Day: May 28, 2008

Categories
Concert Reviews

Review: The Trews at Capital Music Hall

After having an excellent steak dinner supplied by Mike and visiting Rob for a bit (where I showed Ryley how I learned a Jonas Brothers song to find out that he didn’t really care for that one anyhow…mental note…find out the songs the kid likes BEFORE learning them. No worries…the thing took 2 minutes to learn.), Joe, Mike, Vero and I headed out to the Capital Music Hall to catch the Trews.

We have seen The Trews quite a bit in the past…once at Barrymore’s where we were introduced to this rock band, another time at Algonquin College for Frosh Week, then at Tulip Festival where we braved torrential downpour and then an intimate showing at Carleton University . This time around, they are touring in support of their third album “No Time For Later”. After a dozen spins, I have determined that I find Den of Thieves to be a better album but not by much. I do enjoy this album quite a bit. It’s got some great hooks, riffs, melodies, you name it, they got it.

When I see The Trews, I feel like I am watching Aerosmith of old. They can rock. Like, REALLY ROCK.

The opening band was called My Darkest Days and they are originally from Peterborough. Upon doing some research, I found out that they still have yet to release a first album but I must admit that they definitely have some great potential. They reminded me a lot of Three Days Grace (and Mike pointed out that the guitarist had the same mannerisms) and it turns out that a member of the band is brother’s with a member of Three Days Grace, hence, a connection both in blood and music. I would recommend you see them whenever you get the chance if you are fan of that type of music. We discovered the sweet spot in the club in terms of audio…the vocals were CRYSTAL CLEAR. Vero commented that she has never actually understood words before at a concert because it is so muffled. This was not the case tonight.

After another beer and staking our claim on the floor, we waited awhile for The Trews to hit the stage. Watching a band in a club is definitely different than watching it at the hockey arena where the by-law has them end at 11PM. Here in the club, they don’t hit the stage until 10:45.

The ripped into ‘No Time for Later’ and rocked our socks off. They now have a keyboardist on tour with them and I absolutely believe a keyboardist is necessary for full-out classic rock. It’s a staple. This guy (I can’t find his name right now) was really giving ‘er on the keyboards and was a welcome addition to the band.

The best thing about The Trews is that they have nailed the formula for some catch choruses that has everyone singing. Tired of Waiting, So She’s Leaving, No Time for Later…it’s music built for the stage.

They really picked out a lot of songs from their new album which was great to see live. Once again, Colin added bits of other songs into the mix which I personally love to do as a singer, 30 Days in the Hole, Gimme Shelter…they even had a full-blown cover of The Weight by The Band with everyone taking their turn at singing vocals.

After the encore a bunch of people left and we managed to get closer to the stage but I could tell right away that we exited the ‘nice audio’ zone and the vocals were kind of muffled. I now realize that to get the optimum live experience, you really have to position yourself a good 15-20 feet away from the stage.

A great night with The Trews and company. It’s nice to see Vero out at a rock concert once in awhile and it’s nice to see that Mike finally got a new t-shirt (which, incidentally says “Palmer Inn” on it!)

Here is a setlist from the Kingston show which I modified from what my memory said was played last night…

No Time For Later
Dark Highway

Not Ready to go
Can’t Stop Laughing (with an intro saying it was written for some guy in Newfoundland who wanted a song written about him)

So She’s Leaving

Feel the Rain
Yearning
Ishmael & Maggie (only the greatest pubhouse song ever)

Poor Ol’ Broken Hearted Me

Fleeting Trust

Gun Control
Paranoid Freak
Hold Me in Your Arms
Long Road to Freedom
Drums
Tired of Waiting (with 5446 and These Arms of Mine)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Weight (The Band)
Burning Wheels

Categories
Uncategorized

Life of a Technological Caveman – Phone Numbers

I am a technological caveman when it comes to cellphones (Holly calls me this), as in I do not own one.  Unfortunately, this poses a problem when I’m trying to find a phone number.  There’s only a billion places a phone number can be…is it in my contact list at work?  How about on Gmail?  Oh wait, is it in my address book on my Macbook?

Enough already!  They haven’t come up with an all-in-one solution that suits me so I’m resorting to my tried and true method I adopted a decade ago.

It is called a piece of paper in my wallet.  It has everyone’s number on it.  There.  Job done.  Never again will I be calling Carrie for a beer and only remember her cellphone number when I really want to phone her home number.

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Uncategorized

Kapuskasing Inn Demolished

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It is with great sadness that I post this picture that Joelle sent to me of the Kapuskasing Inn which was torn down.  From what Mike told me, it was torn down last weekend.

The Kapuskasing Inn was a staple in our town.  According to Wikipedia, it was built in 1928 by the Spruce Falls Mill.  It’s claim to fame is the fact that Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip stayed at the hotel on their first visit to Canada in 1951.  It overlooked the Kapuskasing River and the mill and I remember plenty a time where I would walk over to the Kapuskasing Inn and sit on a bench across the street and look at the river.  It was quite relaxing.

Unfortunately, over the years, there just wasn’t enough business coming in and eventually, in 2002, it shut down and no investors came in to fix it up.  In the end, in 2007, some punk kids (I use this term loosely) set fire to a section of it and it pretty well nailed the final nail in the coffin.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there were going to shut the thing down even if there was no fire.  No one was taking care of it and I can only imagine how the structure was inside after years of neglect.

I say it is with great sadness that they tear this building down because I have a problem.  That problem is with the North American way of getting rid of old things.  Buildings, video game systems, old human beings (!).  When I travelled to Germany, I was given a tour around the town and explained that there were some buildings here that have been around for centuries!  They lasted the World Wars, the survived Oktoberfests, they were still standing and they are kept in as much pristine order as they can.  Their society ENCOURAGES keeping these buildings alive.  History shouldn’t just be a photo in a textbook or on Wikipedia.  It should exist with us NOW.

I understand the financial logistics of such an undertaking.  But let me ask you this.  Why is it that years ago, there was more money put into building these grand structures and now everyone just wants to make a giant profit so they find the cheapest way to construct something.  Is that the way things worked years ago?  Was the Kapuskasing Inn the cheapest way to construct a hotel?  I’m thinking not.  Anyhow, I digress.

I am disappointed that there was no financial backing to keep the Kapuskasing Inn running, but I don’t know specific details as to how much it would have cost.  All I know is yet another community (more importantly, Canadian) landmark has been demolished and there is simply a pile of dirt resting there.

Maybe I just have a problem with my hometown being whittled down of the things I remember…

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Palmer Asks

Palmer Asks…

Is it cheaper to buy a slew of blank DVDs to start making room on my external hard drives, or is it just cheaper to invest that money into buying ANOTHER external hard drive?