Day: January 30, 2009

Categories
Concert Reviews

Review: Sam Roberts Band – Bronson Center

Friday night, Mike dropped by Vero’s place to have a few beer before we headed out to see the Sam Roberts Band at the Bronson Center.

The Bronson Center is a venue that I’ve only seen a theatrical play in.  I had no idea if it would be a great venue for a rock concert but I noticed that it’s gaining popularity as a venue.  We arrived there a few minutes before The Stills took the stage and I was disappointed to see that the place was PACKED!  Argh!  General Admission inside a theater…no fun.  We found three seats together near the back and then I went to peruse the merchandise table.  I scored a vinyl copy of the new album for $20 and a tour poster for $5 which were each $5 less than what I would have paid on the website.  I’m glad I held out to see if I could snag the vinyl from the booth.

I went back to our seats and sure enough, when the Stills started up, no one was standing up.  I was groaning because I thought we had entered classic Ottawa rocking standards…I still remember going to Eric Clapton and we were the only people on the entire floor who were standing up during the concert.  Anyhow, the tables turned when The Stills said it was alright to go in front of the stage so a SURGE of people ran up to the stage.  We decided to follow suit but by the time we made our way up there, they were turning people away and asking them not to stand in the aisles.  We spied a few seats that were empty so we nabbed them and I must say I was much happier with our new found seats which were a few rows from the stage.

I really couldn’t understand why the Bronson Center was becoming a venue for a lot of rock acts considering they didn’t server any beer and they had theater seating.  Then Mike hit the nail on the head…he mentioned that it allows it to be an all-ages show.  My disdain for the venue and the band immediately disappeared as I realized that living in Ottawa, there must be a ton of underage people who miss out on seeing their favourite band for the sole reason that it’s held inside a bar somewhere.  The fact that I couldn’t get myself a beer disappeared and I appreciated the energy coming from the crowd during The Stills set.  This is the first time I’ve seen The Stills and they put on a good show.  I enjoy how they have two vocalists.

After a short break between bands, the Sam Roberts Band hit the stage and started out with their title track from their new album, Love at the End of the World.  I love this tune and it got the party started.  The band doesn’t look too different than the last time I saw them at Bluesfest.  The only new addition that I spied on the stage was an LED setup behind them.

Sam thanked the crowd from the onset and mentioned how it was nice to end their Canadian tour in the place where it all began…probably a shout-out that Ottawa radio first picked up his breakthrough single ‘Brother Down’ (I nabbed that factoid from the Ottawa Citizen review).

The show was great and I was surprised at how the time flew.  Mike mentioned that I wasn’t imagining it…they played an hour before heading off stage and returning for another 30 minutes of an encore (which included a member of The Stills on saxophone during Mind Flood and…Brother Down I believe?).  They probably played a shorter set due to the fact that they were returning the next night for another show.

There was a lot of energy throughout the entire show and I really enjoyed how the set list was heavy on the rock and interspersed with a few slow numbers…the ideal rock show set list!

The Sam Roberts Band have hit a point where they have a bunch of albums to pull material from.  If I were able to, I think I would have went to the next night as well to catch a variation on the show.  There are so many classics I missed this night…The Gate, No Sleep, Don’t Walk Away Eileen…I was also hoping to hear The Pilgrim or End of the Empire from the new album.  But I really can’t complain.  I stumbled upon a night of a stellar setlist.  Heck, I got to hear The Resistance AND An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay?  Beauty.

Set list (in order that I remember it…could be wrong)
Love at the End of the World
The Resistance
Fixed to Ruin
Hard Road
Up Sister
Stripmall Religion
Bridge to Nowhere
Where Have All the Good People Gone?
An American Draft Dodger In Thunder Bay
Lions of the Kalahari
Brother Down (w/ saxophone from The Stills?)
Them Kids
With a Bullet
—–
Detroit ’67
Words and Fire
Mind Flood (w/ saxophone from The Stills)

iplaying: I Might Be Wrong – Radiohead (Amnesiac)

Categories
Uncategorized

The Parents are Coming!

You know when you were young, and your parents went away and you had a lot of fun and maybe some mischief?  Maybe a party, or maybe a full-out fight with your sister when she wouldn’t eat the burned ravioli that you made her for lunch.

You also remember how it was that your parents called and said they were returning a day before expected and you’re looking around the house and wonder how a landmine of destruction went off in the past two days?  Then you put away your differences because, in the end, your petty squabbles are nothing compared to the wrath of your parents coming home.

That’s how I feel about the OC Transpo strike being over.

The Federal Government didn’t even have the CHANCE to meet and talk about legislating binding arbitration…just the mere thought of them getting together had the city and the bus union officials scrambling to say “Ok, ok!  We get the point!  We’re done with our battle!”  What the heck?

I had some real faith in the process…I knew it was a hard one with two opposing factions with very diametrically opposed views.  But I had faith that the process would work itself out.  Now I realize that this could have been averted weeks ago with the mere mention of the Federal Government stepping in.  So I have lost faith in the process and find all parties involved laughable.  If anything, stick to your guns and wait for the legislation to send you back to work!  I would rather be forced to go back to work instead of admiting defeat at this point!  What was the point of holding a vote two weeks ago saying you want to stick to your guns and strike longer?  For those out there that believe they weren’t admitting defeat but FINALLY helping out the poor citizens of the city…take a closer look around you.  This strike would have lasted until June without intervention of the parents.

The talk around the office for the past few months have been ones of frustration, dismay, tiredness…but when I came in this morning, we looked at each other and there was a sense of a lackluster finale.  Someone put it perfectly “We didn’t win anything, we just got back something that was lost.”  In fact, if anything, we just lost something out of this whole thing.

I doubt I’ll be returning to the bus routes anytime soon…at least for the first few days.  Word on the street is that no express buses will be running.  I can only imagine how packed the regular routes will be without the express buses running.  Plus, I have visions of front page newspapers showing riots in the streets.  I am a fan of public transit, don’t get me wrong.  I enjoy taking the bus in our fine city and generally do not have any complaints about the routes or the drivers.

The end result of this charade has left a bad taste in my mouth.