 months in a row, who's it gonna be next month?
about 6 weeks to go in the 1st half... we're climbing... the huskies are running slower... things are gonna change... i can feel it...
about 6 weeks to go in the 1st half... we're climbing... the huskies are running slower... things are gonna change... i can feel it...
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
slippin' into the maritimes
welcome to the merrytimes! shit, that's cheesy! but hell if it aint true, everytime i go down to the maritimes it's just the best time, and this past weekend no different. saw 2 slip shows and one golden dogs show. hung out with some great friends i dont get to see too often, watched some serious baseball (holy kenny rogers!) and made sure i got my fill of weird tv news.
moncton > saint john > halifax > moncton was the way it went. after a night of watching some kickass ryan, wilco, bruce, etc.. dvd's and some intense nlcs baseball... which i missed the ninth inning of (damn!)... and a day of lounging around reading, running some minor errands with sean, and generally just hanging out, we made our way to saint john for the first slip show of this little run, at neptunes.
2006-10-20
Neptunes
Saint John, NB
- 12:47 -
intro jam > Children of December
Even Rats
If One Of Us Should Fall
Airplane/Primitive
Get Me With Fuji
Suffocation Keep (w/ female vocals sample)
Poor Boy
The Original Blue Air >
Paper Birds
E: Baba O'Riley
- 2:16 -
thanks to dave for keepin' the setlist. the show was a rocker from the very beginning... i thought the opening intro to december's was up there with some of the best i've heard (see 08.07.05 later set, for example) - it was certainly beefy, as were a lot of the beginnings of tunes, i felt. they really had a deep sound to them when they came charging out of the gate. airplane/primitive was a monster. it felt very together. it was easy to tell that these guys have honed in on each other and this set of tunes, and airplane is a perfect example of that. it was neat to hear the vocal samples on suffocation keep... though, it's just making my mouth water more for the album. it was the first time i had heard the song with the featured vocals of Ua, their japanese pop-star friend. paper birds closed out the show and it was the other big winner on the night. i really love how the song is structured live, with the different ending and vocals, it's bouncy as hell. they did the who cover a lot better than i had heard on previous recordings, as well.. i thought it was pretty good, and no doubt they rocked it out.
partied the night away at god only knows where and ended up back at the hotel staring at the ceiling somewhere around quarter to 7, i think... damn hilton folk wouldnt give me a corkscrew to keep 'er goin'! not much sleep had that day, but we made a pitstop in moncton on the way to halifax for some relaxing and power naps. once we hit the road we made it in plenty of time to roll into westoby's and get ourselves some pizza and some pops before heading out to stage 9 for the golden dogs and raising the fawn.
i had missed the golden dogs 3 times in a span of about 6 weeks over a year ago now and hadnt since found myself an opportunity to see them again until this weeked - they were also playing as part of the halifax pop explosion on saturday night, and although it was a long time comin', it was certainly worth the wait. they play with so much energy, so much fervour, so much vigour, so much soul, so much sweat... a powerful live rock band to be sure. after they blew through their 45 minute set, which started with birdsong, and ended with Yeah!, and featured a lot of the new stuff in between, most notably for me "saints at the gates", we had to pick ourselves up off the floor, give ourselves a shake, splash some water and try to put ourselves back together again. we were baptised once more at the church of rock n roll, left disoriented, confused, and elated.
when sean told the guitar player in the band (not azzolini) that plaskett was there checking them out, he nearly shit himeself. apparently there was a suit from nonesuch as well, that sean talked to. he was doing his best promo to get people over to the attic to check out the slip at 1:45... seemingly the latest show in town. we did have enough time to check out a bit of raising the fawn, and i was a little so-so on them. they started out really strong, i loved the first or second tune... heavy bass driven, with a chunk, and some nice overlapping vocals.. it was a really cool song.. but after that i started to fade away... i wanted to get over to the attic for the slip, and after a half hour or so, we did.
2006-10-21
Halifax, NS
The Attic
- 1:55 -
Soft Machine
Even Rates
Airplane/Primitive
I Hate Love
Get Me With Fuji (w/ Brad playing a strat)
Paper Birds
Children of December (w/Brad climbing on amps, etc and crowd surfing)
E1: If One of Us Should Fall
E2: (What's So Funny 'bout) Peace Love and Understanding
- 3:16 -
thanks again to dave for the setlist and notes. man, i love late night slip shows. who remembers set 2 in hamilton 10.15.04, starting at last call and going till 3? this was a set reminiscient of that, balls out and rockin' with some super sweetness, and bringin 'em all together for the encore. we called the opener. we called the encore. we called the i hate love substitution. going down there for 2 shows i was pretty aware that i'd likely be getting basically 80% of the tunes x2, but i was also pretty excited to see that - to see what differences popped up, how tight they were... and they seemed very well prepared and very well rehearsed - they didnt seem like they had to find each other much, but rather that they were already locked in. very focussed on this night. i particularly loved the soft machine, airplane, and paper birds again. maybe one of my favourite moments of seeing rock n roll so far all these years was seeing the look on friedman's face to the crowds reaction to even rats, singing along to the "ooh ooh oooooh's", goin' like mad for the song - nice to see all the smiles and the gestures between him and the brothers, like "you guy's seein' this? holy shit!" kinda happiness... completely and totally deserved, kudos to the boys. the crowd really was eating it up all night... i'd venture it was about 500 strong packed into the bar, and i was way up close... some seriously rockin' kids that night.. dude's grabbin' each others faces to show how much they loved something.... i dunno... kids... but, hey, you know, cause and effect, right? the slip brought it hard, so thats what happens. get me with fuji was played with brad on strat, which i'd never seen before... it seemed to take on a bit of a different flavour, and gave way to a different sort of weirdness breakdown... i really dug it... and again, paper birds, the ending was fantastic.. crowd was eating it up and dancing like crazy, the band was so on point, i thought they were gonna wind it back up again. sean got ahold of the setlist after the show and the if one of us.. looks like it got moved down out of the set into the encore position... maybe they were feelin' the energy and didnt wanna bring it down any? either way, good call saving it for the encore, it worked really well. the crowd wasn't lettin' 'em leave, though, so they came back out and raged a costello cover on us... a common cover for them, but again, one that just hadnt been played at shows i've seen.
confusion with inebriated friends and a terrible cab situation in halifax kept us from getting to an afterparty for quite a while, but after arriving we realized that that was probably a-ok. we didnt stay long than tried to endure the cab situation one more time to get back to westo's. it was a long night, but we did manage to beat the sun, which on a night like that, was fine with me.
back to moncton in the afternoon on sunday, said goodbye to dave and spent the rest of the night watching guy terrifico and kenny rogers tear the cardinals to shreds. enough with the pine tar talk, alright? kenny fucked 'em up and if he gets a chance, he'll do it again. what an intense performance to watch - man, i love baseball!
as i finish this up, it's occurring to me now how much conviction and focus, emotion and intensity mean to me in the things i love. im a baseball guy, and i saw it again in game 7 of the nlcs and game 2 of the world series, and for a dude without cable who never gets to see the game played, i'll admit i was in my glory watching this shit go down. chavez in the 6th with that catch one pitch after randolph left perez in the game! holy bejesus!! rogers amped up like a kid in the biggest game of his life cruising through the 8th with a 2 hitter... why leyland opted for jones in the 9th i'll never understand. it makes no sense to take the best pitcher out of the game when he's pitching the best game! but it renewed some lost love in me, restored some type of faith in conviction. when i saw the slip playing with the stark focus and determination of their sound and what they were trying to create around them i thought that though this didnt sound like the band i first fell in love with, no doubt this was still the same band i love. i dont know if you could call it a renewal of faith because i never lost any, but it brought back something thats for sure.... i simply love the slip.
new album Eisenhower comes out on november 7th - do yourself a favour and grab a copy for yourself and someone you love. giftmas is coming.
moncton > saint john > halifax > moncton was the way it went. after a night of watching some kickass ryan, wilco, bruce, etc.. dvd's and some intense nlcs baseball... which i missed the ninth inning of (damn!)... and a day of lounging around reading, running some minor errands with sean, and generally just hanging out, we made our way to saint john for the first slip show of this little run, at neptunes.
2006-10-20
Neptunes
Saint John, NB
- 12:47 -
intro jam > Children of December
Even Rats
If One Of Us Should Fall
Airplane/Primitive
Get Me With Fuji
Suffocation Keep (w/ female vocals sample)
Poor Boy
The Original Blue Air >
Paper Birds
E: Baba O'Riley
- 2:16 -
thanks to dave for keepin' the setlist. the show was a rocker from the very beginning... i thought the opening intro to december's was up there with some of the best i've heard (see 08.07.05 later set, for example) - it was certainly beefy, as were a lot of the beginnings of tunes, i felt. they really had a deep sound to them when they came charging out of the gate. airplane/primitive was a monster. it felt very together. it was easy to tell that these guys have honed in on each other and this set of tunes, and airplane is a perfect example of that. it was neat to hear the vocal samples on suffocation keep... though, it's just making my mouth water more for the album. it was the first time i had heard the song with the featured vocals of Ua, their japanese pop-star friend. paper birds closed out the show and it was the other big winner on the night. i really love how the song is structured live, with the different ending and vocals, it's bouncy as hell. they did the who cover a lot better than i had heard on previous recordings, as well.. i thought it was pretty good, and no doubt they rocked it out.
partied the night away at god only knows where and ended up back at the hotel staring at the ceiling somewhere around quarter to 7, i think... damn hilton folk wouldnt give me a corkscrew to keep 'er goin'! not much sleep had that day, but we made a pitstop in moncton on the way to halifax for some relaxing and power naps. once we hit the road we made it in plenty of time to roll into westoby's and get ourselves some pizza and some pops before heading out to stage 9 for the golden dogs and raising the fawn.
i had missed the golden dogs 3 times in a span of about 6 weeks over a year ago now and hadnt since found myself an opportunity to see them again until this weeked - they were also playing as part of the halifax pop explosion on saturday night, and although it was a long time comin', it was certainly worth the wait. they play with so much energy, so much fervour, so much vigour, so much soul, so much sweat... a powerful live rock band to be sure. after they blew through their 45 minute set, which started with birdsong, and ended with Yeah!, and featured a lot of the new stuff in between, most notably for me "saints at the gates", we had to pick ourselves up off the floor, give ourselves a shake, splash some water and try to put ourselves back together again. we were baptised once more at the church of rock n roll, left disoriented, confused, and elated.
when sean told the guitar player in the band (not azzolini) that plaskett was there checking them out, he nearly shit himeself. apparently there was a suit from nonesuch as well, that sean talked to. he was doing his best promo to get people over to the attic to check out the slip at 1:45... seemingly the latest show in town. we did have enough time to check out a bit of raising the fawn, and i was a little so-so on them. they started out really strong, i loved the first or second tune... heavy bass driven, with a chunk, and some nice overlapping vocals.. it was a really cool song.. but after that i started to fade away... i wanted to get over to the attic for the slip, and after a half hour or so, we did.
2006-10-21
Halifax, NS
The Attic
- 1:55 -
Soft Machine
Even Rates
Airplane/Primitive
I Hate Love
Get Me With Fuji (w/ Brad playing a strat)
Paper Birds
Children of December (w/Brad climbing on amps, etc and crowd surfing)
E1: If One of Us Should Fall
E2: (What's So Funny 'bout) Peace Love and Understanding
- 3:16 -
thanks again to dave for the setlist and notes. man, i love late night slip shows. who remembers set 2 in hamilton 10.15.04, starting at last call and going till 3? this was a set reminiscient of that, balls out and rockin' with some super sweetness, and bringin 'em all together for the encore. we called the opener. we called the encore. we called the i hate love substitution. going down there for 2 shows i was pretty aware that i'd likely be getting basically 80% of the tunes x2, but i was also pretty excited to see that - to see what differences popped up, how tight they were... and they seemed very well prepared and very well rehearsed - they didnt seem like they had to find each other much, but rather that they were already locked in. very focussed on this night. i particularly loved the soft machine, airplane, and paper birds again. maybe one of my favourite moments of seeing rock n roll so far all these years was seeing the look on friedman's face to the crowds reaction to even rats, singing along to the "ooh ooh oooooh's", goin' like mad for the song - nice to see all the smiles and the gestures between him and the brothers, like "you guy's seein' this? holy shit!" kinda happiness... completely and totally deserved, kudos to the boys. the crowd really was eating it up all night... i'd venture it was about 500 strong packed into the bar, and i was way up close... some seriously rockin' kids that night.. dude's grabbin' each others faces to show how much they loved something.... i dunno... kids... but, hey, you know, cause and effect, right? the slip brought it hard, so thats what happens. get me with fuji was played with brad on strat, which i'd never seen before... it seemed to take on a bit of a different flavour, and gave way to a different sort of weirdness breakdown... i really dug it... and again, paper birds, the ending was fantastic.. crowd was eating it up and dancing like crazy, the band was so on point, i thought they were gonna wind it back up again. sean got ahold of the setlist after the show and the if one of us.. looks like it got moved down out of the set into the encore position... maybe they were feelin' the energy and didnt wanna bring it down any? either way, good call saving it for the encore, it worked really well. the crowd wasn't lettin' 'em leave, though, so they came back out and raged a costello cover on us... a common cover for them, but again, one that just hadnt been played at shows i've seen.
confusion with inebriated friends and a terrible cab situation in halifax kept us from getting to an afterparty for quite a while, but after arriving we realized that that was probably a-ok. we didnt stay long than tried to endure the cab situation one more time to get back to westo's. it was a long night, but we did manage to beat the sun, which on a night like that, was fine with me.
back to moncton in the afternoon on sunday, said goodbye to dave and spent the rest of the night watching guy terrifico and kenny rogers tear the cardinals to shreds. enough with the pine tar talk, alright? kenny fucked 'em up and if he gets a chance, he'll do it again. what an intense performance to watch - man, i love baseball!
as i finish this up, it's occurring to me now how much conviction and focus, emotion and intensity mean to me in the things i love. im a baseball guy, and i saw it again in game 7 of the nlcs and game 2 of the world series, and for a dude without cable who never gets to see the game played, i'll admit i was in my glory watching this shit go down. chavez in the 6th with that catch one pitch after randolph left perez in the game! holy bejesus!! rogers amped up like a kid in the biggest game of his life cruising through the 8th with a 2 hitter... why leyland opted for jones in the 9th i'll never understand. it makes no sense to take the best pitcher out of the game when he's pitching the best game! but it renewed some lost love in me, restored some type of faith in conviction. when i saw the slip playing with the stark focus and determination of their sound and what they were trying to create around them i thought that though this didnt sound like the band i first fell in love with, no doubt this was still the same band i love. i dont know if you could call it a renewal of faith because i never lost any, but it brought back something thats for sure.... i simply love the slip.
new album Eisenhower comes out on november 7th - do yourself a favour and grab a copy for yourself and someone you love. giftmas is coming.
Monday, October 16, 2006
last week in bowling
we lost to a team of handicapped people.
i think that's all that needs to be said about that.
789
456
123
FOX!
i think that's all that needs to be said about that.
789
456
123
FOX!
Friday, October 06, 2006
darwin's team
here we are, we're darwin's team
we came to you as if a dream
cut across your lawn on our unicorn
as mean and drunk as women scorned
the time is nigh for evolution!
the tide is high for retribution...
On $hakey! On Walter! On Dr. and guigsy!
when the Stones roll in it's time to get busy.
week 5: stones 4, other guys 1. though not very deserved.
darin was the boy that carried that weight... a long time. a great series, but i cant remember his numbers. i bowled a 196 my first game then the mushrooms kicked in right around the time we found the monkeyfist and it all went to hell. 3rd game first frame mandatory monkeyfist was the turning point for the stones to squeek out the extra 2 points, though, im sure. $hakey was up in the month end mystery score bowl off tourney and hit a strike his first ball to go to a sudden death final.... where he guttered. it was one of those kinda nights for us - ups and downs - strikes and gutters. but there was also an air of syncronicity. it felt good tonight, regardless of how we bowled, and it was good to get the points for it - sometimes you need a night like that.
monkeyfist monkeyfist we love you
you've got 4 holes and we all plugged you
third game first frame mandatory
we summoned your power and you gave unto thee
we came to you as if a dream
cut across your lawn on our unicorn
as mean and drunk as women scorned
the time is nigh for evolution!
the tide is high for retribution...
On $hakey! On Walter! On Dr. and guigsy!
when the Stones roll in it's time to get busy.
week 5: stones 4, other guys 1. though not very deserved.
darin was the boy that carried that weight... a long time. a great series, but i cant remember his numbers. i bowled a 196 my first game then the mushrooms kicked in right around the time we found the monkeyfist and it all went to hell. 3rd game first frame mandatory monkeyfist was the turning point for the stones to squeek out the extra 2 points, though, im sure. $hakey was up in the month end mystery score bowl off tourney and hit a strike his first ball to go to a sudden death final.... where he guttered. it was one of those kinda nights for us - ups and downs - strikes and gutters. but there was also an air of syncronicity. it felt good tonight, regardless of how we bowled, and it was good to get the points for it - sometimes you need a night like that.
monkeyfist monkeyfist we love you
you've got 4 holes and we all plugged you
third game first frame mandatory
we summoned your power and you gave unto thee
Sunday, October 01, 2006
built to spill - 09/30/06 - town ballroom, buffalo
the mission:
the missionaries: me plus these guys..
the set:
Goin' Against Your Mind
Made Up Dreams
Else
Distopian Dream Girl
Kicked It In The Sun
Mess With Time
Re-Arrange (The Gladiators)
Sidewalk
[New Song - starts: "daylight feels like midnight"]
Conventional Wisdom (dedicated to Hugo Chavez)
Bomb Shelter
Big Dipper
Carry the Zero
E: Randy Described Eternity (25+ minutes.. an absolute monster!)
hello ridiculousness! what an incredible show!! i walked out of there, mind completely blown, and i probably couldnt put it any more straight forward than that. right from the getgo with the goin against your mind opener - 2 songs later i finally got my else... i hadnt even seen the slip cover it.. the closest i ever got was a tease in toronto, and although this was the real deal, it was still an abbreviated real deal - but hey, when its built to spill and its else, i'll take what i can get. distopian dream girl was a real surprise for me - just not a song i would have thought i'd hear going into it, but such a treat. nothing wrong with love was probably the first album of theirs i fell in love with and it stirs up some good memories for me - needless to say i was belting it out at the top of my lungs. no matter, i couldnt even hear myself from how loud it was in there - probably didnt help that we set up shop 8 ft. from the speakers. the re-arrange cover was great, and the band really kicked it into high gear to close out the set, starting with an insane conventional wisdom - damn that is such a great song, that sweet breakdown can make anyone feel good... great dedication to mr. chavez as well, hahah. bomb shelter was a great jam with some interesting pre-recorded speech about eco-terrorism and right wing nut jobs - i like to see bands speaking out in their own way and built to spill certainly did that throughout the night. big dipper was another great cut from nothing wrong with love and the set finished with a big big BIG carry the zero... i thought my head was gonna explode, and again, i think i tore some vocal chords, but hell if i could hear myself. i really liked their use of the video screen throughout the show, as well.
the encore, i had thought was 2 songs, but upon finding a setlist, i guess it was only one. but i do remember how monstrous that one was. Randy Described Eternity went on for nearly an eternity, a solid 25 plus minutes of the crunchiest, heaviest, thickest, waves of music. they took the outro and jammed the living hell out of it, building up this incredible wall of sound that just kept climbing higher and getting bigger and coming harder - it was a class 1 lake superior storm if i ever heard one. a beautiful wash of sound to be drowning in and i lapped up ever second of it, jaw to the floor, tongue out. i noticed doug gave way a fair share of solos to the other guys throughout the show, but man was he a force on Randy - he was huge. i love doug martsch's guitar playing, i mean, what fan of built to spill doesnt, so i was just in my glory being able to take it all in from so close - i consider the man a legend in this world of rock n roll.
overall, the show was incredible. the venue was amazing, and the sound was great. even though we were close in to the speakers, and it was so loud, you could still pick apart all the instrumentation and even hear the vocals pretty clearly. props to the sound guy for controlling that gorgeous room. i wish i could see all my favourite bands in that venue, it was that sweet. great sight lines everywhere, 3 levels that are comfortable and easy to get around on, holds maybe a thousand people, but i'd say maybe 750 - 800 were there. perfect.
opening bands werent really worth mentioning... well, the 2nd opening band was, but only for how terrible they were, so i wont go there. lines of the night, courtesy of the heckler:
"jammin' for jesus... for christ sake!"
"you got a can of cream of corn soup in you beard!"
"you look 9 months pregnant, and beautiful"
the missionaries: me plus these guys..
the set:
Goin' Against Your Mind
Made Up Dreams
Else
Distopian Dream Girl
Kicked It In The Sun
Mess With Time
Re-Arrange (The Gladiators)
Sidewalk
[New Song - starts: "daylight feels like midnight"]
Conventional Wisdom (dedicated to Hugo Chavez)
Bomb Shelter
Big Dipper
Carry the Zero
E: Randy Described Eternity (25+ minutes.. an absolute monster!)
hello ridiculousness! what an incredible show!! i walked out of there, mind completely blown, and i probably couldnt put it any more straight forward than that. right from the getgo with the goin against your mind opener - 2 songs later i finally got my else... i hadnt even seen the slip cover it.. the closest i ever got was a tease in toronto, and although this was the real deal, it was still an abbreviated real deal - but hey, when its built to spill and its else, i'll take what i can get. distopian dream girl was a real surprise for me - just not a song i would have thought i'd hear going into it, but such a treat. nothing wrong with love was probably the first album of theirs i fell in love with and it stirs up some good memories for me - needless to say i was belting it out at the top of my lungs. no matter, i couldnt even hear myself from how loud it was in there - probably didnt help that we set up shop 8 ft. from the speakers. the re-arrange cover was great, and the band really kicked it into high gear to close out the set, starting with an insane conventional wisdom - damn that is such a great song, that sweet breakdown can make anyone feel good... great dedication to mr. chavez as well, hahah. bomb shelter was a great jam with some interesting pre-recorded speech about eco-terrorism and right wing nut jobs - i like to see bands speaking out in their own way and built to spill certainly did that throughout the night. big dipper was another great cut from nothing wrong with love and the set finished with a big big BIG carry the zero... i thought my head was gonna explode, and again, i think i tore some vocal chords, but hell if i could hear myself. i really liked their use of the video screen throughout the show, as well.
the encore, i had thought was 2 songs, but upon finding a setlist, i guess it was only one. but i do remember how monstrous that one was. Randy Described Eternity went on for nearly an eternity, a solid 25 plus minutes of the crunchiest, heaviest, thickest, waves of music. they took the outro and jammed the living hell out of it, building up this incredible wall of sound that just kept climbing higher and getting bigger and coming harder - it was a class 1 lake superior storm if i ever heard one. a beautiful wash of sound to be drowning in and i lapped up ever second of it, jaw to the floor, tongue out. i noticed doug gave way a fair share of solos to the other guys throughout the show, but man was he a force on Randy - he was huge. i love doug martsch's guitar playing, i mean, what fan of built to spill doesnt, so i was just in my glory being able to take it all in from so close - i consider the man a legend in this world of rock n roll.
overall, the show was incredible. the venue was amazing, and the sound was great. even though we were close in to the speakers, and it was so loud, you could still pick apart all the instrumentation and even hear the vocals pretty clearly. props to the sound guy for controlling that gorgeous room. i wish i could see all my favourite bands in that venue, it was that sweet. great sight lines everywhere, 3 levels that are comfortable and easy to get around on, holds maybe a thousand people, but i'd say maybe 750 - 800 were there. perfect.
opening bands werent really worth mentioning... well, the 2nd opening band was, but only for how terrible they were, so i wont go there. lines of the night, courtesy of the heckler:
"jammin' for jesus... for christ sake!"
"you got a can of cream of corn soup in you beard!"
"you look 9 months pregnant, and beautiful"
Friday, September 29, 2006
bowling stones: 2 week update
well, i never did get around to updating week 3, so i'll roll it into this update...
first off, in the previous stones' update i alluded to the fact that we'd likely soon be making enemies... mostly in a facetious sort of way, you know, not really meaning it... but, you know, When in Rome...
so it only took us 3 weeks to get into our first confrontation - last time i think it took at least half a year. and this time around, the stakes are a little higher - no one's yet to threaten use of a gun, but if i was a bettin' man, my money would be on Old Man Flip-Up. your typical angry old man with camo gear, yellow tinted flip up sunglasses, and a batman t-shirt. the east london riff-raff version of dick cheney. he got his knickers in a knot when they called for practice to halt and a couple people near our lanes were still standing up on them - no ball in hand, but still. so he gets a little vocal about it, and $hakey got a little more vocal about it, basically tellin' him to relax. which he did not. after the game started he comes stormin' down the alley to get in our faces... or, i should say, MY face... demanding to know what i said... to which i just kept laughing with my arms folded telling him i didnt say a fuckin' word. i was gettin' a kick out of watchin' this guy get steamed over my stonewalling, until $hakey piped up and told him what it was like. once this lunatic realized he couldnt intimidate the Bowling Stones he put his tail between his legs and shuffled off down the alley. a tense start to the night, and we never really did get back on track. we were on lanes with a group we never really got comfortable with and wound up dropping a few games... no worries, though, coming into week 4 we were still holding strong onto 3rd place, with one of the highest total team scores in the league. things are looking good for the stones this season!
week 4 went last night and we were up against a team from the newly joined SouthSiders league... on paper things looked pretty evenly matched, and that also translated out onto the hardwood. both teams were throwing rocks last night, and i'd say we probably put together our best 3 games yet this season, walter had a life-time high of 207, the doc put up a 186 in his last game, $hakey was solid throughout.. but it just wasnt enough against a team consisting of the new Johnny 175 and a girl named Linda Lou. the 2nd game (which featured walt's 207) also featured a 205 from Johnny, and a 213 from Linda who boasts a 131 average!! 3 Hole Punch started the game with 10 straight marks and never looked back. Linda was the slow silent killer all game, reminiscient of a young Anne McNeil, who we all hope is recovering well from her surgery this past week. get better soon, anne - the stones miss your fiery passion and inspiration on the lanes! we squeeked out the last game to get a point for the week, but there's really not much more we could have done - props to the Puncher's for comin' to play and handing us our asses. we'll remember this for next time...
... and we'll remember you, too, Flip-Up. bring it.
first off, in the previous stones' update i alluded to the fact that we'd likely soon be making enemies... mostly in a facetious sort of way, you know, not really meaning it... but, you know, When in Rome...
so it only took us 3 weeks to get into our first confrontation - last time i think it took at least half a year. and this time around, the stakes are a little higher - no one's yet to threaten use of a gun, but if i was a bettin' man, my money would be on Old Man Flip-Up. your typical angry old man with camo gear, yellow tinted flip up sunglasses, and a batman t-shirt. the east london riff-raff version of dick cheney. he got his knickers in a knot when they called for practice to halt and a couple people near our lanes were still standing up on them - no ball in hand, but still. so he gets a little vocal about it, and $hakey got a little more vocal about it, basically tellin' him to relax. which he did not. after the game started he comes stormin' down the alley to get in our faces... or, i should say, MY face... demanding to know what i said... to which i just kept laughing with my arms folded telling him i didnt say a fuckin' word. i was gettin' a kick out of watchin' this guy get steamed over my stonewalling, until $hakey piped up and told him what it was like. once this lunatic realized he couldnt intimidate the Bowling Stones he put his tail between his legs and shuffled off down the alley. a tense start to the night, and we never really did get back on track. we were on lanes with a group we never really got comfortable with and wound up dropping a few games... no worries, though, coming into week 4 we were still holding strong onto 3rd place, with one of the highest total team scores in the league. things are looking good for the stones this season!
week 4 went last night and we were up against a team from the newly joined SouthSiders league... on paper things looked pretty evenly matched, and that also translated out onto the hardwood. both teams were throwing rocks last night, and i'd say we probably put together our best 3 games yet this season, walter had a life-time high of 207, the doc put up a 186 in his last game, $hakey was solid throughout.. but it just wasnt enough against a team consisting of the new Johnny 175 and a girl named Linda Lou. the 2nd game (which featured walt's 207) also featured a 205 from Johnny, and a 213 from Linda who boasts a 131 average!! 3 Hole Punch started the game with 10 straight marks and never looked back. Linda was the slow silent killer all game, reminiscient of a young Anne McNeil, who we all hope is recovering well from her surgery this past week. get better soon, anne - the stones miss your fiery passion and inspiration on the lanes! we squeeked out the last game to get a point for the week, but there's really not much more we could have done - props to the Puncher's for comin' to play and handing us our asses. we'll remember this for next time...
... and we'll remember you, too, Flip-Up. bring it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)