Author: admin

***originally posted for a Sam Roberts message board…may be a little too much for people to read***

***all photos taken from .COBRASNATCH’s Flickr site***

Heading out to Bluesfest’s last night had a sad effect on me as I had been through the gauntlet and survived, but realized that I wished every night of the summer could be like this. Music all summer long. A man can dream.

We got there with time to spare so we grabbed a few beer and got a prime location to stand for the set. On my way over, I was mentioning to my roommate how I’ve finally come down off of my Sam Roberts Band high. Maybe it’s because they are well into the Chemical City tour…maybe it’s because the shows have an air of predictability to them…whatever it was, I wasn’t as pumped as I used to be for a SRB show. Hopefully this feeling would go away soon!

As soon as the opening keyboard chords of The Gate arose into the air I felt the excitement creep back into me. Perhaps all I needed was a kick in the ass of full out rock? The band was getting into the groove of things once With A Bullet was over and done with. The Resistance opened it wide open – crowds clapping, Sam sauntering around, Dave swinging his hair…it was all coming together. Forget what I said before – my love of the Sam Roberts Band came back fast and it was full throttle after three songs into the set.

Hard Road followed and then it happened. Paranoia. Out of all the times I’ve seen the band, they have never played my fave tune live. The night became magic. I will throw out one gripe though (and this has nothing to do with their performance). I enjoyed the jam at the end of Paranoia on their We Were Born in a Flame tour more than the Chemical City tour. From listening to the bootlegs from that era, I can hear some similarities between the jam of Paranoia and what became Mind Flood. So…I have this theory that they felt it was just too similar so when Mind Flood started playing in the Chemical City tour, they figured they had to change the jam at the end of Paranoia. That being said, I loved Paranoia, but I prefer the old jam better. However, I do like a band who shakes things up.

Fixed to Ruin hit everyone (which premiered in Ottawa at the Panda Festival back in the spring) and I have to admit the crowd was loving the new tune. You know you have a hit song when no one knows it but it can move the crowd.

As stated before, Brother Down, you can see Sam having the biggest grin on his face. He just can’t stop smiling at someone in the crowd.

At the end of the song he announces that his daughter is down in the crowd in the pit at her first rock concert. You can see it touches him.

I’m going to make a fairly obvious assumption that she was their with her mother considering I don’t think Sam’s daughter is even walking yet. Pretty cool to think that they went into the pit instead of hanging out on the side.

Also around this time, Dave takes the microphone and announces that he wants to wish his cousin a Happy 16th Birthday and that the next tune is for him. I thought that was awesome. He must have made his cousin’s night.

Let’s talk about Dave for a moment here. I don’t know if it was because he had family in the crowd, or if he was playing a hometown show (well, relatively close to home that is), but whatever it was, he was on fire. My roommate commented that he has never seen Dave rocking so much. He was pulling out some excellent leads as well as sheer rocking movements – my fave being the holding the guitar up high and strumming away. Classic guitar move right there people. Practice it if you own a guitar.

15

Other fan faves like Draft Dodger, Bridge to Nowhere and Where Have All the Good People Gone? Were excellent as always. Mind Flood blew me away once again (as always) and I am hoping there is a bootleg of this show floating out there (although Ottawa is rare on the bootleg scene unfortunately) as the song was one of the more blistering versions I’ve heard.

They came out for the encore of Eileen but then promptly left the stage as another band was taking stage across the festival grounds. I was disappointed that they couldn’t hang out any longer, but the festival rules are there to be followed I suppose.

All in all, my love for the Sam Roberts Band is back and I’m anxiously awaiting them setting up in their studio for awhile and throwing out a new album. Other than that, I’ll just revel in the excellent bootlegs that are popping up lately (thanks Chris and others!) as well as contemplate heading to Montreal for Osheaga.

Setlist:
The Gate
With A Bullet
The Resistance
Hard Road
Paranoia
Fixed to Ruin
Brother Down
An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay
Bridge To Nowhere
Where Have All The Good People Gone?
Mind Flood

Encore
Don’t Walk Away Eileen

—-

After the Sam Roberts Band, we headed over to the River Stage for what would be our last Bluesfest concert of the year. There we found alexisonfire in full assault and at this point, I just wanted to hang back and take the entire week in. I grabbed a few beer, talked with some people and laughed with Krista about the absurd things we did the day before at HOPE Volleyball. alexisonfire put on an intense show. They were frantic all over the stage. So much energy being outputted from the stage. I can’t say I know much alexisonfire tunes so I’ll stop there with the review. I’m glad the Bluesfest ended on a high rock note with both bands.

Alexisonfire setlist

Mailbox Arson
This Could Be Anywhere in the World
No Transitory
Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints
Boiled Frogs
We Are the Sound
.44 Caliber Love Letter
Rough Hands
Control
Keep It on Wax
Get Fighted
Happiness by the Kilowatt
Accidents

iplaying: The Second Part – The Dears (No Cities Left)

P1050890
Originally uploaded by palm0014

I have discovered that I can’t really be a music critic for the sole fact that I don’t have enough adjectives in my vocabulary. Which means that music critics must use their thesaurus all the time. Yes, that’s the answer.

Friday night brought us the weekend of fun and sun. Not really sun, but a lot of fun.

After an intense match of Rad Racer with Krista and Jill, we headed to Krista’s where she made the most amazing drink which we dubbed the ‘Blues on the Rocks’. It was followed up by the worst drink in the world which can only be compared to the caesar Donna made me for me one time where she used clamato juice which had been opened, and left in the cupboard for a year. Gak.

After disposing of that drink, we went back to some B.o.t.R. and headed down to the festival grounds. We missed Built to Spill, but no matter, INXS was coming up and we were excited. I was overly excited because the crowd was navigatable for the first time in the week! We managed to get a great spot close to the stage AND have enough room to dance around and come and go for refills as we please. Excellent!

INXS were pretty darn good. They started off the set with Suicide Blond and never let up. Ah, the horn section was amazing! I loved the guy’s moustache also. Top notch facial hair actually. I don’t know much INXS but the only thing I did know is that they have a new singer to replace Michael Hutchence – a Canadian chap called JD Fortune. I was impressed with his showmanship (as well as the rest of the band also who have been around for ages). Bright lights, soaring guitar lines (although Mike stated that half of the solos and saxophone bits were so lame that he could have pulled them off).

I am glad I went to see INXS and not Metric. Although I bet Metric would have put on a better show, I know that they’ll be around for awhile longer so I have a chance to see them in the future (as opposed to INXS which is a rare chance to see the band).

You can’t go wrong with us ending the night off with some McDonalds. I haven’t had McDonalds since Krista convinced me to go carb-free (or low carb, whatever you want to call it) and the quarter pounder was calling my name.

May I point out some excellent highlights of Friday night other than the show:

1) Someone texting Trish to the Cognos tent. Trish, you KNOW it must have been a hot man calling you out!
2) Krista realizing she lost her house keys which had us detour to wherever her roomate was. Upon getting home, Krista heard the jingle jangle of her keys when she threw her jacket off and realized that they were zipped up inside her pocket. No alcohol was consumed this night, whatsoever.
3) Getting to Carrie’s house where I was sleeping over as we were all heading out to a volleyball tournament the next day and seeing her priceless expression when she opened up her birthday gift from me. Yes, that’s right. Carrie’s birthday is in March. I suck at giving gifts on time.

iplaying: How Can You Do It Alone – The Who (Face Dances)

I had class on Thursday night so I didn’t up at Bluesfest for much of anything…I caught the tail end of the Robert Cray Band (who I saw at the Eric Clapton concert back in the fall). Trish and Mike said they were top notch.

We then headed into the crowd to catch Blue Rodeo. There was definitely a big crowd there for the event and I must admit I was a little excited to see them as this would be the first time in doing so. Like every other act on the bill, I don’t own their album, but am familiar with their hits. Blue Rodeo is no exception although a lot of their songs have been introduced to me after playing them with Troy on the guitar.

Planted in spot with my beer, I peered around and realized it was yet another beautiful night out there. A little cold I must admit and it didn’t help that I had the t-shirt on, but no matter, rock would warm my soul.

Blue Rodeo was better than I had expected. I had these expectations of a country-esque night, but this is not true. They still know how to put on a rock show! The sing-alongs, the guitar jams, the slide guitar (yowza!)…it had it all. Who doesn’t love having the entire crowd singing Hasn’t Hit Me Yet? Try and Bad Timing were also two faves as I’ve played it with Troy quite a few times. Hearing them live made me pick up the guitar the next day and hash out a few of their tunes.

I just found out that the Jim Cuddy Band is opening for John Fogerty this Wednesday which means I’ll get a taste of Blue Rodeo once again (however, I am unfamiliar with his sound and perhaps it is severely different from Blue Rodeo.)

I remember gazing up at the stars during a few songs and just thinking “It’s good to be here, right here, right now.” Bluesfest has become quite the event for me this year and I’m slowly coming off of the high that music for 11 days straight gives to a person.

Blue Rodeo stated “As long as there is a Bluesfest here, we’ll be here.”

Awesome.

iplaying: Death from Above – The Smashing Pumpkins (Zeitgeist)

Setlist

 

Til I Am Myself Again
Rose-Coloured Glasses
Better Off as We Are
Trust Yourself
Side of the Road
What Am I Doing Here
Bad Timing
How Long
Head Over Heels
Diamond Mine
Moon & Tree
All the Things That Are Left Behind
Lost Together

Hasn’t Hit Me Yet
It Could Happen to You

I’m trying to recollect my memory of Wednesday night now that it’s nearly a week past that point. A lot of work on the video got in the way of updates…

We showed up for a good time from the Steve Miller Band and we were NOT disappointed. This also turned into a night of impromptu partying which was fine for the majority of us. The Steve Miller Band started with a little Fly Like an Eagle which resulted in a 15 jam session along with a rapper. They could have ended right there and we would have been fine. But they just kept coming with the hits. Take The Money and Run, Jet Airliner…they never stopped! I was moving to and from our spot to get some more beer and when I returned Mike pointed out the unthinkable.

Gordie Johnson was up on stage jamming to Crossroads.

Gordie Johnson.

Gordie Johnson is best known for his work in Big Sugar which disbanded a few years back. I have always wanted to see Big Sugar live as Gordie Johnson is a loud guitar player. I knew he was around the area as I heard a rumour that he subbed into the Joel Plaskett Emergency when their guitarist couldn’t show up.

But I didn’t realize that his new band Grady were the opening act the night of Steve Miller! I was pretty upset the next day when I realized this. It was at their show that Steve Miller’s ears perked up and said “Boy, I like the sound of that.” and so an invitation for a few songs was granted to Gordie to come jam with the Steve Miller Band. Awesome. This is what festivals are all about.

All in all, one of the better concerts seen at Bluesfest! Do NOT miss the chance to see Steve Miller if you can!

*photo taken from the Ottawa Sun*
iplaying: Starz (The Smashing Pumpkins – Zeitgeist)

Setlist

Fly Like an Eagle
Living in the U.S.A.
Abracadabra
Mercury Blues [K.C. Douglas]
Threshold
Take the Money and Run
Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma
Swingtown
The Joker
Serenade
True Fine Love
The Stake
Wild Mountain Honey
Dance Dance Dance
Rock’n Me
Winter Time

Jet Airliner [Paul Pena]

We started off the night right by hitting up Bluesfest for some fish and chips for dinner. Let’s be honest…when you enter the gauntlet which is Bluesfest (10 days of rocking), you slowly run out of groceries at home and it’s a lot easier to eat out. But this is a bad thing people! Palmer’s advice – Pick up some groceries!

Met Vero’s friend Chantal at the Jonny Lang concert and we were hanging with Karilee, Krista, Mike and Trish. Jonny Lang has been around for the past decade and he’s still young! He was entertaining but the cream of the crop was the guy manning the tambourine and one song brought him out in the spotlight with his spot-on impression of a train conductor (pulls the cable, Woo-Woo!). There was also this excellent dancer across the field who was into the music.

So, back to Jonny…he was a great guitar player. He had the greatest face while pulling off his licks. Krista referred to it as his ‘sex’ face. I would hate to think that this is actually the face he has while having sex. I found there were a few too many ballads coming out of his set, but this is a premature analysis considering I thought he was only one for one hour and I think he played for 2 hours and I only caught 45 minutes of their set.

Why did I only catch 45 minutes of the show? Because it was time to head out to Buddy Guy at the River Stage! We headed to the beer tent to stock up on beer. Please refer to a future entry which will be the latest in my Open Letter series to Bluesfest. Let’s just say that whatever happened to us is more atrocious than the lawnchair people.

(insert the future entry on the Open Letter of the Transition between the Rogers Stage and the River Stage.)

We show up to the River Stage and I can hear the sweet tones of Buddy Guy eminating from the stage. We couldn’t see too well as we were very far from the stage and in front of many tall individuals. This was unfortunate. But the sounds…the SOUNDS!

Let’s talk about Buddy Guy for a moment. Yet another artist whom I don’t know anything about. All we know about him is that he’s 73 years old and can still rock. He taught Hendrix, Clapton, Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughn everything they know about the stage performance and guitar playing. Who invented playing the guitar with their teeth? Buddy Guy. That’s right.

The fascinating aspect of Buddy Guy is that he was very erratic with his show. He would be in the middle of a song, get bored of it, yell out “Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute!”, end the song, talk about how he taught some guitar player a song, then rip into some Hendrix for us. Then he would get tired of it and move onto something else. At least he made it seamless and the band knew he was like this. It is almost like it was planned.

There was also a moment where he left the stage and kept playing. I had read about this and realized that he was probably going to get a drink or go to the washroom! Sure enough, he stops playing for 90 seconds and then starts up again and shows up on the stage about 4 minutes later! Ha ha! I had these visions of him walking back to the porta-potty, doing his business and then heading back to the stage.

The abrupt nature of the show didn’t stop as he started a song and as soon as he was done the first verse he abruptly left the stage and that was the show! Very odd! But it didn’t matter. We were witness to a legend. This man could play. REALLY PLAY. He didn’t slow down at all and he was a great showman. I am definitely going to open up my knowledge of music to include Buddy Guy. If you have the opportunity to check him out, do so. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

We headed back down to Bluesfest on Friday night to check out Bela Fleck and the Flecktones on the Rogers Stage. All I know about them is that Mike loves these guys and he plays a mean banjo. With that information in hand, we headed out, found an excellent spot in front of the stage (look more room over at the Rogers stage!) and settled in.

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones were amazing. I definitely had them as the best show of the Bluesfest (and it’s only the second night!) after watching them. They had Bela who is this amazing banjo player…then they have Victor Wooten who plays a mean bass.

The cream of the crop is Future Man who plays his own invention – the Synthaxe Drumitar which is a MIDI controller shaped like a guitar. It was amazing! The fact that he came out in a pirate outfit doesn’t hurt either. Actually, I am having a good laugh now after reading Wikipedia for this information and find out the guy’s name is Future Man.

Let’s not forget Jeff Coffin on horns, more specifically playing two saxaphones at the same time!

Honestly, they put on an amazing show of their talents. Mostly instrumental, it kept me grooving all night long.

Sunday night we headed down to see The White Stripes. We got there a bit early and didn’t feel like checking out the other acts so we just found a great spot to stand around in which wasn’t too far off from our spot where we watched George Thorogood.

There was this small fellow in front of me taking pictures with his nice Nikon camera. He was getting some good shots during the night. At one point this one guy offered to get him up on his back to get a better view so I hoisted the guy up and held him up on this guy’s back while he snapped some shots. I should have asked him to send me some!

I don’t know much about The White Stripes. All I know is that Jack and Meg White consist of the band so I wondered how amazing that would be. I also don’t own any albums.

They put on one of the more energetic shows that I’ve seen! Jack White can wail on that guitar and Meg pounds the drums like a human metronome. I enjoy their stage decor also – the white and red theme plays well in a stage setting. They had a red cloth draped from the top to the bottom and they had multiple microphones positioned around the stage which made it interesting to watch. I especially liked when Jack sauntered up some steps to an upper platform and performed his Godzilla walk. The shadows played well throughout the set also. Very well thought out.

Even though I didn’t know any of their songs, I was impressed by the sheer rock of the show. Two thumbs up.

Setlist

Stop Breakin’ Down Blues [Robert Johnson]
When I Hear My Name
Cannon
John the Revelator [Traditional]
Death Letter [Son House]
300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues
Lord, Send Me an Angel [Blind Willie McTell]
Wasting My Time
Instinct Blues
I Fought Piranhas
Let’s Build a Home
Give Me Back My Wig [Hound Dog Taylor]
Catch Hell Blues
Astro
Cool Drink of Water Blues [Tommy Johnson]
Ball and Biscuit

 

Icky Thump
In the Cold, Cold Night
Hotel Yorba
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Black Math
I’m Slowly Turning Into You
Seven Nation Army
Boll Weevil [Lead Belly]

iplaying: Neverlost – The Smashing Pumpkins (Zeitgeist)