Perfectly Portland

Yeah, so I totally thought I would get a bunch of writing done on the boat and ... well... NOPE. And I kinda liked it that way.

That said, I'll try and keep up more. How about a visit it the Portland Saturday Market (I went at the end of June for our anniversary trip as you may remember HERE or HERE)? One of my favourite places to go and every time we've been, it's been sunny and stinking hot and we always have a beer and run into Jimmy Hendrix.
































We stayed at the lovely Ace Hotel which is certainly as hipster/trendy as the hotel chain is known to be, but we really liked it. Small but cute rooms, tiny elevator, clean shared bathrooms (if you are staying cheap like us), has turntables (!) in teh rooms and mp3 player hookups, awesome location (block from Powell's Books) and has the rad Stump Coffee chain below in the retro lobby :)























GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!



I've been approved for my photo and media pass for Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival over the Labour Day Weekend... Weezer, Baroness, Edward Sharpe, Bob Dylan... Hole... etc. I'm super excited and what's even more exciting is that I am covering Music Fest North West in Portland a few days after that... Yay for more Portland, it's the city that keeps on giving. This *may* just end up being a major deal for me and I may be enlisting the help of a blogger you all know to help with it... but I'm not gonna say anymore until I know it's a done deal! *fingers crossed*

The Arcade Fire, Janelle Monae, The Sadies @ Olympic Island, Toronto (August 14, 2010)

  Win and Regine of The Arcade Fire: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [Aug 23/2010, 12:12 am]: Review now up.

I missed out on tickets for The Arcade Fire's two-night stint at Massey Hall in May 2007 and that was one of the few times I've regretted not being at a show. So when the band announced a surprise two-night stint at The Music Hall[on a tangent, which is at least closed for now due to unpaid back rent according to BlogTO] in Toronto this past June, I made a decision to buy a ticket. That show emphasized the sonically uplifting nature of The Arcade Fire's music, coming at a time[the recent passing of my mom] which turned out to be very much therapeutic. If that show was a warm-up, their large-scale proper show in Toronto at Olympic Island last Saturday nailed it.

With the absence of large-scale outdoor concert festivals from this year's summer Toronto concert calendar, Toronto promoters Collective Concerts stepped up to fill the void, first with the Pavement reunion show at Olympic Island earlier this summer which also featured Broken Social Scene, Band of Horses, Beach House, Timbre Timber, and The Toronto Revue(Zeus, Flash Lightnin' and The Beauties), and last week with The Arcade Fire show also at the Island, with openers Janelle Monae, and The Sadies. The Sadies, with Dallas and Travis Good in their sequined suits were probably happy that the clouds kept the sun at bay, but they still did their best to work up a sweat with their brand of twangy, surf-inflected, country tunes. The hour or so long set they performed seemed short by their standards, with their usual headlining exceeding the two hour mark. There were definitely a few fans in the audience, but it seemed that the majority of the young hipsters in the crowd were disinterested. As per what's been a usual part of their set at least the last few times I've seen The Sadies live, the Good brothers' mother came up to join the band on a few songs including, Sadies standards, their cover of the 60's r n' b song "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" and their smoking cover of the Traditional "Higher Power". I noticed the reaction of a few young female attendees who thought the whole concept of the brother's mom singing with them was cute.

Next up was Kansas City native, Janelle Monae. The Arcade Fire's Win came out to introduce her, this being her debut Canadian performance. While Win's subsequent walk off stage was a bit clumsy as he tripped over something, caught himself from falling, and sheepishly glanced to the crowd, there was nothing clumsy about Ms. Monae's performance, marked with precision, dexterity and soulfulness. Sporting her version of a pompadour, and decked out in a white ruffled shirt, tight-fitting black tuxedo pants, and two-toned oxfords, her band on keyboards, guitar and drums were similary garbed in their black and white attire. Janelle and her back up dancers came out onto the stage originally enveloped in black hooded garments but then Janelle started out into a a wicked rap before shedding the hood. Having only had some cursory listens of her music prior to the show, I had a slight impression of what to expect, but the live performance really converted me. Her music was a scintillating combination of rock, soul and r'n'b and her stage presence evoked the spirit of a few of the late greats like James Brown and Michael Jackson, oh and to me her music, or at least her approach to is, reminded me most of all of the still living(thankfully), Prince. Vocally, her soulful vocals were spot on, and even a passionate cover of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" only accompanied by the effective jazz-rock guitar arrangements of guitarist Kellindo Parker, did not expose any blemishes in her vocal technique. Aforementioned guitarist Kelindo Parker was 'sick' as the kids would say, and his stage presence was as if he was channelling the spirit of Jimi Hendrix. Towards the end of the set, the back up dancers threw out a bags of balloons to float and mingle through the crowd. Overall, it was a highly impressive set from the P. Diddy and OutKast protege.

It's come to the part of the review where I should talk about The Arcade Fire but in some ways it is almost difficult to put into words unless you were there. It wasn't the show to end all shows but it definitely propelled feelings of glee and euphoria for those in attendance. The seemingly appropriate, both in title and tone, new single "Ready To Start" kicked off the set and I could feel the excitement build up inside of me. The next song, the punky "Month Of May", also from the band's new album The Suburbs, kept up the crowd's adrenalin. Other highlights of the night included new songs like the restrained "Modern Man" which had the audience clapping, Win switching to piano for the alt-country swing of the new album title track "The Suburbs", Regine's lead vocals on the infectious, dance-pop of "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" and the audience's vocal participation on "Rococo". While the new songs were for the most part new to me since I hadn't listened to the new album yet, they were so instantly memorable.

Of course the old songs weren't about to be overshadowed, so not to speak about them ad nauseum, we got favourites like "No Cars Go", "Haiti", and the usual double-shot of "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" and "Rebellion (Lies)" which ended off the main set in fine fashion and had me on more than one occasion unable to restrain myself from jumping up and down. In perhaps a once and a lifetime moment, the crowd[or at least the front part of the crowd] continue to sing/hum the outro melody of "Rebellion(Lies)" long after the band left the stage, and continued to do so for several minutes, until the band finally made it back to the stage for their encore which was comprised of "Keep The Car Running" and "Wake Up", a mightly fine conclusion to the night. It was an earlier moment in the night that solidified the greatness of the night for me as Win reiterated that one dollar from the sale of each ticket went to the Partners in Health charity to continue the relief efforts in Haiti, where member Regine Chassagne was born. But rather than segue into the appropriately-titled "Haiti", it was the grand presence of "Intervention" and it's pipe organ that graced our ears. I felt, breathed and tasted the greatness of that very moment. But whatever the true song's meaning, when Win sung "I can taste the fear, Gonna lift me up and take me out of here", it gave me a lump in my throat.

Photos: The Arcade Fire, Janelle Monae, The Sadies @ Olympic Island, Toronto (August 14, 2010)
MySpace: The Sadies
MySpace: Janelle Monae
MySpace: The Arcade Fire

Polvo, Versus @ Lee's Palace, Toronto (August 13, 2010)

  Richard Baluyut of Versus: photo by Michael Ligon

It was a 90's Merge Records comeback as Chapel Hill's Polvo and Brooklyn's Versus took over Lee's Palace last Friday night. The 1990's was my coming of age period in terms of indie rock, and Versus(along with Seam, Aminiature, and Toronto's own Venus Cures All) was one of the the first real indie bands I saw live when they played the El Mocambo in 1995. During that period I started to discover indie record labels such as Merge Records who offered a roster of acts that were extremely exciting, if not musically but also for their D.I.Y. ethic towards touring and recording, and the associated culture of zines that helped to build the indie rock scene one fan at a time. It was a really special period. While Polvo also sprung from that same period, it's not too surprising that I never latched onto them given their tendencies towards math rock(a term I've read they don't like) a genre I was never particular towards, but having seen them live for the first time last week, their musical quality was more than evident.

Lately, I've had a bad habit of missing opening acts, and this time it was Toronto's Soft Copy. One of these days I will catch them. Fortunately I made it in time for Versus who were up next. Taking the stage were core members Fontaine Toups and Richard Baluyut with touring member Margaret White on violin and keyboards. It was was that setup, with Richard and Fontaine on guitar and bass respectively and both on vocals, along with Margaret that performed the first few songs drumless, the songs obviously leaning towards a sparer version of the band than I'm used to hearing.

Richard let it be known to the crowd (which at this point was no where near full as it should have been) that his brother and the band's drummer Edward Baluyut could not make it because he had to go back home as his wife was giving birth to their baby. Fortunately, the opening band Soft Copy's drummer Paul Boddum took over on the spot, having not even rehearsed with the band, and did an admirable job filling in, occassionally at the beginning of a few songs having a quiet discussion with Richard as to what sort of rhythms to play. The band's newest album entitled On the Ones and Threes released this year on Merge is their first record in ten years since their last LP Hurrah, the new LP providing the impetus for touring again and providing much of the setlist. Having not heard the new songs until that show, it sounded like classic Versus - alternating lead vocals between Richard and Fontaine, nice melodies, a little muscle balanced with some finesse in the guitar arrangements, and a good sense of dynamics showing the band are just as adept at subtlety as they are at turning it up. It was the old favourites that I was most excited to hear such as "River", "Blades of Grass" and "Fallow" off of their debut 1993 debut full-length The Stars Are Insane. Obviously there were some people in the crowd that were excited to see the band live again(some who I'd imagine might have been at that same Versus show I was at at the El Mo in 1995) but it was a generally disappointing turnout. Of course they were never the biggest band around even back then and taking a ten year gap between albums doesn't necessarily help either.

There was obviously a reason why Polvo was headlining the night as after Versus' set, the venue quickly filled up comfortably. Having broken up in 1998 and then quietly reuniting in 2008, I presume there were some in the audience who didn't think Polvo would come to Toronto, so for them this show was a special treat. For me, having not really listened to the band at length, it was a history lesson. Not nearly as harsh or dissonant as I expected, while there was not a vocal melody within earshot at least from what I recall, the guitar, bass and drums were presented with mathematic precision that gave the songs somewhat of an accessibility. At times, the instrumentation was less angular, giving the impression of the band on the brink of playing a more conventional rock tune, although for the most part staying the course, and perhaps all the better for it. Whereas crowd reaction during Versus' set seemed sporadic due to the lighter crowd, Polvo induced a generally more enthusiastic response, prompting the band to come back for an encore. The band released their newest album In Prism through Merge Records in September 2009, and like Versus with their newly released album, it looks like they're both here to stay. Polvo and Versus fans are rejoicing everywhere.

Photos: Polvo, Versus @ Lee's Palace, Toronto (August 13, 2010)
MySpace: Versus
MySpace: Polvo

Concerts, concerts, concerts

I'm going away on the boat for a few days to recuperate and to WRITE.

Yes, write up my interviews for work, re-write my god damn freaking novel (after my last editor turned out to be a scam artist) AND write a bunch of blog entries.

So, you can expect that starting on Saturday, I'm gonna be posting once every other day - hope you'll be making the effort to come back and check them out and comment and I will FINALLY have the time to make the rounds to all the favourite blogs I have been severely missing. I've missed you all, really, truly. Thanks for your patience!

In the meantime I encourage others to check out the blogs on my blogroll, they are all a cool bunch of people - and if any of you other bloggers want me to check out your blog, just shoot me a line in the comments.

Here are some links to the concerts I did in this last week - Four concerts in 6 days! I HAS EXHAUSTION. BUT BEST TIME EVER. EPIC STORIES TO TELL.



The Vincent Blackshadow


Matisyahu and Dub Trio


Chromeo


Deftones and Baroness



See y'all on Saturday!

"Ready To Start" / The Arcade Fire @ Olympic Island Today!

Local promoters Collective Concerts sent out a Facebook message today that they'll be selling tickets at the door for The Arcade Fire show today at Olympic Island so if you haven't yet picked up a ticket, get yourself down there fast. Doors are at 4:00 pm and tickets at the door will set you back $64.00.

Support for today's show are Kansas City sensation Janelle Monáe and Toronto's always dependable The Sadies. Wow, I'm just listening to some samples of Janelle for the first time on her MySpace, and it's good stuff. I want to hear her sing "Faster":

Janelle Monae - Faster - HD Live at La Maroquinerie, Paris (July 5th, 2010)


And not to forget The Sadies:

The Sadies - "Flash"


I just picked up the vinyl of The Arcade Fire's new album The Suburbs yesteday and have only gotten around to spinning side one but I just completed uploading the album to my phone so I'll give it a listen when I head down to the Toronto Islands.

The Arcade Fire - "Ready to Start" (Unstaged) @ Madison Square Gardens, NYC (Aug 5/2010)


So again doors are at 4:00 pm, with The Sadies on at 6:00 pm, followed by Ms. Monae at 7:15 pm and The Arcade Fire bringing it home at 8:45 pm. See you down there!

Tallin, Estonia

You know...I was going to stick with logic order and make my next post about Day Two of Ilosaarirock but that required too much time and time is something I am running out these days... especially this week and especially when it comes to writing.

So, I'm doing a photo-based post until this week is over.... and then I can tell you all about my musical adventures this week which borders on insanity + taking on too much at once.

Tallin, Estonia is a your typical post-soviet city but with a lovely, Russian-influenced ancient medieval village in its castle-guarded center. I've been there before back in 2005 and couldn't wait to jump on the fast "booze cruise" ferry across the Baltic Sea to go exploring it again. The weather was hot as stink until it was time to catch my ferry, when the heavens opened up and I was drenched in a tropical-like rainstorm. Still fun though.

















Hot Nuts?




























Soaked to the bone, overlooking the stormy Baltic