Steve Earle, Allison Moorer & Danny Michel w/ Banned From Heaven @ Gage Park

Mental Note: A free concert held at an open park in Hamilton, Ontario may not be the best venue for seeing one of my all time rock heroes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Hammertown hater. In fact, Hamilton has one of the most underrated music scenes in Canada, as far as I'm concerned. I also realize that, much like in T.O., the weirdos are obviously in the minority. It's just that there can be no argument to the fact that there are some very strange people in Hamilton, and when they are in the general vicinity, they definitely make their presence known. This is the distraction that I and many others, including Mr. Earle himself, had to deal with on the Friday night of this years Festival of Friends, held at Gage Park in the aforementioned township of Hamilton, Ontario.

Having rented a car for the weekend, we arrived at Gage Park around 5pm, which was just in time to see a local band called Banned From Heaven. They were a very run of the mill, old time country blues band that didn't really enthrall me in any way, but were still somewhat entertaining for what they were. There's a time and a place for their style of music, and I suppose the early evening slot at a free park festival is as good a place as any. They've apparently been playing together for years, (yet they don't have any website to speak of?!?!?) and there is certainly no shortage of talent on their part as they whizzed through a set of mostly covers to a relatively small crowd.

Photos: Banned From Heaven @ Gage Park on flickr.

Danny Michel was up next and hey! what can I say about Danny that I haven't already said before? This was a significantly different setting from the last time that I saw him. From where I was sitting, there wasn't a lot of people that were very familiar with his music and when it comes to Danny, that's a very interesting atmosphere to watch him work in. He consistently wins over every crowd he performs to, and he did so once again on Friday night. I noticed that whenever I review his show, I tend to focus on his charisma, sense of humour, and remarkable songwriting. What I've mistakenly neglected to mention is the fact that the man really knows his way around a guitar. There were a couple of times when his songs were interrupted by enthusiastic applause after an impressive display of guitar work. It was a pretty short set running about 45 minutes in length, that included Perfect, Feather Fur and Fin (which he dedicated to the massive Neapolitan Mastiff in the front row), and a heart stopping rendition of I Will Love You For Miles.

Photos: Danny Michel @ Gage Park on flickr
Myspace: Danny Michel
Video: The Invisible Man (live) on youtube

I can't say that I knew all that much about Allison Moorer going into this show. I know that she is Mrs. Steve Earle. I know that she is quite attractive. And I know that she is a country singer. That's about it.

So needless to say, I didn't know the songs that she was playing but they sounded pretty good to these ears. Her voice is far above average, and the fact that this was an acoustic set gave her the opportunity to really showcase her amazing pipes. She opened with Mockingbird and played a mesmerizing set that included an awesome cover of The Rolling Stones' Sweet Virginia. She called hubby Steve out to duet on Where Have All The Flowers Gone? which had the point and shoot cameras out in full force. Although I personally preferred her more blusier numbers, the whole set was very good, and acted as a reminder that people who say that they don't like country music most likely have not heard real country music. As a side note, I just want to mention that it's a shame that more of today's female country artists cannot put out the same type of soulful country that Allison and her sister Shelby Lynne release. I hate! hate! hate! what's referred to as quote new country unquote and the Shania's and Faith's out there are giving country music a bad name. I think it was Pete Townshend who said that new country is just cheesy R&B in a bad country hat. (I'm paraphrasing a bit I think.) Fact is that Allison does not rely on the goofy horrible-punchline-pun-as-song-title-lyricism that we hear way too much of on mainstream new country radio and I am very thankful for that. I think I've said my piece. End rant.

Photos: Allison Moorer @ Gage Park on flickr
Myspace: Allison Moorer
Video: Fairweather on youtube

It's been a while since I've been this excited to go to a concert. Steve Earle is one of the greats, and sadly, I had never gotten to see him live before Friday. The last time he was in town, I had the flu or food poisoning or something and it just didn't happen. Well I was not prepared to miss him twice in one year, so off to Hamilton I went to check out the master. He was awesome, with his charismatic ego in tact, pumping out the attitude in only the way that Steve Earle can. Of course, the crowd made it easy for someone to display a level of 'tude.

The problem with a free show is that you're always going to get a ratio of people who actually know very little about the artist that they're going to see. The people who were screaming Copperhead Road at the top of their lungs every 30 seconds as if it's the only song that he's ever done deserved to be forcefully escorted from the park. Sadly they weren't and this was incredibly irritating. Even Earle addressed this nonsense by pointing out Irritating Audience Member #1's ineptitude in thinking that there was a possibility that he wouldn't play his biggest hit. That didn't stop IAM#1 from requesting the song every 30 seconds though. That goes for IAM#2 and IAM#3 as well, while IAM#2 continued to dance like a spazz case, blocking the view of several audience members, making IAM#4 incredibly angry so that he felt that he had to ... anyways, I digress. Let's just say that the show was full of distractions, and it was evident that Mr. Earle was not impressed, and who could blame him.

That having been said, full props go to Steve for not letting the annoyances get in the way of performing a solid show for all of those who were genuinely there to enjoy his music, and although there were a couple of moments where he did tell off the disrespectful ones, overall it was the music that took over. He opened the show with Christmas In Washington from El Corazon, possibly my favorite Steve Earle album. He played other classics like I Ain't Ever Satisfied, Guitar Town and of course good ole Copperhead, and he included a few newer ones too, like Sparkle and Shine and City Of Immigrants. I suppose to keep things relatively family friendly, he kept the political ranting to a minimum, really only doing so prior to playing Immigrants. It was a fairly mellow set, and I look forward to catching the full band version another time, but there was nothing lacking in this performance to me. It's true that Steve Earle still displays a level of cockiness, but he's just so dang cool at doing so that I can't imagine that I'd ever want to see him any other way.

Photos: Steve Earle @ Gage Park on flickr
Myspace: Steve Earle
Video: City Of Immigrants on youtube
Video: The Revolution Starts Now (live on Craig Ferguson) on youtube

The Morning Stars - You Can't Change The World

I've been exposed to a lot of ultra cool toonage last week so I'll do what I can to tell you all about it but I've got to say that the week ahead looks like a busy one so the posts may be short and sweet. Or not. We'll see.
The Morning Stars are another great band from the Hamilton, Ontario area, and they specialize in the sweet organic musical sensibilities of some of the neo-sixties delights that have come our way in the form of Brian Jonestown Massacre or Stone Roses.

The album hits you like a punch in the face with the first song "Hearts For The Living," and it is the reason that the liner notes recommend that you play this loud. Your head can't help but rock and rattle to the shake of the tambourine as Mars Ivic's vocals sound reminiscent of the young Anton Newcombe. It follows with "Wrong," a perfect melody with a catchy hook who's sole purpose is to burrow a hole into your brain and stay there for the remainder of the day. I like almost all of the songs on the album, but the other major highlight for me is "All Coming Down" which again follows a neo-psychedelic path and a slightly funky dance groove a la "Peace Frog" by The Doors. Many bands have tried to capture the early spirit of rock 'n roll in all its lush and vibrant splendor. Some are successful, some not so much. Count The Morning Stars among the successful ones. I'm a little late to this party since the album was actually released late in 2006, and I've pretty much missed all of their live performances for the time being. They are however, working on the next album and there is no reason why this band should not draw a little bit more attention the second time around.

Listen: "Hearts For The Living", "Wrong", and "Don't Waste Time" over here.
Myspace: The Morning Stars
Purchase: "You Can't Change The World" at CDBaby
Video: Teaser for the CD release of "You Can't Change The World" youtube (Incredibly cool video. They simply ooze rock star mojo.)

How The Lassue Yous Changed My Life

or The Reason Why I’m The Type of Indie-Rock Nerd Who Goes Online and Pretends To Be A Music Journalist For Fun!!!Music is very important to most young men between the ages of 15 and 25. They base their cliques on it, they base their vocabulary on it, they design their rooms and lockers by it. But then most guys reach an age of responsibility, where music starts to take a back seat in their lives. Just a few short years ago that’s exactly where I was. I was bored with classic rock radio so I moved on to alternative rock radio. I had grown bored with that too, and I figured that I was finally reaching that age where music is just simply not that important anymore. After all, I’m now an old married man and music is, well, it’s for teenagers. Right?

Then something happened that fateful day (if I believed in fate, which I don’t!) just a few years ago. The wife had planned an “evening out with the girls” and I was left to entertain myself for a few hours. The thought had crossed my mind to possibly go to the local Chapters and read several magazines without actually buying them. Or perhaps I’d rent a couple of movies. However, I picked up The View, a local free indie-paper and I read an interesting article about a band from London, Ontario called The Weekend. They sounded very interesting. They were to be playing that evening at a little place called The Hudson in Hamilton at 9pm. Hmmm. That sounds like something. I didn’t have to pick up my wife until about 11:30 or so. Why not?

Now, being new to the way the whole “small band at a small venue” thing works, I didn’t realize that “doors at 9” actually means that the band will likely go on closer to 11. The opening act that day was a little band consisting of 3 brothers from Dundas, Ontario who call themselves The Lassue Yous. The Hudson was empty. I grabbed a beer, and sat down at a table near the stage. After nursing that beer, (by myself) for just under two hours, The Lassue Yous were ready to take the stage. As soon as they hit the first note, I was starting to believe that I may be in the midst of a particularly historic moment in the life of yours truly. The jangly guitar! The crazy lyrics! The handclaps! The energy! The excitement! They reminded me a bit of Thrush Hermit. Or Sloan. Or, heck, they even reminded me a bit of the Liverpudlian fab four themselves! At that moment, I felt as if I was Rodney Bingenheimer, and I had just discovered the GREATEST BAND OF ALL TIME! Yes, that is truly how they sounded to me that night! You see, that was the night that I realized that I was still in love with music as much as I ever was. The problem was that mainstream radio was not providing me with anything new. And these crazy Dundanites were! And if these guys have been kept a secret from music lovers everywhere, than how many more unsigned artists are hiding out in the clubs of their respective towns? How much music have I missed out on over my 20-something years of existence?

Well, from that day on, I have constantly been on the prowl for new and interesting music. Sadly, I didn’t get to see The Weekend that night, but I have seen them several times since. I’ve seen The Lassue Yous a few more times as well although I think they’re on a bit of a hiatus at the moment. I’ve been introduced to so many other bands that have changed my life and rocked my world. I’ve had the opportunity to expose some of my favourite bands to others as well, by means of my blog or by introducing them to podcasting. And the music scene has never been more exciting to me than it is right now. I often wonder, if it had been a dude with a casio singing Pat Boone covers that night, I may have given up on music altogether. Thank goodness for The Lassue Yous!

Download:
Rock “N Roll Your Saturday Night mp3
Toughen Up mp3

The Marble Index - Same Schools (Post)

One of the things that I would like to start doing regularly in the new year is a regular weekly video post. This week I'm featuring a band that is quite special to me personally. I remember just a few years ago when I was living in Burlington, I used to frequent the coolest CD store in town, Screaming Mimi's. One day, while admiring the CD's that I was about to purchase that day, the dude behind the counter told me that I should check out the band that he is currently drumming with. They were, of course, The Marble Index. I went to see them that weekend and although that show was low on attendance, the band's performance was ridiculously high on energy. For a moment, I thought I was seeing The Who in 1965!! Lead vocalist Brad Germain's on-stage presence was electrifying to say the least. Since then, they have received quite a bit of radio airplay, and an impressive level of success. I really like the video for "Same Schools," partially because it's a very cool concept and also because much of the action seems to take place just up the street from where I live. Here is one more quick little anecdote: I remember hearing The Pixies playing over the speakers at the aforementioned CD store. Drummer Adam Knickle and I were talking about how cool it would be if The Pixies ever got back together. He said that this was a concert he would not be missing. About a year later, not only did The Pixies get back together, but who opened for them on several Canadian dates...The Marble Index. How rock' n roll is that?

If the video does not appear above, you can see it here.

Visit The Marble Index myspace page.

"Same Schools" is taken from the CD "Watch Your Candles, Watch Your Knives." You can purchase it here.

Also, make sure you check out their video for "We Can Make It" from their last CD. It's a reworking of the Kevin Bacon dance thing in Footloose. Hillarious and impressive.