Eric's Trip w/Quest For Fire & $100 @ The Mod Club

Finally getting to see Eric's Trip was like a dream come true to me. As far as I'm concerned, they're one of the seminal bands of the 90's, and it's a shame that they never entirely got the recognition that they deserved. They always seemed to be the band that was highly respected, yet never quite able to reach much more than a cult status.

Oddly enough, I ran into Rick White a couple of weeks ago. He was painting a wall on Queen Street. Very random. It turned out that this wall was to be the new location for Rotate This, Toronto's legendary independent record shop. I gushed a little bit (can't help it, I'm a fan) and he explained that the reason for The Mod Club show was to raise a bit of bread so as to be able to play a few shows in Europe. I thought that was kinda cool.

Sadly, the turnout wasn't quite as great as I would have expected (or hoped.) It wasn't bad by any means, but I was sure that this was going to sell out, and it didn't look like it did. The crowds, however, were pretty much what I expected: comprised mostly of those whose musically formative years were the early to mid 90's. It was great not to feel like the oldest guy at a show for once. The band was very tight, wasting as little time as possible between songs. No sooner would one song finish before the drummer counted off his "1,2,3,4" and the next song would start up! The setlist was full of crowd pleasers, and my favorite moments were hearing Follow sung with youthful exuberance, and Cloudy, which Rick sung as if his mother told him to use his inside voice. It was beautifully gentle and restrained, almost forcefully held back. But the number one moment was right before the encore, with Julie Doiron's blistering rendition of Blinded. She didn't look all that angsty but boy, did she sell it, making me very happy that I brought my earplugs to this one. Left the venue, pulled them out, no ringing in the ears. What an enjoyable after-moment.

Photos: My shots of Eric's Trip @ The Mod Club are up on flickr.
Myspace: Eric's Trip
Video: My Room on youtube
Video: Stove on youtube

The first of the two opening bands was a local alt-country band called $100. These days the term alt-country conjures up images of any number of roots rockers from Wilco to Ryan Adams. I assure you that $100 sounds even more authentic than even those bands do. The vocals of Simone Schmidt sounds as if she did some hard living in the deep south many many years before she could possibly have been born. Their music was an interesting contrast to the heavier bands that were to follow, but it didn't feel out of place. The set started off a bit slow paced which made it a little bit difficult for me to appreciate right away, but with each subsequent number, they continued to suck me in even more. By the time they got to a song which I believe was called Tirade, I was completely ensconced in an airy pedal steel dream that I never wanted to end. Their upcoming album entitled Forest of Tears was recorded with Rick White and will be released on Blue Fog Recordings.

Photos: $100 @ The Mod Club on flickr
Myspace: $100

The second opener was Quest For Fire. Long story short, I think that I may have a new favorite local band. When they started their set, they came across to me as somewhat reminiscent of Pink Floyd during their mid period between the psychedelic Syd Barrett years and their FM radio mainstream progressive years. But as the show continued, I realized that they had honed a sound that is entirely their own. The band consists of Chad Ross, Josh Bauman, Mike Maxymuik and Andrew Gunn. Chad and Andrew used to play in The Deadly Snakes, the former band of my other favorite local Andre Ethier. Their sound is so atmospheric and aggressive and ethereal and mind blowing that I'm already itching to see them again. The light show at The Mod Club was also a good complement to their music, adding a surreal visual backdrop for their sounds; songs that have a tendency to veer off into lengthy cosmic soundscapes. I could serious fall in love with this band. Seriously.

Photos: Quest For Fire @ The Mod Club on flickr
Myspace: Quest For Fire

'Sup In June?

Short answer? Tons. Grab yourself a drink and some cereal, sit back and relax because this is going to be one lengthy post. June is a month of legends and NXNE and it's going to be so full of the rawk that I'm going to make sure that I chill out a little bit in July. I won't pull another January hiatus or anything, but I'm fairly sure that June is going to cause me some significant wipe out action.

Things get all started tomorrow night when I see the reunited Eric's Trip at The Mod Club. For those that aren't in the know, the Trip are one of the truly great lo-fi bands of the 90's, cranking out four official CD's and several independent EP's and cassette releases during that time. Since then, Rick White and Julie Doiron have gone on to have some more success in their own write, but nothing compares to the insane heartbreak fueled distortion that they created when they were together. I've been listening to Love Tara and Forever Again all day today in preparation for the show, and it's amazing how well those songs hold up. Can you tell I'm excited? When picking up the tickets, the brother at Soundscapes told me that I should be sure not to miss the opening bands because they're also spectacular. He's got impeccable taste so I'll take his word for it. They are Quest For Fire and $100.

Myspace: Eric's Trip
Myspace: Quest For Fire
Myspace: $100.

If seeing Eric's Trip isn't enough, Sunday June 8th marks the day that I FINALLY see R.E.M. In the next few days, I'll be composing my love letter to R.E.M. that will help you more fully understand why this is such a big deal for me, but for now let's just say that, in many ways, R.E.M. has made me the obsessive musical compulsive that I am today. Also, Accelerate is their best album in 15 years. The opening bands are not too shabby either and you may have heard of them also. They are Modest Mouse and The National. Familiar with them? Opening for R.E.M. should give them that little push that they need in their little careers. (YES! Sarcasm, give me more!!!) It's been a long time since I've been to a show in an amphitheater setting, so we'll see how I handle being in the 200 level as opposed to being up front like I always am. Hopefully I don't get too grumpy.

Myspace: R.E.M.
Myspace: Modest Mouse
Myspace: The National
Video: R.E.M's Hollow Man on youtube

Which brings us to NXNE! Boy, did I have a hard time deciding where I was going to go. There's a lot of great stuff going on, but a whole whack of conflicts as well. However I think that I discovered a feasible schedule that has the greatest number of good bands with the least amount of traveling. So take a deep breath .... and here goes:

The fest doesn't officially start until Thursday June 12, but there are a few early shows that are part of the NXNE-Extra series. Wednesday night (June 11) I'll be trying to attend Lightspeed Champion at Lee's Palace. This might be tricky since the press badges are not available for pick up until Thursday at noon, but I'm trying to see what I can do. I'd like to get in though because I think that this will be an incredibly fun way to get the festival started.

Myspace: Lightspeed Champion

On Thursday night (June 12), I plan on making my way to The Supermarket to see Cancel Winter (10pm), followed by Amos The Transparent (11pm). Amos' Jonathan Chandler eluded to the fact that this was going to be a very exciting and different show the last time that he was in town, so I'm looking forward to finding out what he meant by that. I would go and check out Sloan at The Mod Club, but I'm not available until 10, and they come on at 9. However, there's a rumour circulating that they will be heading on up to Lee's Palace afterwards for a 1am show. If said rumour is true, then I'll be leaving after Amos The Transparent's set and heading down to Lee's. If not, then I'll just stay put and check out Great Bloomers (midnight). Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

Myspace: Cancel Winter
Myspace: Amos The Transparent
Myspace: Sloan
Myspace: Great Bloomers
Stream: Sloan's Parallel Play on yeproc records.

And here's a short list of the band's that I also want to see but can't due to there only being one of me: The John Henry's (Criminal Records @ 7pm & Dakota Tavern @ 10pm); Krief's Black Diamond Bay (Clinton's @ midnight); Danielle Duval (C'est What @ 10pm); Melissa McClelland (Dakota Tavern @ 11pm); The Coast (The Horseshoe @ 9pm); Two Hours Traffic (Rivoli @ midnight) and Key Witness (Velvet Underground @ 8pm)

I'm going to try to start things off a little bit earlier on Friday night (June 13) by zipping on down to Yonge and Dundas Square to see Hospital Bombers at 8pm, followed by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at 9. The rest of the evening was very difficult to choose but I think I settled on seeing Julie Doiron (11pm), followed by Evan Dando (midnight) at The Horseshoe. I loved The Lemonheads but they're another band that falls into the love 'em but never seen 'em section of my life. Afterwards I might take a chance and tunnel through the center of the Earth to catch Swervedriver (1am) at Lee's, but I'm really not going to get my hopes up for that.

Myspace: Hospital Bombers
Myspace: The Lemonheads
Myspace: Julie Doiron
Myspace: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Myspace: Swervedriver
Download: Julie Doiron's No More mp3

Download: Julie Doiron's Snow Falls In November mp3


And here are the acts that I wanna see but cannot on Friday night: Will Currie and the County French (Drake Hotel @ midnight); Ruby Coast (Drake Hotel @ 9pm); Songs From A Room (El Mocambo @ 9pm); Jason Plumb and the Willing (Gladstone @ 11pm); Beth In Battle Mode (Holy Joe's @ 11pm); Oh No Forest Fires (Kathedral @ 9pm); the whole line-up at The Reverb was very very tempting, namely The Priddle Concern (9pm); Great Lake Swimmers (10pm); Laura Barrett (11pm); The Meligrove Band (midnight); and Justin Rutledge (1am). Missing Fox Jaws (Rivoli @ midnight) and Golden Hands Before God Conducts Incredible Magic Band And The Spirit (Savannah Room @ midnight) is also killing me! But I had to go with Dando because opportunities to see him are far less frequent than the other local bands. And I've seen Fox Jaws five times. And I'll likely see them many more times. This year.

And now for Saturday night (June 14th)! If Thursday and Friday night are as action packed as I think they'll be, then I'm going to look forward to spending time with my wife on Saturday because it is our anniversary. 11 years! Where does the time go?

However, once dinner and a movie is done, the wife and I are still planning on catching a couple of shows and here's the plan. Spiral Beach (10pm), followed by Hey Rosetta! (11pm) at The Horseshoe. Some may feel it's sacreligious to exit before Matt Mays and El Torpedo (midnight) takes the stage, but I've been looking forward to the next show at Lee's Palace for a long time. We start with Miss Derringer (midnight), followed by another blast from the past in Redd Kross (1am). Should be fun! If we still have an unbelievable amount of energy, then we might go to El Mocambo to see Patrick Krief's latest project entitled Black Diamond Bay (2am) But probably not.

Myspace: Spiral Beach
Myspace: Hey Rosetta!
Myspace: Miss Derringer
Myspace: Redd Kross
Download: Spiral Beach's New Clouds Hot Clouds EP for free at Zunior.com

I wish that I could see these bands too but alas, I cannot: Entire Cities (Cadillac Lounge @ 1am); Revival Dear (Cadillac Lounge @ midnight); The Two Koreas (El Mocambo @ 11pm); The iSpies (El Mocambo @ 10pm); The 6ixty 8ights (Hideout @ midnight); Serena Postel (Free Times Cafe @ 11pm); Tin Bangs (Kathedral @ 1am); Grace Emily's (Neu+ral Lounge @ 8pm); Foxfire (Reverb @ 11pm); Magneta Lane (Rivoli @ 1am); Matthew Barber (Rivoli @ 10pm); Spookey Ruben (Yonge-Dundas Square @ 7pm) and Bran Van 3000 (Yonge-Dundas Square @ 9pm)

Exhausted yet? If you've read this far, you're the king. But wait there's more! On Monday (June16), I'm breaking my promise and actually going back to the Kool Haus to catch Besnard Lakes with the mighty mighty My Morning Jacket, one of the greatest live bands ever in the world ever. I am puh-huh-mped about this one!

Myspace: Besnard Lakes
Myspace: My Morning Jacket
Download: Besnard Lakes' And You Lied To Me mp3

Download: Besnard Lakes' For Agent 13 mp3


And so ends my ridiculously full month of June. Unless you include Ohbijou with Jill Barber at Harbourfront Center on June 28th. Which I don't see any reason why you wouldn't.

Myspace: Ohbijou
Myspace: Jill Barber
Download: Ohbijou's St. Francis mp3

Download: Ohbijou's Steep mp3


Whew.

The Sadies w/ Rick White and Andre Ethier @ The Horseshoe

I was sick and bed ridden all day and probably the dumbest thing I could do was go to another concert on Saturday night. But it was The Sadies. And this was the last of four shows they were doing in the city this weekend. It would be downright unnatural of me to not attend one of them. So I did, Saturday night at The Horseshoe, to be exact. This show in particular sealed the deal for me that The Sadies are arguably the best live act that the city of Toronto has to offer. (OK, maybe next to Broken Social Scene, but The Sadies have been around longer.) I had already reviewed them earlier this year as part of the NXNE festival, and there really isn't much that I could add that I haven't already mentioned there. It was an evening full of guest stars and family while the Good boys displayed their remarkable talent once again. It's been noticed by many that The Sadies have always been remarkably consistent at putting on a stellar live show. It's also been mentioned before that they have a particular fondness for The Horseshoe since it has been hosting their music for so long. So that being the case, they really made sure that they gave the fans their money's worth by playing for nearly two hours in length. They graciously took fan requests, and they politely thanked the audience after pretty much every song. For me the particular highlight of the evening was when they had opening act Rick White join them on stage for a couple of songs. They performed a cover of The MC5's "Looking At You", which may actually go down in my mind as the performance of the year! It was mind-blowing, to say the least. The Sadies are a band that every music lover owes to himself to go and see whenever he/she gets the chance.

Photos: The Sadies @ The Legendary Horseshoe on flickr.
Download: Anna Leigh mp3
Myspace: The Sadies
Video: Flash on youtube.

Sandwiched inbetween The Sadies and the opening act was Rick White (formerly of Eric's Trip.) He played a mellower acoustic set that actually wasn't really that mellow. I was pretty excited to see him as I consider him to be sort of a legend, yet I had never seen him live. The man is a magician on the guitar, and I feel sorry for all the people in attendance who were not standing within the first 3 or 4 rows. The reason for this is that he really does need to be seen to be believed. His fingers danced along the fretboards like a couple of ... um .... really impressive dancers. (The people in the first few rows know what I'm talking about.) To add to his immense guitar playing talent, his lyrics are really quite bizarre and interesting and I think it's time that I got better acquainted with his projects since Eric's Trip since I'm really quite unfamiliar with anything else he's done. Judging by what I witnessed last night, that's a real shame.

Photos: Rick White @ The Legendary Horseshoe on flickr.
Video: In-store performance at Soundscapes in Toronto on youtube.

The opening act was local folk rocker Andre Ethier who I am basically very unfamiliar with. I know that he was the lead singer of The Deadly Snakes, who are very good from what I know of them. But otherwise, that's about it. When I first walked in, just as his set was starting, I thought the music was slightly reminiscent of Traffic's "Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys." It definitely had a proggish feel to it. However, as the show went on I could see that Andre was more influenced by Bob Dylan and southern blues as opposed to anything by Yes. His band included a saxophonist / flautist that added another dimension to the band that prevents it from being referred to strictly as folk-rock. There was a sort of free form Velvet Underground vibe to it as well. Confused? Well, let the music speak for itself by going to his myspace. As for me, going to a concert when I'm sick has likely just made me more sick. Head cloudy. Vision blurry. Unable to write literate review. Going to bed now.

Photos: Andre Ethier @ The Legendary Horseshoe on flickr.
Myspace: Andre Ethier