weekend at izzy's top ten listzy

i've been to izzy's campground in waterford a few times for some music festivals, and generally, i dont have very good memories of that place - from heartbreak, to sickness, to ugly truths on bad trips, something always seemed to get shitty there. i mean, it had its share of good times, too, dont get me wrong, some decent music, but overall, those festivals got kinda sketchy. this past weekend, though, i had a chance to go back there with some friends from around SoOn that i know from going to see live music, but without a music festival going on. just some straight up camping and good times.
no shittiness. no crappy bands. no wooks.

and i gotta say it was incredible. it was really nice to hang out with all these folks outside of a live music setting and just have some laughs, relax, and soak up all the great weather. even when the rain came pouring down, just as i was about to fall asleep sunday morning and i realized i hadnt put the fly on my tent, the tree coverage and mesh in my tent made it a great cool light mist to fall asleep in. and my tent wasnt even wet inside when i woke up. beautiful. i met some more great people and learned some things, too.

to switch it up a bit, i decided to compile a bit of a top 10 highlight reel from the weekend - here goes:

10) no one had to take schwa to the hospital.
9) becky's prom dresses. all of them.
8) *ding* "ALL OF THE MARSHMELLOWS ARE DISAPPEARING FROM THIS PLANET!"
7) the many wisdoms of corey.
6) potato chip alley
5) the encounter with the shakey handed lunatic who proclaimed himself my worst nightmare, after he got all pissed off from nearly getting nipped by Luna - im sure the dog knew what she was doing, prick.
4) *ding* "HELP, I'VE FALLEN....er ..... HELP ME UP!"
3) brian's fires.
2) reaching peak relaxation around the fire before going to sleep on sunday morning.
1) late-night psychadelic glow-in-the-dark frisbee in a field of fireflies beneath the stars. wow.

it was actually because of a stroke of bad luck that i was able to go there this weekend in the first place, but in the end, i'd say my luck turned out just fine.

berries, cherries, and... peppers?

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....

this blog sucks.

seriously.

once upon a time i thought i might have shit to say.. now im not so sure.

and who really cares, anyway?

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....

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.

His Message

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.

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.

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....

well, let me be the first...

to say to you, Jesus Christ... Happy Birthday.

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.

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.