The Weakerthans, Constantines and Waking Eyes @ The Phoenix

Ahhh, The Weakerthans. Most of you readers are well aware that seeing this Canadian treasure live has really been a long time coming and I'm glad to say that the wait is finally over. So was it worth it? Answer: a resounding yes! But let's start from the start...

The Waking Eyes put on a show that was not all that dissimilar to the one that I saw at Lee's Palace in March. The variety contained in their recorded material allows them to showcase their many layers on the live stage as well. The musicianship of this band is so incredibly adept that things continue to keep moving at a steady clip, while their creativity continues to shine through. Rusty Matyas and Matt Peters proved themselves to be very captivating frontmen, as they switched off instruments regularly throughout the set. Meanwhile, Steve Senkiw is obviously a more than capable drummer. Once again though, I wholeheartedly maintain that Joey Penner is a bass player extraordinaire and the greatest selling point of the band. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes this guy impossible to ignore onstage, other than the fact that he's just a wizard of a bassist. Of course the entire band is solid, and even though the two acts to follow are regarded as a couple of Canada's best, The Waking Eyes easily held their own.

Photos: The Waking Eyes @ The Phoenix on flickr
Myspace: The Waking Eyes

Constantines have been declared by many to be the best live rock act that Canada has to offer. When I saw them perform at Toronto Island several years ago, I was pretty much ready to jump on that bandwagon myself. Well, absence makes the heart grow fonder as they say, and I was really looking forward to catching their live show again. There is no doubt that this band is an absolute powerhouse on stage; a rock 'n roll assault that makes you exhausted just looking at them. However, I've consistently felt that each successive album that they've released has showcased a band quickly running out of ideas, and unfortunately this was reflected in their live show also. For the most part, it was the older numbers that sounded great, while the newer ones just kinda lagged for me. The show opened strong enough, particularly when they pulled out Young Offenders, which was the second song of the night. The song's immediacy was rampant, coming across as if they had written it only yesterday. The show ended even stronger, beginning with Nightime/Anytime (It's Alright) and Justice, both from their first two albums. This was followed by a ripping version of Shine A Light, also from the second album of the same name and they ended their set with an explosive chorus of Do What You Can Do from Kensington Heights. If the show was limited to these five or six performances, it would have been insane. My problem was with the weak part in the middle. They played for nearly an hour, and I'm afraid that great energy cannot override mundane material, and sadly, the mind couldn't help but wander throughout the middle portion of the show. Personally, I was finding it very difficult to match their enthusiasm as each song started to sound the same. I've scanned the internet to try to find another poor review of a Constantines live show and I couldn't, so I'm willing to acknowledge that this is obviously more personal opinion than anything else. However, as a semi-jaded concert goer who remarkably still has the ability to be impressed often, I'm afraid this show only half did it for me. I will say that Bryan Webb does have an amazing voice though.

Photos: Constantines @ The Phoenix on flickr
Myspace: Constantines

All of my concerns with Constantines set can apply in an opposite way to The Weakerthans. In comparison to the two bands that preceded them, energy and power are not two words that you'll read in any live review about our favourite Winnipegers. The comment has been made that when it comes to seeing The Weakerthans live, you may as well just stay home and listen to the records. I suppose that in many ways, this is a valid point. However, one cannot underestimate the power of the material. The Weakerthans are a true Canadian treaure for a reason. They've written some of the greatest lyrics in Can-Rock history, and Aside is one of my favourite songs of all time. Anywhere. So on the strength of the songs alone, there was no way that this show was not going to be anything short of overwhelmingly pleasurable. It's true, their show does not come with any flashes of light, or acrobatics performed by the Cirque de Soleil, but when you're showcasing songs like Left And Leaving, Virtue The Cat and Reconstruction Site, gimmicks no longer become necessary. John K. Samson simply walks on stage, smiles and performs the songs, and from what I could judge by the audience's reaction, nothing else was needed. Speaking about audience reaction, let's talk a little bit about the audience. This was another one in a series of dreaded all ages shows that I've been attending recently, and I wouldn't be me if I didn't moan a little bit about how much I hate all ages shows. If you're not interested in another self indulgent rant, feel free to skip ahead to paragraph three.

As far as all ages shows go, this was not the worst one that I've been to. Unlike the Born Ruffians show I attended last year, or the Broken Social Scene show that I attended shortly thereafter, or The Hives show prior to that, for the most part the young 'uns managed not to get all up in my peace, so I was pretty grateful for that. Still, I could've easily done without the gaggle of horribly tone deaf female teenster singalongs that accompanied every single syllable emanating from Samson's mouth that night. If you want everyone to listen to your overwhelmingly bad prepubescent cackle, then go and form your own band and see if you can sell out three nights at the Phoenix on your own. Basically I doubt it, what with your voices sucking and everything. (Oooh, that was offside 'eh? Hehe, I'm a jerk sometimes...)

And now back to our regularly scheduled review. Some of my favourite moments, besides hearing Aside, came during the encore, which began with Samson returning to the stage solo, and performing One Great City! Admittedly there was something slightly sinister about a crowd screaming "I Hate Winnipeg!" at the top of their lungs, but you couldn't wipe the smile off of my face if you tried. One fan had been screaming for My Favourite Chords since the show began, so one can only imagine the elation he must have felt when they pulled that one out and performed it in such a beautifully introspective way. And finally, their Casio heavy rendition of Anchorless was amazing, with only the drummer being unequipped with the instrument. Samson claimed that they were not planning on doing this song and it was only by request that they pulled it out, but they seem to have been doing it all tour, so I'm not sure if I believe him. Either way, it sounded great.

The Weakerthans will always be the definition of a perfect band to me. The combination of marvelously poetic lyricism, hooky melodies and warmly endearing stage presence is what makes them truly great, and hopefully the opportunity I've had to finally catch their live show will not simply end here.

Photos: The Weakerthans @ The Phoenix on flickr
Myspace: The Weakerthans

The Space Between Things - Songs About You EP

I've been following the evolution of local lo-fi phenom The Space Between Things (aka Chris Hobson) for over a year now, and it's frightening the amount of prolific output that has been created by this musical workaholic in that relatively short time. Other than the odd song being featured on a compilation or soundtrack however, the amount of stuff actually being exposed to more than a fleeting myspace appearance has been ridiculously low. The reason for this can only be attributed to Hobson's borderline obsessive nature in making sure that the music that is provided to the public meets his high standards of excellence. Thankfully the wait is finally over, now that this one man psych experience has made the Songs About You EP available to the masses. Upon hearing the release, it's become obvious to these ears that the result is well worth the effort put into it.

Perfecting a psychedelic lo-fi sound that is free of gimmick and pretentiousness is no easy task. Too many times have I come across an album that is made to sound like a basement recording, only to be irritated by the fact that the buzz and hiss involved is creating too much of a distraction to be endearing for long periods of time. Although Songs About You definitely has an earthy feel to it, the pristine production means that the sounds and effects are there to enhance the experience, not detract from it. Taking a cue from the early days of studio wizardry, this collection is a psychotropic journey unto itself; an amalgamation of highs and lows that enable the EP's 4 tracks to meld together into one satisfying piece of music, even without a literal segue. In fact, "the space between things" is a highly accurate moniker since it is the atmospheres and the white noises in between the melodies that are used to paint such a sonically menacing landscape. Even Hobson's singing is presented in an indistinct hush that makes it just one ingredient in the overall picture, as opposed to being the main ingredient.

The most obvious point of comparison can be found in the work of Rick White, most noticeably with Elevator, although Eric's Trip parallelism would be justified also. Fans of Guided By Voices and Sebadoh are also likely to find something interesting here. The Space Between Things has a couple more releases planned for this year, but for now, the entire Songs About You EP is available for free here.

Above photo from myspace.

Listen: Love's On The Run

Myspace: The Space Between Things

Other stuff:

The Waking Eyes' Rusty Matyas has apparently joined The Weakerthans. This is according to an article in Chart Magazine. The Waking Eyes are opening for The Weakerthans and The Constantines at The Phoenix on March 31st - April 2nd. [Myspace: The Weakerthans, The Constantines, Waking Eyes]

Metric's Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw express some thoughts on the recent online leak of their upcoming new release Fantasies, as well as some other comments on the album over at Clash Magazine. [Myspace: Metric]

Torquil Campbell of Stars and Memphis has started yet another new band called Dead Child Star, which also features Apostle of Hustle's Julian Harris Brown. Info on this new project is on Pitchfork. [Myspace: Dead Child Star]

Dinosaur Jr. has a new album entitled Farm that will be released on Jagjaguwar on June 23rd. Stereogum has some of the details. [Myspace: Dinosaur Jr.]

One of the strangest new releases I've heard about would be Iggy Pop's upcoming foray into french pop jazz entitled Préliminaires, set for release on June 2nd. If you're as confused as I am about this, hopefully Iggy will be answering some of your questions on an interactive online press conference over at the Iggy Pop Préliminaires Official Website being held tomorrow (Thursday March 26th) at 11am CET (6am EDT). [Myspace: Iggy Pop]

Deerhoof has an artsy new video for their equally artsy new song Eaguru Guru from their latest album Offend Maggie. It's up on Pitchfork. [Myspace: Deerhoof]

And finally, it's been a couple of years and I've been really craving some live Jay Farrar like nobody's business. Well, Son Volt has a new album slated for release in May, and it looks like a full tour cycle will follow the release of the new album. OK, that's not much in the form of new news on the Farrar front, but I'm just making it clear that I've been checking up regularly. [Myspace: Jay Farrar; Son Volt]

CMF Day 2: The Novaks, The Waking Eyes, Matt Mays and El Torpedo

As is usually the case, I was not able to get out on Thursday night until after 10 or so, and I decided that I was just going to plop myself down at Lee's Palace and check out the lineup there.

I arrived there as Newfoundland's The Novaks were partway through their set. They played some pretty straight forward rock 'n roll that seems to be influenced by riff heavy rock like The Rolling Stones, while incorporating a mid 70's garage sound reminiscent of Teenage Head and the like. Their sound more likely would have better suited a smaller bar-like venue such as The Horseshoe, but they were very accomplished musicians who blasted their bluesy rockabilly vibe quite well. They played mostly original material, presumably from their debut album, and I did enjoy their set closing cover of Eddie Cochran's Somethin' Else.

Photos: My pictures of The Novaks @ Lee's Palace are on flickr.
Myspace: The Novaks

The Waking Eyes are a band that has been on my radar a lot in recent months, and this is mostly due to the incredible buzz that continues to surround them. Their performance did not disappoint. I loved the variety that could be heard throughout their music, and the fact that they refused to simply settle into one traditional style. Being only mildly familiar with their songs, it was incredibly exciting to watch a band that balked at predictability, and kept their artsy sound evolving throughout their set. Although all of the guys are obviously excellent musicians, it was the intensity of Joey Penner's bass playing that really impressed me the most. Almost all of the members however had their chance to shine, switching up their instruments regularly and all taking turns in presenting their own throat tearing vocals. A major highlight (besides the minor tribute to Heinz ketchup the culminated in Heinz t-shirts being tossed into the crowd) was the audience singalong that accompanied Wolves At The Door, a truly great song. It's going to be exciting to see them again in April when they open for The Weakerthans and The Constantines at The Phoenix.

Photos: My pictures of The Waking Eyes @ Lee's Palace are on flickr.
Myspace: The Waking Eyes.

Much like Sloan the night before, Matt Mays and El Torpedo are one of those acts that have been rocking out for years and are way past the point where they need to impress. Although his hard rockin', alt-country tinged East Coast sound is great on record, the live stage is really where Matt Mays shines the brightest. The band opened with two songs from their latest release Terminal Romance, namely Building A Boat and Tall Trees, both of which ensured us all that this was to be a performance of grand rocking proportions! Matt's got a pretty sweet White Falcon Gretsch, and he wailed on that thing several times throughout the night. The setlist featured a good number of songs from the latest release but was by no means limited to those tracks, as he even played songs from his solo album. The main set ended with his biggest hit Cocaine Cowgirl which really brought the house down. For the encore he did an amazing cover of The Stones' Wild Horses, which was followed by On The Hood from their self-titled album. For that song he invited the members of all of the opening bands onto the stage, which resulted in an onstage party that was only surpassed by the wild one that was taking place in the audience.

Photos: My pictures of Matt Mays and El Torpedo @ Lee's Palace are on flickr.
Myspace: Matt Mays and El Torpedo