Leonard CohenSONY Centre 2008-06-06 & 06-072 Nights in TO

Hamilton was nice. First time seeing Leonard in over 14 years and he was in good form...but the first two Toronto shows were outstanding.
On the Friday (Night 1) we had the benefit of an off-day preceeding the show and you could tell Leonard was not wanting for energy or enthusiasm as every word was lovingly delivered when required or powerfully delivered when called for.
On the Saturday (Night 2) we had a much more lively, and intrusive, crowd. In some ways they added to the ambiance...in others, their intrusiveness impacted the flow of the concert, causing them to lose some preambles in front of the songs.
Every night was a different experience, all were top-notch entertainment.

After a lengthy East Coast opening to this tour, where Leonard graced a number of smaller stages, he's now moving the tour into 'big city' mode. The venue is slightly larger in Toronto and, as he moves on from here, he will be playing festivals and large halls in Europe. So the 'cozy confines' part is done, not that the SONY Centre is a cavern or anything.

Having had time to digest the shows since I wrote this report on the Hamilton show, my appreciation only grows with each listen.
Not a single trick was missed with this production. On Friday night my seats were situated in the first balcony so I was able to enjoy the lighting that accompanies the very orchestrated playing onstage. Even it was luscious, with a predominantly blue theme. Much like Leonard's songs. Of course the irony is that no one's misery can make you happy like Leonards.

Did I mention that they don't miss a trick? Not a one, and there are plenty around.

The show opens with the band ambling onstage to a light smattering of applause that grows slowly until Leonard is seen trotting into position, at which time the whole dame place goes crazy; making it twice. Immediately you notice something...the guy's got a smile that could outshine the sun in the sky. Where's the dour, brooding, introspective poet? Well, we'll get introspection, but time's too short and life's too sweet for the dour-brooding part.

Both nights in Toronto he starts a monologue to thank the fans for coming out. His vocal mic is turned waaaaaay down low and though the crowds have been well seated before the start of show, sometimes people don't focus immediately. This little trick brings everyone forward. If they were cats you'd be able to see their ears turn towards the stage as they strain to hear what the master is saying. Except he's saying nothing of consequence, just assorted thanks and mention "that some of you came from great distances," (vocal volume begins to increase), "and at great expense..." by now the crowd chuckles as the volume is at 'speaking level', all can hear clearly and the seat rustling is down to a minimum. He goes on to humbly say that his and his crack ensemble have some songs to "present"...and the music starts, leading us into Dance Me to the End of Love, from the 1984 Various Positions release. A great opening song, it's got a nice beat, you can dance to it, I give it an 82. The beauty is it's not a tune that requires rapt attention. It warms the band and the audience up, and if you don't enjoy the swing, then maybe music ain't your thing. Plus, it's the opening salvo, an invitation to excitation on a journey of discovery.

In a way it's a shame that so much of Leonard's creative musical career fell in and around the 80's...i mean all that synth stuff. This band overcomes that problem, making what was once a cold electronic beat, sound warmer, more inviting, less annoying. It was explained best by my friend Tim Swaddling: "Cohen presented his songs with a band, a real honest to goodness band, one that even came with some steel guitar and a Hammond B3 instead of a Yamaha synth-cheap imitation of an organ...If Leonard is smart, a live album will follow and they won't over polish all the subtle rough edges the band managed to chip into the clean glossy coating Cohen usually paints with. And if Leonard is even smarter, this band will follow him into the studio and he will record drums to sound like drums and guitars that sound like guitars and organs that sound like them. What I wouldn't give to hear a Cohen album produced by someone like Rick Rubin or Steve Albini or even Brendan O’Brien for that matter. And Cohen is a very smart man, so I look forward to the possibility and potential of a future release from him now. Which should make up for the anticipation I had for the release of "Ten New Songs", only to listen to it and find that someone had forgotten to tell Leonard the 80's were over once he had came down from his mountain of monk-dom..."

The Future is evidence that this millenium's Leonard is kinder, gentler and warmer. Not only is the music less 'digital', the lyrics have a slight modification; what once was "give me crack and anal sex", has now become "give me crack and careless sex". Hard to tell if this was changed so as not to offend the sensibilities of the patrons. Perhaps it's a by-product of the realization that the scourge of the '80's, aids, has proven to be more than a gay disease and that the reference to 'anal' sex may marginalize the scope of the problem. Not sure and it's notable only because there are very few lyric changes in any of these songs. Leonard does a lovely little move during the line "white man dancin'" that elicited a different response each night. In Hamilton the audience cheered loudly with the first move...a little less so the second time. On Friday in Toronto there was no response to the first little jig and Leonard skipped the move on the second pass of those lyrics. On the boisterous Saturday night the response to the first dance resulted in a more animated second pass.

Ain't No Cure For Love was prefaced with the "kid with a crazy dream" speech in Hamilton but we don't get it tonight as Leonard leads the band right into the song. The whole setlist is heavily weighted to I'm Your Man and The Future, which serves the show well as those records make up the bulk of what is familiar to the audience and the songs are strong. The backing vocals on this are wonderful and on the Friday night Leonard nails the timing when he implores, "tell 'em angels", as the trio weave their heavenly tapestry. The second night sees him jump in a little early, stumbling into their harmony and kind of spoiling the moment.

Bird on the Wire is Leonard's Blowin' in the Wind , so simple in structure yet so evocative. The audience listens, mesmerized, as each image is unveiled, as each line paints a portrait. It's a very visual song...i can see that woman leaning in her darkened door. The song also contains one of the steepest cliffs in the rock pantheon: "like a baby...still born" For only 5 words it's one roller-coaster ride of emotion. A perfect poem, efficient use of words, for sure.

Everybody Knows doesn't wear quite as well as the other foreboding tales, like The Future or Democracy. If we all knew back then why haven't we fixed anything?

Musical collaborator Sharon Robinson is spotlighted in the melodic In My Secret Life. Honey sweet everytime.

There's an extended solo for string-virtuoso Javier Mas that precedes Who By Fire as Leonard continues to rely heavily on the mid-career songs...to no one's chagrin. It's already been a pretty impressive representation of the best of his career as we near the one hour mark of the show...only 1/3 done.

The opening set closes with Anthem. On the Friday show Leonard moves his "just a kid with a crazy dream" speech to the front of this song. It fits well with the spoken word into that admonishes us to "ring the bells, that still can ring/ forget your perfect offering..." How much time's been wasted in the pursuit of perfection, eh? I always marvel at the economy of words. The song also contains a couplet that is the emotional opposite to the 'still born baby' image from earlier: there is a crack in everything...that's how the light gets in In Bird On A Wire a happy thought is thrashed; in this song a sad thought is elevated. Like I said, roller-coaster. As the song runs into it's musical outro Leonard advises they will return as we're given 20 minutes to catch our breath. As winded as I am...I wanna get back on!!

I don't leave my seat for break. I just wait.

Leonard's in front of a Fisher-Price type piano to open the second set with a joke. Knowing most of his audience is likely techno-phobic he warns them before he turns on the synthesizer and the rhythm-beat to Tower of Song starts playing. Another fan favorite that elicits chuckles at the Hank Williams line and loud roars at the "gift of a golden voice" line. He even interjects a joke after "they don't let a woman kill you in the tower of song"...elsewhere, not there." His feel for the mood each evening is amazing. His patter, jokes and even delivery of the songs seem to change for each dynamic created by the individuals and the surrounding.

With a solo amplified acoustic guitar Leonard stands center stage to deliver Suzanne, a song he reports in interviews, is difficult. It is BIG. Big with imagery, emotion, sentiment and ambiance. I'm making a mental note to go down and stare at that Lady of the Harbour the next time I'm in Montreal. Also got a strange craving for tea and oranges. Some songs are bigger than the artist, this is one.

Now every concert has a 'dead zone', that spot where the show lags just a tad. In a three hour set to have only a momentary lapse in the excitement is pretty amazing. Even Springsteen, the undisputed master of live concert performances, has a 5 song lull in his most recent tour. The next two songs mark that low intensity point in this show but they are put to great use. The Gypsy's Wife and Boogie Street showcase the back up singers and give Leonard a little break, for which we'll all be grateful soon. I saw Anjani perform The Gypsy's Wife twice when she stopped in Toronto last year. It was the highlight of the show...so you know it's not the song, it's where it's placed in the set.

So after that stellar opening set we are three songs into the second one and really haven't been challenged. Everyone's comfortably seated after the short intermission, all drinks are drunk. We've passed the 'dead zone' and now it's time to get the audience back.

Hallelujah starts quickly, with no extended musical intro, and quietly as the first few words are whispered. Leonard stands, knees bent, almost huddled over the microphone and begins his prayer. The vocal level rises from verse to verse in this song as Leonard's delivery increases in intensity. It builds slowly at first but within a minute everyone recognizes this is the center-piece of the show. His voice is strong, the song is stronger still. There's no way to adequately review this performance. The Friday night version is amongst the top 5 most powerful songs I've seen done live (ok, maybe top 10 and maybe I can't name 'em all but it's right up there with the best I've witnessed).

Leonard could have walked off the stage right here and no one would have been cheated but we're only at the half way mark.

Well, the half way mark of the concert...we're just about done with this review.

Democracy is a peculiar song for a Canadian audience. I'm sure most misread the intent...we just love the thought of democracy coming (to get) the USA...that's our nature. But as Leonard's introduction notes, he loves the country and this is his love song to America, "the cradle of the best and the worst." It's a hope, more than a threat. We are blessed to be alive in the time of the American Century...and cursed to live in interesting times. But no empire has been built on loftier ideals, so our best bet still seems to be an ascendant America.

The performance on the Friday night show (Night 1) was excellent but the version of I'm Your Man we received on Saturday night was worthy of it's own spotlight. The crowd had a lot to do with it, the more lively mood during the evening, while robbing us of some sublime moments, opened the door to a more raucous enjoyment of a downright bluesy-dirty song. Cat-calls rained down with every sexy line and Leonard's smile, pacing and delivery showed he was loving every minute.

He follows it with an even more overtly sexual recitation, A Thousand Kisses Deep. Another knockout punch that quiets the crowd.

The second set closes with a lively outing for Take This Waltz and two dance songs have bracketed the evening.

Like I said...not a trick was missed.

The encore on Night 1 opens with the jaunty, country-tinged, Heart With No Companion. Think of it as an upbeat Chimes of Freedom. Where Dylan's chimes rang for the downtrodden and dispossesed, Leonard sings for the lonely, unfulfilled and unrequited. Strange how such a song could be joyous. Guess you had to be there.

Waiting For the Miracle To Come was added to the setlist a week or two into the tour. It's a nice addition and a fan favorite. You can tell it means a lot to Leonard, his phrasing is subtle and attentive.

The first encore concludes with First We Take Manhattan and who can bitch about the biggest radio hit Leonard's ever had?

The band doesn't leave the stage between the first and second encores, just Leonard and only momentarily as he runs back out to the mic to deliver a song about his drinking problems, That Don't Make It Junk, some comedic relief, if you can imagine that.

The sublime Webb sisters are spotlighted in the newly added If It Be Your Will. Leonard recites the first two verses before he dissolves into the shadows to allow the two sisters to perform an angelic version of the song.

All bets are off as Closing Time gives allowance to the crowd to let loose.

A quick move offstage and Leonard's back for the final encore. Standing center stage with guitar in hand he starts I Tried To Leave You and every audience breaks out in laughter. A fitting song as it ends with Leonard standing there, hand outstretched, telling the audience he's simply a man "still working for your smile."

How cool is that? Like I said, not a missed trick...and plenty of smiles.

Job well done.

From a critical perspective I would have preferred more songs from earlier in the canon and a handful less band introductions during the show...but that's like saying honey could be sweeter...maybe it could, but there's not a lot of room for improvement.



1 song from debut album Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
Suzanne
1 song from Songs From A Room (1969)
Bird on A Wire
0 songs from Songs of Love and Hate (1971)...c'mon Joan of Arc!
also hoping for Passing Through from Live Songs (1973)
2 songs from New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974)
Who By Fire?, I Tried to Leave You
0 songs from Death of A Ladies Man (1977)ah, c'mon, where the hardon song?
1 song from Recent Songs (1979)
The Gypsy's Wife
4 (out of 9) songs from Various Positions (1984)
Hallelujah, If It Be Your Will, Dance Me To the End of Love and Heart With No Companion
6 (out of 8) songs from I'm Your Man (1988)
First We Take Manhattan, Ain't No Cure For Love, Everybody Knows, I'm Your Man, Take This Waltz, Tower of Song
5 (out of 9) songs from The Future (1992)
The Future, Waiting For The Miracle, Closing Time, Anthem, Democracy
4 (out of 10) songs from 10 New Songs (2001)
In My Secret Life, A Thousand Kisses Deep, That Don't Make It Junk, Boogie Street
0 songs from Dear Heather

Two Nights In Toronto Set List

t01 Dance Me To The End Of Love
t02 The Future
t03 Ain't No Cure For Love
t04 Bird on the Wire
t05 Everybody Knows
t06 In My Secret Life
t07 Who By Fire
t08 Anthem (w/ Band Intro)

(break)

(Set 2)
t09 Tower of Song
t10 Suzanne
t11 Gypsy Wife
t12 Boogie St

Disc 2

t13 Hallelujah
t14 Democracy
t15 I'm Your Man
t16 A Thousand Kisses Deep
t17 Take This Waltz

(encore#1)
t18 Heart With No Companion (not played on Night 2)
t19 Waiting For The Miracle To Come
t20 First We Take Manhattan
(encore#2)
t21 That Don't Make It Junk
t22 If It Be Your Will
t23 Closing Time
(encore#3)
t24 I Tried To Leave You
Whither Thou Goest (not played on Night 1)

Mike Ford formerly of Moxy FruvousHugh's Room2008-05-31

Today's the day Mike Ford's Canada Needs You Volume 2 hits the stores. Run right out and buy it! Last night he hosted a CD Release party for a couple hundred (paying) fans at Hugh's Room in Toronto. Mike's found a niche in the Canadian music scene as the custodian of curiousities Canadiana. This guy is so Canadian I bet he bleeds red. If you have children in school struggling with the history curriculum then drop the textbooks and pick up Mike's catalogue. The kids will come out with a renewed interest and a novel way at looking at the world...with eyes wide open to wonder. Hugh's Room is a decent enough little venue...it would be perfect without the food. They assign the best tables to those who have a dinner reservation, making for a pricey night out if you want a close seat but aren't up for dinner. Their interest in serving food (and drinks) takes precedence over your interest in listening to the artist, so it can be distracting. On the other hand, the concert special is only $30, choices are varied and it's more than filling. If you don't mind the ambient noise it's worth a visit just to enjoy the cozy confines.

Mike Ford's act is a 'feel good' night. He's got considerable talents; lively guitar work, strong vocals and witty lyrics, combined with his 'boy next door' demeanor, it makes for an enjoyable evening. The past couple times I've seen him it's been at the cozy Renaissance on the Danforth, usually helping fill out the bill for his friends Mike Skliar and Ken Ficara who visit from NYC periodically. Tonight he's enlisted the help of, ex-Fruvous now Great Big Sea, bassist Murray Foster. Along on drums is Mark Mariache, currently backing Ron Sexsmith on tour. Jennifer Bush, who appeared with Mike on "Canada Needs You" is along to help with some backing vocals.

We arrive in time to catch part of the soundcheck and I'm real torn about turning on my mic. When we were here for Steve Forbert he played a great song at soundcheck (which I missed recording) but didn't play it during the show. I decide to be discreet. I'm able to corral Mike for a moment and pass along the DVD my son created from his last night at the Ren in 2007. We also tried to get our reservation changed from a table for two because it looks like there'll be six of us along tonight. The show is sold out though and those accomodations couldn't be made...we were able to get two tables close to each other so we were set for the show.

When we see Mike at The Ren we're usually with a large group of Toronto-area Dylan fans and he spices up his set list with the odd Bob-cover or roots classics. Not tonight. Tonight we get a deep look into Mike's passion for Canadian history and the works he's created, and played for many a Grade 10 student, over the past few years.


Here's the set list, with links to some evening highlights.

Disc 1

Mike Ford (vox, guitar)
T01 Talk - Red Kelly/Giants intro
T02 The Giants (Clayoquot Trials)
T03 Talk - Giants outro
T04 The Story of The Fraser
T05 Talk -Voyageur camp
T06 Les Voyageurs
T07 Talk - Arthur Meighan to D'Arcy McGhee
T08 Darcy McGhee
T09 Talk - Frankenfood
T10 Monsanto(?)
T11 Talk - Thank the teachers
T12 I've Been Everywhere
Mike Ford (vox, guitar), Murray Foster(b.vox, bass), Mark Mariache (Drums)
T13 Talk - Band Intro
T14 Saskatchewan
T15 Talk - Saskatchewan Outro/Intro
T16 In Winnipeg
T17 Talk - EXPO '67 Handbook
T18 Expo 67!
T19 Talk - Jennifer Bush intro
Mike Ford (vox, guitar, piano), Murray Foster(b.vox, bass), Mark Mariache (Drums) Jennifer Bush (b.vox)
T20 I'm Gonna Roam
T21 Talk - $50 bill
T22 Tea Party
T23 A Woman Works Twice As Hard
T24 Talk - Vimy
T25 Creeping Barrage

Disc 2

Mike Ford (vox, guitar, piano)

T01 The Seaway
T02 Talk - Laker Music Project
T03 The Eastern Gap
T04 Talkin' Ten Lost Years
T05 Talk - chorus training
T06 Jacques Cartier
T07 Talk - stree bike racing
T08 Canada Doesn't Need You
T09 Talk - band intro
Mike Ford (vox, guitar, piano), Murray Foster(b.vox, bass), Mark Mariache (Drums)
T10 Crossroads
T11 Maurice Richard
The Cocksure Lads: Reg Topping (vox, guitar, piano), Dusty Fosterville(vox, bass), Mark Mariache (Drums)
T12 Admiral Trafalgar
T13 A Case of the Dropsies
T14 Talk - Arrogant Worms
T15 Late of October
T16 Talk - towel boy
T17 Tank
T18 Talk - Brian Mulroney Sold Out Canada
T19 Open For Business
T20 Heat-Seeker Boy
T21 (encore break)
Mike Ford (vox, guitar, piano)
T22 stars shone on toronto
T23 La Mer


World Debut of Open For Business from a 2007 performance at the Ren. (filmed, edited and rendered by MrMikeL Productions



For a review of Mike's 2007 show at The Ren, click here.

To see where Mike Ford is playing this summer, click here.

Hank Pine & Lily Fawnin the Hootenanny RevueStarlight Lounge Waterloo ON2007-04-07

So ten of us pull up to a table at the Starlight Lounge for an evenings worth of well priced entertainment with the Hootenanny Review, a travelling minstrel show with some fine Canadian talent. It's the last night of the Revue, so it's too late for me to convince you to go out and see it. But it's not too late to catch the hightlight of the evening: Hank & Lily. More on that in a bit.

The Hootenanny is a roots based revue filled with mostly orignal material from a cast of, well if not thousands, 8. At least tonight. It seems the group morphs. Taking MC duties tonight, and this tour I believe, is the enticing babe in a sundress and docs, Carolyn Mark. Cute and edgy, how can you not like that? She also carried a heavy load in the show, closing the main set with a wonderfully sardonic song, Two Kinds of Women.

Luther Wright joined Carolyn on a handful of songs and presented a strong mini-set of his own throughout the night, covering Steve Goodman's If She Were You and blowing the house away with a raucous request rendition of I Got A Broken Fucking Heart.

Cape Breton star Jim Bryson had some moments, when the lethargy caused by the racoon ribs he had for dinner wasn't dragging him down. He played a bunch of instruments and did some leads, as did all performers. By the second set he seemed in a groove and delivered a crowd-pleasing I Wanna Go Home.

We had a song or two from other support artists, Joey Wright, a regular, and Andrew Vincent, a guest. Dan Whitely provided excellent mandolin support throughtout the evening and even took a turn on drums.

Glowing-diva-of-the-night award goes to the 'banging for two', effervescent, pleasantly plump, cute as a button, Jenny Whitely. This whole piece should have been about her, and would have been if it wasn't for the chances we have in the next week to track down Hank & Lily live. Jenny's gonna take a breather soon. Hope she comes back with a vengance 'cause she's got a voice that can't be beat and some great songs as well. Though I liked them all I'd sure like a reprise of Banjo Girl and When It Rains I Pour.

All this was absolutely worth the price of admission.

But we got substantially more.

Hank Pine & Lily Fawn are an interesting duo, to say the least. He's got a face like a mask, welding goggles, leather body suit with shark fins and metal gauntlets, with shit-stomping boots. OK, he dresses like my son. She's a pixie. OK, a pixie on acid. Little antlers and tats on the arms. All 'katebushy' with the vocals in an endearing way. It's an act that must be seen...but listening don't hurt either.

They got 5 songs between the two sets and displayed a capacity to enthrall that was due to a combination of elements from interesting lyrics, funky instruments (a gas can guitar and a saw), tap dancing skills, roboticized vocals reminiscent of the sound Jack White got from his copper mic this past year and chutzpah up the wazoo.

They open with something that feels like a post-apocalyptic walk through the forest where Red Riding Hood found her troubles. A spooky otherworldy feel to the song is peeled back to unveil a most hypnotic and unforgettable hook... "don't be afraid /(don't be afraid)/ until I tell you why you ought to be afraid." How something can be so soothing and ominous at once is beyond me.

The second song sees the fairy tale theme continue with an appearance by the 3 Little Pigs going to market. It might be called Pushed & Pulled. I don't quite get this one yet but I'll keep listening and watching until it sinks in.

Last song of the first mini-set is called North America, a place where it's in the soil, it's not in the blood. Another spooky tale of... (see above).

Lily opens the second mini-set with a love song, her first, and it's about...love. The thing, and what it does. It starts as a lament and explodes into a 'can-can' complete with a tap-dance break. Lily squeaks out some salacious lyrics during what might be called Love You Don't Know Me: "love has come out me / like sap down a tree..." and "though i have been warned of the birds and the bees/ i still want you when you sting me."

The set closes with a song that may be called Prison Song, an Orwellian cautionary tale about a NWO where everything is a crime and everyone is watching you. One slip and you'll be in the big grey building up on the hill. And not in a good way. The song comes complete with a new-age chain-gang audience-participation jungle-chant. (That's more hyphenated words than you'll see anywhere outside of a Quebec phone book.)

Look around their website for dates, more music and more info. I'm not sure yet what they are, but I'm pretty sure they're worth deciphering.

A Night At The RenPart 2 2007-03-31 Mike Ford (formerly of Moxy Fruvous)

The second set at the Ren featured the musical, and comedy, stylings of Mike Ford. This guy has grown from street-busking legend to the 21st Century's Gordon Lightfoot.

The first time I had a chance to talk to Mike he was just wrapping up his sixth song onstage at Massey Hall, back in 1992. Moxy Fruvous were opening for Bob Dylan during his two night stand. Fortunately I'd clued into the burgeoning new music scene in Toronto (Canada really) that featured artists like The Barenaked Ladies, The Waltons, The Rheostatics (they are still out and about) and the aforementioned, Moxy Fruvous. The thing about Canadian rock/pop that's different from American pop/pulp is...the artists up here are way too smart for their own good. Take a look at The Hip. I mean they are made for the American market...until they decifer the lyrics...what'd'ya mean? debunk an American myth? (This assessment does not apply to the Americans I have met personally, who are all liberals...well, liberals to me, in their own country they are considered commie-scum.) But I digress. Where were we? Right, talking to Mike Ford. Anyway, those radical Dylan fans were growing tired of having their notions challenged and were three songs into chanting "we want Bob", "we want Bob". Privately, in my section of Massey Hall, I was telling those around me those hecklers were nuts...they were missing what was going to be the best part of the evening. So after song 6 some open-minded-60's-type-Aquarius-7th Sun/Son-radical yells "Get off the stage!" From my seat in the balcony I yell back: "Nevermind that, sing another song." (I knew full well they were only 6/7ths through their massive repertoire and we were going to get the hilariously acerbic Gulf War Song next.) Someone from the Fru-crew; it mighta been the other guitar player who leads on King of Spain, it might have been the long-haired guy with the French name, it definitely wasn't the silent bass playing Murray Foster, but for purposes of this story and because the statutes of limitations on my memory have long run out, we're gonna say it was Mike Ford, shot back, "Thanks Dad." So it was I came to be introduced to him some 15 years as he's at The Ren in support of a couple New York friends.



Mike opens with the traditional barn-burner, Ain't No More Cane. Though I've heard him do this once before I must have been more impaired that evening because tonight, at the age of 50, I learned something new...another place Bob Dylan stole another song. This rendition includes the line "Said, Alberta why don't you let your hair hang down/ You let it hand right down until it touches the ground." Terrific chain gang song with plaintive wail and indignant, ney bombastic, proclamations. It's not a lament for a nation, but it's a decent lament.

The Seaway tells the story of miles on the interior seaway of the Great Lakes and the ports of call along the way. It honours those who take those jobs no one knows exists and are repaid by discovering a world few get to see.

Well warmed up and into his third Chocolate beer, Mike figures it's time to stretch it out a little and we get the manically fast chorus of Huge on the Luge. Think John Prine if he'd grown up north of the 49th. Try this, really fast: "He was huge on the luge/when his cheeks went rouge/no fluke with a touque/subzero subterfuge/look at grandpa cruise/like a demon on the booze/not a stooge like scrooge/really huge on the luge." Admit it, it feels good. That, my friends is Mike at only quarter-speed.

Playing to the Dylan-fans he knows are always in attendance when his friends Mike Skliar and Ken Ficara venture north from the 5 boroughs, the next tune we get tries to f*ck with our heads. As the opening chords ring you think, "alright, spanish harlem incident! Bob don't play this much nowadays." Then the words to I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine (Spanish Harlem Incident dub) pour out. Neat trick. I've seen Bob play one song and sing another. Just not on purpose.

Now when I said Mike is a 21st century Gordon Lightfoot that might have been a disservice...and not to Gordon Lightfoot. I speak only of the very Canadian, topical or historical, nature of the songs, I'm not speaking to anyone's talents, for that, I'm not qualified. The next four songs lead us on a wild ride through Canadian history, from the excellent Louis & Gabriel, to a song about American-born urbanist Jane Jacobs, on to the mythical Voyageurs and closing with an homage to the rebel, D'Arcy McGee...where I learned another thing!

Louis Riel pissed off a lot of people in Ontario. There's a lesson in there for the PQ somewhere. Mike places him squarely where he belongs in our pantheon: a man before his times...or at least a man out of time. I remember being conflicted about Riel in grade school. Seems he should be a hero...but he did some bad things. A tough call for those who write the text books. (For you Americans think of John Brown.) Riel, and his friend Gabriel Dumont, were complex men in a complex land. The story, as told here, is more interesting than anything i got outa school.

Jane Jacobs. What can I say? Bet she knew Scarborough was gonna suck long before they renovated the Town Center.

Les Voyageurs is a campfire song that would have fit well in an aquatic Blazing Saddles. Except I would do that to the horses.

The final song in this segment, really a showcase for Mike's Canada Needs You Vol. 1, is D'Arcy McGee, a tale of a rebel who sought to find his way in Canada when our nation was forming, and met his end on Sparks St. and the hands of some even more whacked-out rebels, allegedly, the Fenians (think Siin Fein in diapers). Now that's a little ironic as they once were friends. What I learned here was that D'Arcy was a poet and songwriter, a la Joe Hill. No wonder our students think Canadian history is boring...we're missing the chance to make it exciting.

The next portion takes us into Mike's Stars Shone On Toronto album...more or less.

The Great Hall gives props to the majestic Union Station from where you can board a train to all-points-Canada. As long as you're not going to Sault-Ste-Marie.

Saskatchewan, a minor song from the soon to be released Satellite Hot Stove album, gives about all the due owing to that flat piece of land. You can tell which songs you write for the wife and which ones you write for the boys.

Eco-song Tank is reminiscent of the zany energy of Moxy Fruvous, a gentle, or not so gentle, shot at those who need an SUV (tank) to take Brittany to braces and little Brandon to the bank."

And it's back to the Fruvous catalogue for Heat-Seeker Boy, a cautionary tale about the fickle finger of fame.

Next is the title song from Stars Shone on Toronto, a song about the Great Blackout of 2003. I do remember that night...but not like Mike relates it. I was scheduled to leave at 4:00 am in the morning to drive south to Pennsylvania for a Dylan concert at Bushkill. Leaving work that fateful afternoon I knew I needed gas and was not at all upset that power was temporarily out and the stations weren't pumping. We spent the night eating melting icecream, not unlike the song, but could not relax enough to get the 'back to the earth' feeling this song evokes. We should have one day each year where all the power, around the world, is shut off so we can see the firmament, turn of the Playstations " and live a little more like people way back when." Except for the hospitals.

From "Canada Needs You Volume 2" we get a song about the slaughter that was Vimy Ridge, the third largest gathering of Canadians on that fateful Easter weekend. Not sure of the title but I'll go with "Creeping Barrage".
Man, how many more of these songs are we gonna need to write if we haven't learned in almost a hundred years? I'm glad Phil Ochs ain't alive today...he couldn't take this state of affairs. A bit of the John Brown feel to this song...Dylan's John Brown, not the abolitionist one.

Next, a WORLD DEBUT, from the forthcoming Satellite Hot Stove, Open For Business (how I learned to love Thomas Daquino and Allan Gregg of Decima Research and stop worrying) (Macadorian Homesick Blues). Now I'm not an industry guy but I'd shorten that just a tad. This shit is too good. I can't post it here because this is gonna pay for Mike's grandkids university. It's another nimble word dance that Mike almost nails, then recovers nicely by repeating a verse he stumbled into at machine-gun speed. Do not miss this when it's released this summer.

Mike dives into the catalogue of the Arrogant Worms, Kingston comedy/song legends, for the hilarious We're Not Americans(?best guess). Well, hilarious if you're not an American. But what is an American? Aye, there's the rub.

Another song from the unreleased record, and it's nice of Mike to try them out on us because they sound great, Maurice, pays homage to the Rocket. I'm not big on hockey songs, not counting The Hockey Song and maybe Clear Track, Here Comes Shack and, ok, 50 Mission Cap...hey, do Canadians write songs about anything BUT hockey?

Mike takes one more run at vocal gymnastics with the meth-fueled I've Been Everywhere (Canadian Dub). OK, maybe meth has nothing to do with it but it's still a toe-tapping romp.

Show closes with another unreleased song, The Easter Gap, a song for Torontonians who stare out into the lake.

Great show. A ton of songs, a handful of debuts and more entertainment for the buck than we deserve.

Thanks to Randy at the Ren, Mike and Ken, Mike Ford and Mr MikeL Productions.

A Night At The Renaissance March 31, 2007Part 1 Mike Skliar &Ken Ficara

The Ren plays host to many local artists, keeping alive the spirit of the Greenwich Village coffeehouses of the late sixties...a spirit that is sorely missed these days. On occassion the owner, Randy, let's our friends from the fine city of New York take over the stage. Mike Skliar and Ken Ficara represent two of the five boroughs with grace and humour. They are a different breed, New Yorkers, but not to be feared. Mike dabbles in law during the sunlight hours and counters that dark-side by creating liberal-humourist pop songs in the vein of Ray Stevens. I'm not sure what Ken does for a 'day job', it's likely something between the Peace Corps and Greenpeace.

They are joined this evening by Mike Ford a founding member of Toronto's busking-legends, Moxy Fruvous. This guy oozes maple syrup. His first toy wasn't a teddy bear, it was a polar bear. Not a stuffed one either. Canadiana at it's most irreverant and entertaining.

Tonight's festivities are being captured by Mr MikeL Productions and we're hoping for a tight, energetic, one-hour DVD.

But first, three hours of song.

Mike Skliar opens with a rendition of a song Frank Sinatra put on the airwaves, The Coffee Song. And yes, they do have an awful lot of coffee in Brazil. And bio-fuels. It's the bio-fuels that's gonna get them in trouble.

Mike steps up to the mic to deliver The Mike Song, always a welcome inclusion. Besides Skliar and Ford, we have Mr MikeL, my son, and at least one other Mike in the audience. A light poke at parents' inclination to pick popular names for their children.

Ken Ficara's composition, Preserved Fish, a tale of a young Colonial-American child blessed with not-so-popular a name, gives us the other side of the child-naming dilemma. Straight from the hills of West Virginia...or some such hokey abode. For the names, I vote for Mike.

The Future laments the fact science hasn't quite kept up with science-fiction...and when it did, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. No jet-packs. No Jetsons. For all the things we have that save us time we still wonder where the time went. Still not sure if Ken's a cynic or a realist.

The next portion of the opening set has Mike doing a cover (Bob Dylan's Tryin' To Get To Heaven), a parody (the wonderful If You See Bob, Say Hello) and two original tunes, The Birthday Song and Orange is the New,Whatever. The latter song may be the only one written about the Christo Gates. If memory serves there have been plenty of 'birthday' songs, more than a few Dylan covers and one or two parody songs.

Mike invites his nephew, the young Eric Miller, to the stage to deliver a version of Neil Young's Heart of Gold. Eric has been slowly getting his stage legs, having played back-up guitar on previous outings. Tonight he's solo and taking a big step forward in his development. The audience at the Ren is always 'performer friendly' and they listen attentively and applaud appreciatively.

Mike closes his portion of the opening set with a Rev. Gary Davis tune, Death Don't Have No Mercy. A fitting segue into Ken's mini-set of roots music.

Ken's a bit of an aficiando of harmonica's of one sort and another. I couldn't tell you what kind they were but every toy brought a new sound. He opens with an original tune, a poke in the eye of carbon pigs, called Hummer. And while hummers may suck, it's not in a good way. It's a dystopia, he says. If I wasn't into my 4th Jack'nCoke of the night I'd give you a hyperlink to a definition of 'dystopia'. A topical tune with some nice turns of phrases and an uncomfortable observation: as you're filling your tank, it's the terrorists that are laughing all the way to the bank.

Ken closes his set with an harmonica based Sh'e Big Sh'e Mor, and if that title's correct it's absolutely a fluke, and an American fiddle-tune, Stephen Foster's Angelina Baker.

Mike Skliar is back to open the second set with a couple originals. The toe-tapping cautionary tale, Mothers Advice, becomes a vehicle for some down-home harp playing from Ken. After opening with a cover of a Sintra song Mike unveils his homage to Frank called...Frank, a picture postcard trip through the career of a renaissance man of a different era.

Whiskey for Breakfast sees Ken really kicking it up. Ken's harp serves the bluegrass repetoire well and Mike plays the sidekick support with an aplomb that attests to his comic timing.

Mike invites his niece, Emma Carlin, onstage to help him through a rendition of With A Little Help From My Friends, a mellow break before Mike and Ken launch into the close of their set.

First a rollicking cover of Dylan's Down in the Flood followed by a few originals. Charlie Brown's Nightmare delves into the post-Schultz world of our favorite Peanuts characters. What I Meant To Say, shows us what happens when your mind and your mouth work independently of each other. Then Mike delivers his 'parallel universe' hit, 12 to 20, a crowd-pleasing raunchy tale of unrequited love.

Everyone is back onstage to share verses of Dylan's You Ain't Goin' Nowhere in an ensemble close to the first half of tonights entertainment.

Big thanks go out to Mike and Ken for thinkin' about us when they head North. Got to see lots of friends as the Canadians came out from the winter.


Up Next: A Night At The Ren: Part 2 Mike Ford's set

Upcoming Shows:

Friday April 6 Dr Hook
Saturday April 7 The Hootenany
Wednesday April 25 Anjani
Thursday April 26 Anjani
Tuesday May 8 Maria Muldaur
Wednesday May 9 Maria Muldaur
Friday May 11 Arctic Monkeys
Saturday May 12 Amy Winehouse
Sunday May 13 Amy Winehouse
Tuesday May 29 Joan Armatrading

Carole PopeGladstone Hotel8 pm & 10 pm2006-12-07

When 2006 rolled around I didn't know it was going to be a retro year. It's like I woke up in the hey-day of the New Wave era. If it wasn't the Buzzcocks or Charlatans UK, it was Robert Gordon and Billy Bragg. If it wasn't them it was bands that owed their existence to music created in those years between 1979-1982...the Arctic Monkeys who cop a few licks from the Jam and the Raconteurs who are reviving the Detroit Garage scene. So it's fitting I come to close out the year with a trip back down memory lane to see Carole Pope.

I first saw Carole Pope in 1974 doing a Saturday matinee show at the Colonial Tavern on Yonge St. This venue was a 'home away from home' for blues greats like John Lee Hooker, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. It's days as a 'happening' place were numbered. So were Yonge Streets. No more Meet Market, no more Nickelodeon. I was still too young to drink at this time, my older cousin happened upon her set the day before and was so blown away he convinced me to make my way over and try to get in. Security wasn't what it used to be, if it was ever anything.

There were about 5 people in the place as Carole and Kevan Staples, her partner in Rough Trade, went through the gyrations. I would have said 'motions' but once you've seen Carole you know they're gyrations. This was very early in their public career, before they had a recording contract.

Some people exude sensuality.
Carole sweated sex.

In tight leather, front zipper opened to the mid-rif, hand jammed deep into her crotch as she screamed her way through the hormonally fueled paeon to lesbian lust unrequited, High School Confidential, she was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Not even on film as this was pre-cable, pre-VHS and pre-porn explosion. I was a fan.

A couple of years later I saw her do two sets at a punk-club called The Edge, in Toronto. The New Wave scene was percolating in Toronto. We had live music clubs up the wazoo, from Larry's Hideaway to Lee's Palace to that club on St Joseph's St where I saw John Cooper Clarke. The Edge had been home to two other shows of an overtly sexual nature, at least an alternative style, as I saw both Wayne County and the Electric Chairs as well as post-op, Jayne County perform live sets. Now Carole's 'alt-lifestyle' was not so apparent to me back at the dark, empty Colonial. There were no girls in the audience then, it's a tap house. So, naturally, I thought she was talking to me from that stage. Turns out not. Over the intervening years Rough Trade developed a hard-core following among the sisterhood. This was a little more apparent in the packed confines of The Edge where sapphic love dolls performed tongue dances in every nook and cranny of the place. What else they used their nooks and crannies for I can't relate here.

An interesting side-bar to this show, local comic Martin Short, a regular at the Toronto chapter of the Second City Review and a high-school friend of Carole's, was opening the show. A weird combination, I thought. It's not like the fan bases will have a lot of overlap. It's more a Venn Diagram with two circles that never meet. Well, not never, Cece and I were there. Most of the audience was not in the mood for a stand up act. One gentleman in particular figured he'd voice his opinion using a mug of beer. Martin stood onstage, soaked and pointed out to the audience to ask: "How many people think that guy is sitting beside someone who is saying 'Man, you're an idiot!" (loud cheers) "How many people think that guy's girlfriend is thinking twice about putting out later?" (loud cheers) "How many people think that guy has a dick 'this' big?" (holding fingers one inch apart to loud cheers). Regained a little respect, Martin did. What he didn't do is show up the next night to finish the stand.

Besides being on the cutting edge of the performance art that is live rock n roll, Kevin and Carole also delved into the outer reaches of available recording technology. In search of a sound as vital and raw as Caroles weapons they recorded a 'direct-to-disc' record of their material, ostensibly a live performance as they cut the two sides 15 times each and selected the best two recordings. Once the disc started recording it took everything, even the between record breaks are actually live dead air...one mistake, the side was fucked. They printed 30,000 copies. Mine is number 9494.

For much more on the history of Rough Trade take a look at this page:
Much More on Rough Trade Page

Now go back up a line and take a look at that page I linked to. Both Carole and Kevan have had some interesting projects through the years I lost track.

Came upon this brief two-set appearance quite by happy accident, which is how most good things occur. We decide to see the whole evening and find ourselves in what can only be described as a 'lesbian bar', let's just say the demographics are becoming more obvious as time rolls on, or I'm becoming more staid. Terrific atmosphere though, everyone seems excited about seeing their friends and seeing their hero.

Both sets are very similar, only one song from the first set didn't appear in the second, Americana. She added Twist of the Knife and a brief foray into Birds of A Feather in the late show.

She opens with a song about the fall of Rough Trade, You Can't Go Back. A little ironic these many years later as she is going back. The band is being inducted into the Indie Artists Hall of Fame in the spring of 2007 and she'll be doing some reunion gigs with Kevan.

For news on current Carole check out her myspace page: Carole's MySpace Page

The set list leans heavily on material from last years Transcend release. Songs not unlike those she was doing in '74, perhaps a little less salacious although with titles like 'Seduction', 'Love Strikes Hard' and the song about eating pussy, 'Edible Flower', it's hard to see where she's mellowed.

Come to think of it, she hasn't changed much, still looking sleek and mean as ever, she's a tight 56, even if she alludes to the toll the years have taken. She's done ok, it seems, having celebrated, surrendered to, then survived the pleasures her new home in LA has to offer.

Big audience favorite was the 'screamo' version of High-School Confidential, her signature song, or albatross, depending on the day, I guess. A world-class pop tune, a aural painting you can visualize without effort. Great lyrics, great delivery. When Carole is finally resting in the tower of song alongside a coughing Hank Williams, a self-deprecatory Leonard Cohen and a medicinally-clean Marianne Faithful, she will be required to play this tune. Hope I'm passing by when she does.

The wonderful 'All Touch/No Contact', which was re-recorded for Transcend was also well received. This song is a classic. As good as anything Cole Porter or Bob Dylan ever wrote, or Elvis ever performed. OK, so I'm prone to hyperbole, it's still great shit. A fusion of tight lyrics and a hot, passionate delivery. I don't think the true genius of this song can be conveyed in words but I'm gonna give it a spin, 'cause words I got.

Three verses, one repeated twice and one slightly shorter than the other two.
The bridge is repeated twice.
Pretty simple, eh? The best ones always are on the surface until you unravel them.

First off, the title: All Touch and No Contact. That's a book all by itself. It plays into the relationships explored in the song and dances around one of the similies. It could be about a marriage 20 years in. It could be about a quick meeting behind the door of the mens room stall.

First verse deals with the girl-girl tryst.
Our protaganist is pushing the face of her love interest away. Carole punches out the words, letting us know who's in charge, if not who's on top. "I pushed, her tense face, away from me./ I pushed her tense face away from me." Same words, subtle difference in the phrasing. The first time she says it the statement is declaratory. The second time it's a narrative description of something that has happened. Something that's happened in a brief instant, while deep in the throes of a passionate embrace, or just breaking from one, perhaps. Has our hero been rejected?
Or disappointed? Or has she seen herself in a mirror? Her partner lays there, with "the hard smile, the voice going on/ like a razor blade on glass." Ouch! That is cold. It seems our anti-diva has bedded her worst nightmare, Paris Hilton. There is a breathless pause between the short laundry list. 'smile' and 'voice', all mouth. That 'razor blade on glass' is just pure magic. Besides being a great methaphor describing the hard, cutting, coldness of the distant or self-absorbed love interest, it also hints of the devil behind the emotions, that other partner of razor blades and glass, cocaine.
After the title line we get the awakening... "it hit me like a slap, all touch and no contact."

The second verse visits a boy-girl hook up. From the outset we see something different in the dynamics of the relationship. "I pushed, his hands, away from me." Guys are always so tactile, eh? Wouldn't be caught dead staring into anybody's face but are ever ready to grope. This tryst seems fueld by booze as all that remains are "splintering fragments of conversation". Or perhaps that's all the guys are capable of delivering. The awakening here is "like a knife in the back". Less intimate than a slap, but definitely more of a 'deal breaker'.

The repeated bridge seems to belong with this verse, sounds like it may have been the denouement of the evening: "Tense my body for the final attack/ All touch, no contact." That's one sad vision of love.

One floating verse, really a precursor to the other two, describes how this mess all gets started as the singer takes us back to early in the evening when she saw "challenging eyes over the edge of a cocktail glass/ hoping i'd react." Or maybe it's the night after, when the same scene gets played out.

As words on the page the song is pretty strong. When performed it's a monster.

Two other points of high interest, besides the excellent quality of the performances of Weapons, was the outing for "Americana" in the first set and Birds of A Feather in the late set. "Americana" is right up there with some of the best descriptive narratives of life in modern, post 9/11 America I've heard this year. That includes Neil Young doing "Living With War", Peaches doing "Impeach My Bush", Billy Bragg singing a new version of "Waiting For the Great Leap Forward" and Randy Newman sardonically poking a stick at the "Great Nations of Europe."
"Birds of A Feather" to close the night was a short and special treat. Ain't nothing like being surrounded my like-minded people and celebrating it.

Stop, Drop 'N Skank Avondale HighToronto ON2006-10-13

Avondale Alternative School held a student organized fund raiser on Friday the 13th and they had no bad luck whatsoever. Headlining the evening were Stop,Drop'N Skank, a ska-reggae outfit in it's early stages of development. The evening was rounded out with performances by students 'n staff.

My son Michael filmed the event as part of his own apprenticeship. mrmikelproductions is starting to get it's legs, as chances for practice and promotion keep popping up.

Here's how it went down on Friday night.

The students are stoked. A youthful excitement permeates the gymnasium. Or is that the tantilizing scent of the forbidden fragrance, AXE? Squealing girls and posing boys bounce and bray on the boards. They've spent a good amount of time and energy decking the hall out in two-tone checkers, one step beyond 1979. Tables at the back are filled with pastries and pop. No special brownies allowed. We're ready for a sock-hop, though they'd never call it that without blushing.

Within a half hour of doors the gym is filling up pretty good. A small contingency from SD'nS takes the stage for a warm-up number, a la Billy Bragg, one electric guitar. Dan, lead singer/guitarist, sings a new song, a pop-tune probably called "Won't Say Anything At All". A bitterweet tale about hit-and-miss kissing and that precarious path that lies between a boy's desire and his skills.

Dan gives the stage over to Ian Turner, the performing principal. A little outside the box for a principal but all the staff here seem to have a great rapport with the kids. One teacher helped with the sound, another was all aglow chasing students around with her digital camera to catalogue the extravaganza. It was like a prom without all the cherry busting and puking.

Ian's set gave me a chance to recognize some songs. He reaches back into the heyday of popular music...the 50's and 60's to perform the classics. Earlier he'd told me he would have never made it through University without the focus music gave him. We were discussing the effort and talent the young kids displayed...from the performers, to the organizers and the kid behind the camera. All of them testing themselves and their world. At the center of it all, music.

The kids are dancing up a storm as Ian drives through a fast version of The Shirelles, Mama Said. A good life lesson, even if you're not still in school. He follows with the Goffin/King song, made famous by The Drifters, Up On The Roof. Now if you'd bet me I'd be thinking about Clyde McPhatter tonight you could have take a hundred bucks off me.
Ian moves on, warning the kids it's time to slow it down, before he croons an Isaac Hayes penned tune that I believe he came to like when Sam & Dave performed it, When Something Is Wrong With My Baby. It's a bit difficult to hold the attention of combustible teens with these types of songs but Ian's doing great. There's some distracted chatter from the periphery, more than offset by some slow dancers in the center of the gym.
We're back to The Shirelles for another 'prom night' classic...Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? Not sure if anybody's up for answering but it does get the crowd engaged in a clap-a-long.
For his closing number Ian funks it up a bit and pulls out the Sam Cooke gem, Twisting the Night Away. It's the Sam Cooke version, not the Rod Stewart version, trust me on this. What a great set of feel good, feel sad, feel something songs.

Next onstage is a student and diva-in-the-making, Kabota. She bounces onto the stage with a smile that provides more light than the rather rudimentary spots being used this evening. She seems slightly embarassed by the hoots and hollers of her friends as she displays her wonderful singing talents but she has no reason to be shy. Her two songs are done 'karaoke' style, with canned music. There's nothing canned about her prescence as she gives a shout out to 'the hood', her Avondale posse. She doesn't aim low with her songs either as she belts out Mariah Carey's Vision of Love to the howling appreciation of her friends. This is followed by a cover of Whitney Houston's He Fills Me Up. I think that's a metaphor. A strong voice with excellent range and another enjoyable interlude.

SD'nSkank are back onstage for their first set of the show. Drummer Gavin introduces Stacey, who's on trumpet, and Andy, who plays the trombone, as this evening's dance instructors. Guitarists Dan ,Stefan and bassist Aaron provide the beat as the "skank" is demonstrated. It's a simple enough dance, you bend over at the waist like you're trying to hide an unfortunate accident, and trot on the spot, arms flailing. If that description doesn't tell you why I don't dance, nothing will. It ain't about me though, not by far, it's about the kids, and they are alright. Gavin sits down behind the drums to pick up the rhythm. Lesson complete, audience warm. It's time to get steeped.

Gavin starts the song with a smash opening, followed by Stefan's slashing guitar chords before James Dean explodes from the PA system. We got the full 'two-tone' sound going on this composition as the horns are front and center. It's a song about how the beauty of James Dean makes even us guys feel funny.

It's followed by another machine-gun ska song, Water...girl troubles I think.

One piece of advice I can give the band here: no need to drop the "f bomb" in every song. I mean there's no doubt it's a versatile word. Maybe the most but repetitive use of the word is more a sign of 'verbal laziness' than 'coolness'. Get a thesaurus, there's other ways to convey the sentiment.

The music is electric though. They are missing one of their trumpets, Julia is absent tonight, but they are a dervish of sound and activity onstage. They have a very good sense of how they come across. When the horns aren't playing the players are skanking. Everyone moves always, save Aaron on bass but you can chalk that up to the 'bill wyman syndrome'.

The first set wraps up with Reptile, which I think is a song about licking. Much heavier sound to this, more rock than ska or reggae. Last song is reminiscent of "My Daughter Is One" (extra points if you know where that came from), Our Outdoor Friends, a song about the thin line.

A brief break allows some to catch a breath of fresh air, others to catch a breath of less fresh air.

The second set starts with three 'emo' songs from a couple of guys who make up another local band, Snatch. They are followed by a student, Azad, who performs three impressive flamenco songs. Both these artists needed a more subdued environment for their talents to shine. This is a rock concert. Snatch can be found of myspace. Azad, well, he's really good and should get his own concert.

Stop, Drop 'N Skank are back to close the night with an instrumental while Stacey took a bathroom break.
In the second set we get a reggae sounding "Faith", and no reggae band is complete without a song about the lovely green.
I'm too old and my kids are too subdued for me to have any idea what "Ritalin Rock" is about.
Show ends with this generations version of "Save the Last Dance For Me", a much more forward "Stay the Night". Seems the boys have overcome some of the clumsiness they showed in their earlier 'girl' songs.

For an amateur production this was one enjoyable evening. Good luck to Avondale and SD'nS.

Bob Segarini and FriendsCadillac Lounge Toronto ON2006-09-20

Bob Segarini has been called "Canada's Nick Lowe"; the honorariums don't come much higher. In some circles that might mean no more than being the best hockey player in Argentina. In my circles it means the guy is worth a listen.
The comparison comes from the close proximity, and similar successes, of their two seminal records: Bob Segarini’s Gotta Have Pop and Nick Lowe’s Pure Pop for Now People. (Lowe’s album was released as "Jesus of Cool" in the UK/Europe but in America, even in the ‘80’s, that was thought a little too irreverant.) The albums are amazingly similar in that they contain a bunch of 2 minute 30 seconds pop songs that will never leave your head. And speaking of head, the 2:30 pop song is something else that has not been substantially altered or improved since it’s invention.

2006 has been a year of retro music, where I've seen everyone from Alice Cooper to The Buzzcocks to BB King to Charlatans UK, and that’s only the front end of the alphabet. I scour the upcoming listings at the Cadillac Lounge periodically in order to make sure I don’t miss the next Robert Gordon show. Segarini has taken up residence as the Wednesday night house band. Prior commitments, general laziness and a substance abuse problem prevented me from catching the first two weeks but I managed to drag myself, and Cece, downtown this week. Another chance to pay respects to one of the many artists who have made this soundtrack that accompanies our life a little more interesting.

Bucking the trend to head west in the mid to late ‘60’s Segarini came to Toronto from California. He found himself surrounded by some friends and other artists who represented the best of CanRock; members of April Wine and Mashmakhan. (April Wine preceeded Rush in getting some international acclaim; had a big hit with Could Have Been A Lady. Mashmakhan’s flame didn’t burn as long or as strong but they hit the airwaves with the classic tune, As Years Go By AND were on that Festival Express train with the Dead, Joplin and the Band. For much more on the heroes of Sirius Radio 95 When I mentioned I was listening to a copy of a 1979 Much Music show that I’d received in a trade, Segarini relays that the show is being reissued, on DVD. I believe he said Gotta Have Pop is also being put out, or a ‘greatest hits’ type package, and he is embarking on a tour in the Sping of ’07 to support those projects. These Wednesday sets, as long as they last through the fall and winter, are the ‘rehearsals’. They are not playing on the 27th but it looks like every Wednesday in October so far.
Check the calendar at Cadillac Lounge.

Don’t dare miss it!

The bar is a little crowded when we arrive and raucously loud. That will all change before the show as one table was celebrating their new ring tone downloads and the other was too drunk to possibly last another hour. Band members start to arrive and plug in their various instruments and run a rudimentary sound check aided by Valerie Shearman, widow of Buzz Shearman of Moxy, yet another pivotal local band who carved a niche in the local, and extended Canadian, scene. The balance gets a bit skewed when the two ‘party tables’ have left and the 10 band members have set up. Not many left in the audience for this mid-week, unannounced, no cover, freebie. That’s ok, other people ‘getting it’ has never been a big part of the package for me…I mean, I’ve been a Dylan fan for over 30 years now.

Segarini and support vocalist Jay Dunlap are both under the weather tonight. Some type of bronchial infection or something Courtney Love is passing around. Show opens with a disclaimer…or two, since this is still ostensibly rehearsal time. It’s nice of them to let us in to watch. Bob has promised his friend will pick it up for him. Actually, considering the purpose and the price of this evening’s set it shows some respect for the art that they are out here giving what they have to offer. Everybody seems animated, especially Annette, one of a bevy of beauties adorning the stage. The beauties you can tell because they have change and places to put it.

Soon enough we are into a live presentation of … gotta have funk! A little Tom Waits meets George Clinton as the 10 man band warms up with some bluesy tunes, well suited to a gruff voice.

First song out of the gate is … unknown, a blues song with country overtones (“lost all my money, lost my woman, and my dog don’t run no more”), an easy, rambling tune to loosen the vocal chords. One thing’s for sure, they don’t want Mr Hard Time knockin’ round their door. That ain’t a bad way to start the night.

We step back in time (a theme we’ll develop more throughout the evening) for a Wackers song. Teenage Love opens with an extended instrumental solo and faux-applause from the audience at the break. The Wackers were Segarini’s third band, played together from 1970-1973 but Bob references them a lot. Everybody’s got that place where the needle sticks.

Ahhh, now we’re into a little ‘chuck-berry-cum-t-rex’ stuff in Rock N Roll Circus as Bob remembers his time with Roxy (1968-1970). This could have been done by Lighthouse too, if they had chicks. Did they have chicks? It was hard to tell with all that hair.

Bring it on, dude! Gotta Have Pop. If it’s ever been said better, it hasn’t been said more succinctly. Now the voice is having a little trouble but the heart is committed. “I remember when I was a boy….”, “none of it seems to make too much sense, it’s a synthesized mess!” “I love the Beatles up to Sgt. Pepper…” (don’t believe that), “I gotta have pop!, don’t let it stop!” If there’s anything simpler than a pop song, there’s nothing more beautiful than that simplicity.
Bob’s talking from the stage now and he’s a salty bastard. We get a little bit of everything from him, ranging from almost telling the couple at the back to ‘get a room’, to dedications. Some stuff about the travails of being sick that I’d best not relate. Bit of a stand-up comic hidden inside this DJ/song writer. I’d tell him to stick with the day job but I can’t tell what that is. A Renaissance man for the Boomer Generation.

Another Wackers tune in Hey Lawdy Lawdy before Bob breaks to introduce half the band members and hand out a printout with the other half to save on time. The first of many guest appearances and friends in the guise of Jade Dunlop (some people call her ‘Pie’ but we’re nowhere near that familiar). She drops a little Ronettes on us in the form of Be My Baby. Jade’s struggling with the same cold and I got no idea how that happened. Didn’t hurt her much on this song, sounded just right from where I was sitting.

Local RnB artist Max Brand had walked into the club a few minutes before and Bob invites him up for a couple songs. Quite the treat, I mean this stuff is unrehearsed but that’s a big part of the ‘fun factor’. He rips off a cover of Route 66 and picks the Jack Scott classic (recently performed at this very spot by Robert Gordon), The Way I Walk. The band huddles for a quick lesson in chords and anchored by veteran Segarini guitarist, Peter Kashur, they pull off a decent version.

Bob’s back chattin’ and drops another unfamiliar song that might have been called I Want You To Stay before the band breaks for a drink and breath of fresh air, or joint, I didn’t follow them.

Set 2 opens with more talk from the very accessible Bob Segarini before he launches into Money In the Pocket from 1981’s Vox Populi. Bob relinquishes the stage once again, this time to the three diva’s. We open their mini-set with the insipid Doobie Brothers song, Listen to the Music. That’s as bad as it gets all night though as Doc Ingles comes out from behind the keyboard to deliver a raucous version of Suite’s Ballroom Blitz. Dedicated to ‘yours truly’ by Peter Kashur. How’d they know Jack White’s my second favorite performer? Staying with the ‘screamo themeo’ the girls are back to deliver a blistering rendition of AC/DC’s All Night Long, sans the shorts but I don’t doubt their word.

Still more friends in the house. Valerie Shearman, who’s been helping with the sound, takes the stage for a mini-set consisting of the great House of the Rising Sun, Leaving On A Jet Plane (reminds me of acid, strobe lights and Galt Ave, don’t ask) and some raunch, assisted by the girls, in Mustang Sally. Oh ya, ride. We continue to highlight the girls as Yvonne does Mick…well, sorta, she covers Beast of Burden and I’m beginning to wonder if these girls are sending a message. The always smiling Annette closes this segment with Hot Child In the City, not doing anything to get my mind off the raunch.

Segarini’s back with another Gotta Have Pop staple in the ‘emo-before-it’s-time’, I Don’t Want To Lose You, followed by a cover of the Doors, People Are Strange.
We’re getting heavy on the classic album stuff now, which is great. Bob rolls out I’m Afraid of the Ocean, a fun little ditty about international air travel in the times when you’re only concern was wondering why the pilot was walking by wearing a parachute. Good songs don’t need heavy themes. Some nimble word play in this song.
Prom song #1, Don’t Believe A Word I Say. A gut-busting look at faking sincerity. More Grade A writing, excellent pacing and a cautionary tale for all our daughters. This closes the set and what I thought would be a quick 1 and a half set is turning into a marathon and I’m wishing it wouldn’t end, just keep on jammin’.

Valerie Shearman is back to open the third set with a couple jazzy numbers in What A Wonderful World and a cover of Patsy Cline’s Crazy. She’s invited another guest onto the stage and Sebastian Agnello tries out a couple new songs, Me & God followed by Quasi Love Song. This has shaped up to be quite a walk down memory lane for aficiando’s of Toronto’s music scene…circa 1965-1985 anyway.

Bob’s back with an unrecognizable country tune then into Gotta Have Pop for When the Lights are out before he closes with Goodbye LA and the closest we’re going to get to anthemic tonight, Juvenile Delinquent.

You’d be hard-pressed to get more bang for the buck than wandering into the Cadillac Lounge any Wednesday night in October to catch this band.

Peaches (opening for NIN/Bauhaus) 2006-06-24

what a novel concept for a band...girls with balls.
local product Peaches returned to Toronto to shock and ahhhhhh! the hometown crowd.
she's not a shy girl, she's not a coy girl, and she's put that 'homo' stuff on the back burner for now. she's what you might call 'omni-sexual' - all-inclusive and non-discriminatory. she'll cross that bridge when she comes to it...or she won't, as the mood fits. it's a new generation of youngun's, who have 'friends with benefits' and whatnot.
growing up in a Toronto suburb wouldn't seem to be the place you'd develop a persona that pushes the envelope for even the most subversive amongst us. (well, not counting Carole Pope) Peaches owes a little to the trail blazed by Rough Trade in the '80's and Bif Naked in the '90's. well, a trail across the Canadian landscape anyway. she honed her ho' skills in Berlin and LA and tonight she's gonna treat her family.
pretty sure it's her family. there's only 7 of us in the seats at the cavernous Molson Amphitheatre as show time nears. i skirt by security to find a quiet place to set up the taping rig and turn it on. it's bright light out here and i'm seated right beside the soundboard. won't have cover of darkness until NIN comes on around 9:15 pm. on my way back to my seat, with beer and water in hand, the usherette asks for my ticket. "you gotta be kidding me, right?" I ask, somewhat incredually. "she needs to see your ticket," the security guard answers, perhaps thinking I'd not understood the instruction. "i just walked past here 5 minutes ago. there's no one in the seats and certainly no one who's 50 years old," I mutter as I put my drinks down to fish for my ticket.
it's a thankless job being the first of three bands in a large venue. you don't have a lot of time and during most of your set the seats are filling up to about half full. lot's of milling about and not much attention being paid. my son was in the pit and said the band sounded fine, looked even better, but didn't get near the respect it deserved.
it helps to have a flamboyant personality and Peaches has plenty of that as she explodes on the stage with a cut from her soon-to-be-released new album. The one minute long "Fuck or Kill" contains the album title in it's punchy 'impeach my bush' chant. now there's a title that should attract a little attention, and less airplay, down south.
down south is where most of her songs take place. not the borderline. the beltline. fever-in-my-pocket time. second song Hit It Hard moves into an answer song to Jan & Dean called "Two Boys (For Every Girl). which should make it about even.
Peaches reaches back to 'Teaches of Peaches' for the little homage to frottage called Hot Rod before we slam into some ER from ET in "Operate".
more hard-rockin' nonsense, and that's not a bad thing, in Rock Show. as vapid and empty a head-banging song as you'd expect any male to put out. more power to her. probably something she learned from Joan Jett. women got as much right as men to create songs that s*ck.
the tide turns with another new offering, Boys Wanna Be Her. don't have all the lyrics down but there's more possibility in the title than you could hope for.
show closes with Peaches wrapped in a triple XXX shawl for "You Love It (when I'm bad)" and who could argue with that?
she strips down to pink bra and panties for a romp through the crowd, not just the pit but the seated audience as well, while she belts out "Fuck the Pain Away" for the finale.

not just another night at the opera.

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