Keeps Me Alive

This was the show that nearly failed to happen. Twice. Back in February, I had a ticket to see Hawksley in Brandon, Manitoba. Brandon is about a four-hour drive (one way) from Regina and that's a bit much to see a guy who I've seen in concert probably ten times already. Plus, February is not the time when you really want a long drive on the Prairies. And true to form, work got really busy right before the show. Work cleared up on the day that I was supposed to leave, but that also turned out to be the day of our biggest blizzard of the year and I wasn't about to take a chance on the highways. No February Hawksley in Brandon for little James.

Oh well, four hours really is pretty far to drive for a concert, which is why it only made sense that I'd get tickets for a show in Winnipeg, which is an additional two hours beyond Brandon.

Really, I had no plans to go to this show, but when it was announced, I forwarded the information to Kristin, who lives in Winnipeg. Not sure why I bothered - I think she's on the same mailing list that I am - but it seemed like the thing to do. The night of the presale, she complained to me that Ticketmaster had already sold out. Nothing turns me into a sucker more quickly than artificially limiting the supply of something, so I went through Hawksley's website where some presale tickets were still available. Suddenly, I had a show to go to.

And again, it very nearly didn't happen. Usually, I know about my biggest work projects well in advance, but this most recent one came out of nowhere and was scheduled to end just as quickly - right when I was supposed to be gone. I decided I'd go anyway, no I wouldn't, yes I would, I wouldn't. Mika says this debate happens pretty much every weekend when I have something planned and she is exaggerating only slightly. Eventually, I came up with a plan whereby I'd bring my work laptop on the trip, find a hotel with internet access, and work on the most pressing projects after the show. I thought this was a brilliant (if less than ideal) plan up until a coworker called me at home on Sunday afternoon to let me know that our customer had pushed their due date back a week. And that is how the plan came together.

I left for Winnipeg on Monday morning with nothing more than a bag full of technology and a change of clothes. I didn't have a hotel booked and didn't have much of a plan. I was to pick Kristin up at her house, we were going for Ethiopian food and watching the show, and that was all I knew. If I had no reason to spend the night in Winnipeg, I'd consider heading home right after the concert. This would be seriously stupid, but a kind of stupid I am familiar with. I've done the Saskatoon-to-Regina, Regina-to-Minot, and Saskatoon-to-Edmonton one-day round trips in the past. Of course, some of these nearly killed me, but still.

The drive was uneventful, which is how I like it. I saw some baby geese, and I played "guess the gender of the person behind the till" at a small-town Dairy Queen. No idea if I won or lost that game. I hadn't made the drive to Winnipeg in over five years, and was waiting to be pleasantly surprised by the little things that I'd forgotten about. Still waiting. The whole thing felt very new to me. I don't think I saw anything that looked familiar until I made it to Winnipeg itself.

Kristin's new house was easy to find and the Ethiopian food was good - better, I dare say, than the Ethiopian place a block down from my apartment. It was good to spend some time with her, getting caught up. I will admit that I wasn't in her house for 30 seconds before I thought "man, I did not miss getting repeatedly punched in the balls by her dog." I thought age might dull said dog's hyperactivity but I thought wrong on that one. At least you can leave remote controls out in the open now, without fear of them getting eaten. Maybe.

The Hawksley show sold out quickly as it was the grand re-opening of Winnipeg's West End Cultural Centre. I had never been there before, so I can't judge the renovations. It looked a little bit unfinished in spots, and the evening's host (who looked kind of like Norm MacDonald's less successful younger brother) admitted as much on stage. Kristin seemed to like some of the design decisions and question some of the others. At least the bathrooms were no longer next to the stage. Hawksley later said "it's pretty much the same as it was except the toilets are in a smarter place now."

We got a chance to check out the stuff table before the show, but there wasn't much. CDs I already have, whatever t-shirts Hawksley had left from his previous tour, and the Treeful of Starling cards.

The opener was Greg MacPherson, a Winnipeg musician who I last saw in Regina at the 2004 Folk Festival. Hawksley doesn't always have opening acts so I was thrilled to find out that there not only was one, but it was someone I liked. According to Kristin, MacPherson had moved away to Toronto and she hadn't heard anything about him after that, but here he was and there was talk of a new album coming sometime this year. MacPherson's first-ever show had been at the WECC, so he seemed pretty excited to be there for the re-opening, even debuting a few songs he'd never performed live before. There were also some old favourites, including Slow Stroke which you can download for free from Greg's site.

A brief intermission and it was time for Hawksley Workman. I was curious about what Hawksley's show was going to be like. This wasn't part of a tour, just a one-night special performance - possibly because the WECC was the first building that Hawksley ever sold out in Canada. I assumed we wouldn't get the costume changes and full band that his last Regina show had. Indeed, it was just Hawksley on guitar (and briefly on harmonica) and Mr. Lonely on piano. No toy instruments, no jumpsuits - and no real surprises on the setlist. I had been listening to a Calgary radio interview with Hawksley on the drive up, where he mentioned that his shows tend to go all over the place, but the music is very familiar - he made a joke about having recorded 120 songs, but always pulling from the same 25 when populating his set lists. In that same interview, Hawksley said that when he went to shows as a kid, he didn't want to hear new stuff, and that seemed to be reflected in this evening's song choices. Apart from The City Is A Drag, I don't think there was anything from his two newest albums, and only two songs - Ice Age and You And The Candles - from Treeful of Starling. As for the rest, let's see... one song from Almost A Full Moon (A House Or Maybe A Boat) and a fine selection from his first three albums, including Smoke Baby, Bullets, Papershoes, Clever Not Beautiful, Your Beauty Must Be Rubbing Off, Tarantulove (which he claimed was a children's book), Jealous Of Your Cigarette, Anger As Beauty, and We Will Still Need A Song. No Striptease, I don't think, which I'm pretty sure is still his biggest hit. Maybe someone out there took notes and can correct me if any of this is wrong.

This seems like a good place to awkwardly jam in a link - I recorded a video of Hawksley singing Bullets, which you can find here.

After his first song, Safe And Sound, Hawksley started talking and said that he would be fine with talking all night long. Really, that's kind of what he did. Each song started with a story which may or may not have related to the song in any way. He claimed that he was inspired by comedians, which caused one audience member to laugh a lot; this, in turn, caused Hawksley to laugh a lot. Clever Not Beautiful was said to be inspired by Gary Larson. He thought We Will Still Need A Song was destined to be a huge hit, but the swearing held it back. You And The Candles was described as his one political song; he also said it was terrible. This got a good laugh, so he called it bad (in various ways) for several minutes - I think he just wanted to see how long he could drag the joke out for. He did the same thing later on when reflecting on the brand and contents of the bottled water he had, and again moments later when he used the word "Google" several thousand times in short, rapid-fire sentences.

The crowd seemed very much into everything and was contributing to the show. Smoke Baby went on forever because one dude in the crowd yelled "somewhere on the outside" louder than Hawksley was singing that part, so Hawksley made him do it over and over. At one point, Hawksley was trying to play his bottled water as an instrument by blowing on the bottle, but at the end of the song as he was about to do it again, someone in the crowd blew on their beer bottle, beating Hawksley to it, and he laaaaaaaaaaughed and laughed and laughed. "Well done," he said.

Between (and during) his songs, Hawksley switched in and out of a lot of old songs - not HIS old songs, just random old songs, including Riders On The Storm, Happy Together, Holding Out For A Hero, and Son Of A Preacher Man - whether or not he actually knew the words. I thought I knew the words to Holding Out For A Hero, but I didn't know the part that says "he's gotta play Scrabble real good." After struggling with the words to Happy Together, Hawksley walked off-mic to ask Lonely how the song went. As Lonely kept playing Happy Together, Hawksley returned to the mic, only to start singing The Logical Song.

Really, Mr. Lonely spent about two hours frantically trying to keep up with whatever Hawksley was doing. I have no idea how he does it. Great skill and ability, I guess. During Bullets, one of the few dancing fans complained that the venue had no dancefloor, so Mr. Lonely actually spoke - of course, all he said was "burn it down." Hawksley laughed and said that was "so Lonely" and played a bit of the Police song of the same name.

A one-song encore - which song it was completely escapes me - and we were on our way. The show was well worth the 12-hour round trip, even though we came up empty-handed in our post-show expedition to the 24-hour Shoppers Drug Mart in search of La Cocina tortilla chips (only available in Manitoba). I had to get Kristin to navigate because Winnipeg roads are designed solely to confuse. But even that nonsense worked out well - I turned my BlackBerry on as soon as the show ended, but found nothing apart from a text message reading - in its entirety - "ENOS!!!!!!!!" Don't ask. If I'd taken Kristin straight home, I might have just skipped town, but the extra time spent in search of chips and complaining about road signs meant that I was still in Winnipeg when I received an email from my buddy Mitch saying that he was free for lunch the next day, which was all the encouragement I needed to stick around.

The Travelodge just off St. Anne's was clean and comfortable, and more importantly, it was right next to a Safeway that was stacked to the gills with the good tortilla chips. Lunch was fun; I got caught up on gossip with Mitch and found out everything he's been up to, and I got to live out a longstanding dream of having a Salisbury House Cheese Nip Plate. This actually WAS a longstanding dream of mine, for reasons far too nerdy for me to admit in public. The drive back was sunny and went by very quickly, though I did have to stop at the Grenfell Esso to buy car wipes since I had been eating peanuts and managed to coat my entire dashboard in fine peanut dust. But that happens on all good road trips.

Over the past four years, Mika has done her best to convert me into a Joel Plaskett fan. Luckily, it turns out that Joel Plaskett is pretty great, so this hasn't been a difficult undertaking for any of us. I saw him in concert for the first time a few... um... whiles ago. I can't check my old reviews at the moment; all I can tell you is it was prior to March 17, 2008. Regardless, I know I enjoyed the show thoroughly.

On the previous tour, Plaskett was touring in support of Ashtray Rock, his concept album about a high school rock band that gets split up by a love triangle. A new tour means a new album, and Plaskett was arguably more ambitious this time out with Three - a triple-album whose songs have titles like "Run, Run, Run," "Deny, Deny, Deny," and "Rewind, Rewind, Rewind." Mika bought it as soon as MapleMusic had it available, which was great, because it came bundled with concert tickets. That's how we wound up in the front row.

Needless to say, I didn't get around to actually listening to the album before the show.

For supper, we grabbed pitas from the one pita place in Saskatoon that still has competent staff. I am willing to say this despite their attempts at charging me for 17 bottles of water; I believe that was an honest computer error and also it was really funny. Supper was necessary, for the show was at the Broadway Theatre where they put real butter on your popcorn with a ladel. Best to eat first and remove the temptation. Besides, I'd feel rude eating popcorn at a concert when sitting front row, like I was being disrespectful or something. No idea why. It's not like I didn't eat chicken fingers during dozens of concerts back in the day.

The theatre was also selling alcohol and that was weird to see. Also amusing, since people were drinking red wine out of tiny plastic cups.

We got to the show with plenty of time to spare, having learned our lesson at the Bloc Party show (and also, we were afraid that there wasn't actually going to be assigned seating at the theatre and our front-row tickets would do us no good). We had lots of time to chat with Heather before the show and look at the stuff table. Didn't get anything.

The show was billed as Joel Plaskett and Family and Friends, so there was no sign of his usual band, the Emergency. Instead, the show was divided into sections; some with Ana Egge and Rose Cousins on backing vocals and various instruments, some with his father Bill Plaskett on guitar and backing vocals, some with Joel by himself, and some with all four folks. Each of the guest musicians got a chance to sing one of their own songs as well. Possibly, the real star of the show was the eight-dollar keyboard who, sadly, did not get invited back out for the encore.

Mika tells me that Joel Plaskett has always done well in Saskatoon, to the point where he could sell out two Saskatoon shows on one cross-Canada tour; once while heading out west and once on his way back home. This show had sold out well in advance and the band got a great reaction with the singing along and the clapping and all that jazz. And apart from one guy who was a bit too irritatingly shouty, everyone was well-behaved, so the whole experience was pretty pleasant.

Looking online, I discovered that the setlist for his show a few days previously in Kelowna was much the same as the one we got, though in Saskatoon, he did play A Million Dollars for a young fan who held up a sign. I don't know if Joel Plaskett has hits or singles, exactly, or what passes for a hit or a single these days, but he played pretty much what you'd expect - most of the favourites and a lot from the new album. I didn't get Penny For Your Thoughts but I didn't expect to hear it anyway. At any rate, the show was excellent - enough to make me wish I'd made it to the show in Regina a few weeks earlier.

I was glad to see that Joel and Kelowna have settled their long-standing feud. As the legend goes (because I am way too lazy to fact-check), Joel had done a show in Kelowna that was not well-received and he immortalized this in his song Love This Town:

I played a show
In Kelowna last year
They said pick it up, Joel
We’re dying in here
Picture one hand clapping
And picture half that sound
There’s a reason that I hate that town

However, his most recent Kelowna show worked out better this time around, and his version of the song on this evening described his recent, more pleasant experiences in Kelowna. He ended by saying "there's a reason I can change my tune." The fans in Kelowna, meanwhile, got a nice long explanation of what had happened in the past and luckily, someone put this on YouTube in a video that I cannot recommend highly enough:



Anyway, back to Saskatoon. Our show ended with the new song Wishful Thinking and it concluded with all four folks singing the following lyrics:

CDs for sale at the back of the hall
Buy one, buy 'em all
Couple bucks cheaper than they are at the mall
Thank you, goodnight, we'll be back in the fall

I was really looking forward to the return date, and was quite saddened when I finally listened to the new album and realized that these words were part of the actual recorded version of the song and (possibly) not an actual promise to return later this year. I wish I'd made a note of the CD prices to compare them with those at the mall - I could have spent a lot of time untangling this harmonious web of lies.

Look at me! Writing a concert review in the airport! The future has arrived. I am traveling with a netbook, a BlackBerry, an iPod, and a Nintendo DSi. All that, and instead of having fun, I am writing a concert review for you. What a nice guy I am. That, and they expect me to PAY for wi-fi access. It is 2009, jerks. I no longer have a paper boarding pass. Give me free wi-fi.

I am not traveling to a concert, but maybe I will find one anyway. Who knows? After an eight-month dry spell, I am going to at least two shows this month. Possibly (probably?) three. Four was suggested at one point. Feast or famine.

Bloc Party! Mika was very excited to learn that they were coming to Saskatoon. I, on the other hand, knew one Bloc Party song, that being the one in Guitar Hero 3 that you can only unlock in multi-player mode. I have no friends so I used a cheat code. But it's a good song, so I had high hopes; higher hopes a short while later when Mika discovered that Hot Hot Heat would be the opening act. I loves me some Hot Hot Heat and didn't go when they were in Saskatoon a few years ago, and was afraid I had missed my chance.

The tickets said doors were at 7:00 for a Saturday night show at the Odeon. I figured that was way too early, so we showed up at about 8:10. I have no idea how much of Hot Hot Heat's set we missed, but let's just consider it a lesson learned and move on. I heard the lead singer dude say "we're Hot Hot Heat" as we were entering the building, so I hoped we would catch most of their set, but we only saw a little better than a half-hour. Which I guess is about right for an opening act, but still disappointing. Also disappointing: the sound, which was not up to the Odeon's usual standards. It was close to the old Amigo's level of quality, which is not a compliment. Mika said that this wasn't nearly as good as their last Saskatoon show. But I still like these guys and would gladly give them another chance, especially as a headline act - and I'm not just saying that on the off-chance that the aforementioned lead singer dude Googles "Hot Hot Heat" and stumbles across my music blog, because really, what are the odds of that?

How do I only have 63% battery left? I've only been at this for like 20 minutes and I had a full charge when I started. Oh, netbook, you'll be the death of me yet.

Anyway, the show was sold out, and it became quite apparent that the crowd was not there to see Hot Hot Heat, they were there for Bloc Party. And I'm not just basing that on the one guy who was trying to start a "one more song" chant during the early parts of (what we saw of) Hot Hot Heat's set. During the intermission, the crowd seemed to swell massively, giving off more and more heat as they grew. The Odeon is near-intolerable when full, though I will say that they timed the intermission well. I was just about to say "they can move this along anytime now" when the lights dimmed.

Bloc Party were really good. I don't know what else I have to say about them. The sound seemed to have improved, which was nice. I had big plans of listening to all their albums to prepare myself for the show, but we all know this game by now. I did learn a second song, and while they didn't play Helicopters - the song from Guitar Hero 3 (more on that in a sec) - they did play the other one I knew.

To be fair, it is entirely possible that they played Helicopters during the encore. We left before they came back out. I do not blame the band for this, I blame their... well, I was going to say "I blame their fans," but a fan might actually watch the show. Why do you pay $20 or $50 or $80 for a ticket to not watch the show? Maybe I am getting old, but I have always felt this way. Seriously, I am sure we saw that one guy from Look at this Fucking Hipster (latfh.com!) at the show. Which guy? It does not matter. Point one out and we saw him there. Guy who spent the whole night talking? Check. Guy who spent the whole night texting? Check. Guy who put both hands on my shoulders and drummed along with the beat while pressing up as close to me as he could while he passed by on the way to the bar? Check, but at least that one was so bizarre as to be amusing. Tall guy who spent the whole time getting boobs rubbed on him? Check, and you might say "well, I can't blame that guy" but the girl looked just like Lacey from this season of Hell's Kitchen and if she tried rubbing her boobs on me, all I would be able to do is yell SHUT IT DOWN or something. "Hey baby, take off your jacket... and leave Hell's Kitchen. Now piss off."

Speaking of British people, they really seem to like saying "Saskatoon" out loud. It IS pretty fun.

My flight will board in 20 minutes, and I am done! Finished early, just like the concert - we were back at the car by 10:30. I have no objection to that whatsoever, because I am old. Now just get rid of those young punk no-good kids, and we'll be set.

Last night, for those poor souls who missed it, was the second-annual Knox Acoustic Cafe Youth Showcase, and I'd like to express both my joy and my relief. Joy, for it being yet another stellar night of music at Knox. And relief, at the opportunity to again attend one of these shows, as they've been on hiatus since November. That's too long, folks. Too long.

So, same as last year, the premise of the showcase is to take eight young musicians and let them all play three songs each, then a panel of judges selects a winner. The prize is a spot performing as an opening act at Knox, on the Young and Hungry Stage at Summerfolk, among other things. Pretty sweet.

Well, this year you couldn't have paid me enough money to be a judge. No way. It was far too difficult. Honestly, I really liked all of the performers, for strong and varied reasons. I did not envy the judges AT ALL. We were treated to such excellent musicianship and performance all night, and even though I wasn't as involved in the set-up or running of the show tonight, as I am sometimes fortunate to be, I got the sense that that same good nature between the artists existed again this year. Who could ask for more?

The evening was co-hosted by Tyler Firestone, whom I've raved about in these pages before. By rights Hayden Stewart, as the winner of last year's Knox showcase, should have had the job, but he's away at school right now so Tyler, as winner of the Young And Hungry stage last year, got the nod as emcee. Folks, this guy's going places. He played a few songs to open up the show (set-list included below) and I was once again impressed by his continual growth, work ethic, and authentic openess. Always a pleasure, Tyler. Thanks a million.

So, the performers this year, in order of appearance, were as follows (their hometowns, all in Ontario, listed in parentheses):

Luke Nares (Pottageville)
Jill Jambor (Innisfil)
Claire McLeish (London)
Cory Heuvel (Barrie)
Sarah Johnston (Ottawa)
John MacPherson (Napanee)
Stephen Trothen (Kitchener)
Nate Waldes (Dunnville)

Each player confidently took the stage and had a blast. The only returning act this year was Stephen Trothen, and I thought he played with great skill and energy both this year and last. A name to watch. Everyone else was new to us at Knox, and a very fine collection of artists it was. Do yourself a favour and keep a copy of that list of names handy. When you hear these names again later on, you can tell 'em the KMA sent you! You know, I've always believed that talent only gets you so far, but without passion it's empty. These artists all had passion and talent to burn, each and every one.

My lovely wife, at the time of this writing, is almost nine months pregant, and the baby kicked happily through all of the performances last night, so to all of you showcase artists, there's a new fan on the way shortly!

And so, without further ado... the winner last night was... Claire McLeish! Congratulations, Claire! We look forward to seeing you again at Knox, and at other future shows.

After the long judges' deliberation and Claire was announced as winner, all the performers got back up on stage for a group version of Rockin' In The Free World. Fun!

To all the other performers, it sounds horribly cliched but you really all did win, in my book. I'd have had to toss an 8-sided coin to make a decision. It was that close. You all did so well. I hope to hear more music from all of you sooner rather than later!

And to Irwin and Susan, as always, your hard work and dedication in making this series of events happen absolutely ROCKS. We cannot thank you enough.



Tyler Firestone's Set List (--- indicates a break in the program):
I Will
Be A Friend
Butterfly
Longhaired Blues
New Beginning
Grapes (new song, a shout-out to Jon Farmer's banana bread song last year)
---
Shadows Of Wolves (new song, played on a 12-string)
---
Nickels And Dimes (new song, played on piano)


Also: Sorry everyone, I didn't keep a track-list for all the performers. Sitting here now, typing this up, I wish I had. Live and learn.

On this night we caught Tanglefoot live for our first time, and what an excellent show it was! Marking the end of their touring year, this Christmas performance was well-attended by exuberant fans who have known much longer than we have just what a treasure this band is to our culture. This was, apparently, the 7th consecutive year that they've ended their tours with this show, at this venue. Right on.

Avid KMA readers will recall that we've seen side-project groups My Sweet Patootie and the Ritchie Brothers perform gigs at Knox, but to see the whole group together was an entirely different, completely compelling spectacle. The individual personalities are still very visible, and as a whole they are unstoppable.

The energy and musicianship of this group is phenomenal. They ripped through song after song with huge energy, flinging boggling solos into the crowd and singing their tales and tunes with passion and an apparent glee. It was truly refreshing to see a band having such a great time performing.

It would be hard for me to pick a favourite tune of the night, so I won't even try. I very much appreciate the fact that their songs so proudly embrace all aspects Canadian culture, history and myth, all tied perfectly to their rich, warm roots sound.

I heard some grumblings during the intermission that the sound wasn't so great, but we had seats halfway back in the middle and it sounded alright to us. The vocals were a bit low in the mix for Steve Ritchie at points, and Sandra Swanell's violin was a bit loud at the start, perhaps, but otherwise it was fine. Some also groused that the band talked too much between songs, that their stories broke the rhythm of the show and went on too long. Well folks, think of the tradition from which this music comes and then give your heads a shake if their talking bothered you. It's all part of the experience, so relax already.

Now, I did have a couple of beefs myself. First, I offer a note to the thoughtless woman who was sitting behind us: Lady, you have no idea how close you came to having that chewing gum you were gnawing like a cow stuffed straight up your nose. Get some manners, for Pete's sake. You're disgusting. And secondly, to the Roxy, it would have been nice if you'd shut off the radio in the background for the duration of the performance. We couldn't hear it when the band was in full swing, but when they came stage-front and sang a beautiful tune a cappella, it was plainly audible. Pretty weak planning.

But these things are small in comparison to the brilliance of the show itself. These are road-tested musicians who've been serving up great songs with enthusiasm and excellence for many years. We were fortunate indeed to have been in the room last as Tanglefoot showed us just why they have earned their excellent reputation.

We loved it.