Bob Dylan Amherst and Lowell MA 2010-11-19 & 20

OK I promised my wife we wouldn't travel to see Bob this fall and it sure looked like I was about to break my streak of 17 consecutive years. Then he books a Saturday show within driving distance and the opportunity arises to hook up with some old friends. Couldn't say no. And couldn't do just one.

A light drizzly snow for the ride out keeps the pace at moderate; a good way to start a 2,000 km weekend.

As an added bonus we got to stop at the Rat Pack themed Delmonico's in Utica NY
for some red meat and blue martini's. There was the Brushcetta Pomodoro and the Roma Tomato and Mozzarella Salad for openers. Ordered the smallest steak I could find, a 9 0z filet. The wife opted for a more sensible pasta meal.

For the first time ever we tried that 'priceline auction' site. Except for some difficulty getting a guarantee the hotel we select will be 'accessible' it worked out pretty good. Saved about $60 and it only cost us 10 minutes of driving time.

Now travelling for Dylan always results in more than just the music. Good thing too because since June of 2005 it's the side-bar stuff that makes these trips worthwhile. The extras this time centered around poets...Emily Dickinson's house in Amherst and Jack Kerouac's Lowell. Forget what you heard about spoken word, it's coming back strong in the inner cities.

Time and circumstance prevented us from getting to Emily's abode in time for a full tour.

It didn't prevent us from hooking up with friends for dinner and making it to the venue with time to spare.

Our seats sucked terrilbly, first row on the corner at the back. Seems like everyone who went on the floor passed in front of us. To add to the confusion there were a ton of late arrivers, people still taking their seats at the 5th and 6th song. They were bumping into the people who chose to leave by the 5th or 6th song. It was chaos.

But the sound was great.

And Bob was good. Most songs have new arrangements. The blues numbers have lost their punch, most notably in Hwy 61 and HWM. There's a sameness to most of the songs that makes it even more difficult to recognize them than in the past...and it had nothing to do with mumbling lyrics. The vocals were surprisingly clear.

No bombastic solos from Charlie, or anyone. The band is tight, all the tricks are small things inside the songs. Thankfully both Stu and Donnie are almost non-existant so Bob is inching ever closer to being back in a rock band and away from the country-swing, civil-war, bore band.

Highlights:

Someone has to transcribe the new lyrics for Gonna Change My Way of Thinking. The chorus is there but the rest seems new.
Shooting Star is always a rare treat, the song is better than any performance could be but it deserves an outing.
Tangled Up In Blue and Ballad of A Thin Man, with Bob at center stage, were worth the price of admission on their own.
Can't Wait was another rare and mystical tune that I'm always happy to hear.

Lowlights:

An unfocussed Hard Rain was less than stellar. The new arranagement of HWM has taken away it's few redeeming values and Thunder on the Mountain sounds worse if you can actually hear the words.

Songs that made me go, meh:

The fans like Spirit, but it's a one-trick pony. Mobile is as Mobile was...it takes up 5 minutes. Tweedles and Hwy 61, pretty regular in the set, don't advance the show much. Workingman's Blues #2 might be better than I thought on first listen but was so radically changed I couldn't discern. You gotta wonder what we're missing to get Jolene every night. Oh, wait, that would be Watchtower. LARS is nondescript, which is a crime for the greatest song ever written.

2010-11-19
Mullins Arena
Amherst, MA

1. Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking
2. Shooting Star
3. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
4. Spirit On The Water
5. Rollin' And Tumblin'
6. Tangled Up In Blue
7. Honest With Me
8. Can't Wait
9. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
10. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
11. Highway 61 Revisited
12. Workingman's Blues #2
13. Thunder On The Mountain
14. Ballad Of A Thin Man
(encore)
15. Jolene
16. Like A Rolling Stone


Lowell's not an easy city to drive around. With waterways and triangular street intersections it takes a few days to get your bearings. We didn't have that, so we spent most of our time half-way lost. But not all of it.

Cece did a great job scouting out my Kerouac locations and we were able to hit more than I would have accomplished going gonzo.

Some were easy, it seems we couldn't miss running into the High School.
"By nearly all accounts-classmates, teachers, even his own writing--Kerouac was a shy but popular student. A standout in track and football, and a fine outfielder on the baseball team, Kerouac also earned A's and B's in his classes. In Maggie Cassidy he mentions a Spanish course, the poetry of Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, the great difficulty of physics, and "wonderful classes in some kind of pre-science fiction astronomy, with an old lady with a long stick demonstrating moons at the blackboard." Kerouac graduated from Lowell High School in 1939, three months after his seventeenth birthday."

A little more difficult find was the Memorial. I finally took a backdoor into it by travelling over the trolley tracks and finding a parking spot. A large group of marble obelisks with engraved writings.
"The Jack Kerouac Commemorative... must be one of the most unique public art pieces in the United States. The opening passages from Kerouac's five "Lowell novels," as well as passages from On the Road, Lonesome Traveler, Book of Dreams, and Mexico City Blues are inscribed on eight triangular marble columns. The arrangement of the columns and the surface stones form a kind of Buddhist- Christian mandala. The symmetrical cross and diamond pattern of The Commemorative is a meditation on the complex Buddhist and Catholic foundation of much of Kerouac's writing."

The best find was the grotto in Pawtucketville.  These are the Catholic "Stations of the Cross" leading to the cave. "The Grotto (fashioned after a mini-Lourdes, where a vision of the Virgin Mary appeared to a French peasant girl) and Stations of the Cross were constructed in 1911. Whole passages of Doctor Sax, including the very ending, are set here at the Grotto. Kerouac and his mother often stopped here on walks from their home in Pawtucketville. In Doctor Sax, the place is "mad, vast, religious, the Twelve Stations of the Cross, little individual twelve altars set in, you go in front, kneel, everything but incense in the air (the roar of the river, mysteries of nature, fireflies in the night flickering to the waxy stare of statues, I knew Doctor Sax was there flowing in the back darks with his wild and hincty cape)."

Came acroos the Moody Street Bridge. "Known to Kerouac fans as "The Bridge Where the Man with the Watermelon Died." The name is taken from the title, and events, of "Book Four" of Jack Kerouac's Doctor Sax. One "baleful black night," Jack and his mother were returning from a visit to Aunt Clementine and Uncle Mike's house. They reached the bridge a half hour before midnight, and a man carrying a watermelon passed them: "Suddenly the man fell, we heard the thump of the watermelon on wood planks and saw him fallen ... I look down with him and there is the moon on shiny froth and rocks, there is the long eternity we have been seeking."

And here's Boots Mills. Jack'd roll over in his grave if he knew it was being converted into condos. "The mills are a reminder that Lowell is a working-class city, established as a business venture. By harnessing the power of the Merrimack River through a carefully engineered system of mills and canals Lowell quickly became one of the largest centers of textile production in the world. The architecture of the Boott Mills complex mirrors the growth of Lowell--its nine mill buildings were built between 1835 and 1900...When Kerouac mentions any of the Lowell mills in his books it is most often the Boott. In Doctor Sax, the Boott is often seen in "a maze of haze sorrow," where the red chimneys sway in "the dreambell afternoon" or, at night, the windows shine "like a lost star in the blue city lights of Lowell." Kerouac's descriptions of the Boott are often amorphous, and insubstantial, as if the redbrick mills are only clouds in a fiery sunset. It's interesting to match Kerouac's descriptions of the mills with depiction of work in his novels. Kerouac's characters may have jobs, and we may see many people on their way to or from work, but the joy of life lies elsewhere. "Everything belongs to me because I am poor," he wrote in Visions of Cody. "Dicky and I covered these millyards.," he writes in Doctor Sax, "and agreed millwork was horrible."

Which brings us  to Edson Cemetary. You drive under the rusted bridge with the faded sign that says "Welcome to Spaghettiville". Drive past the large St Patricks Cemetary until the point where the road widens. The grave is three streets in (Lincoln) and 5 streets over (between 7th and 8th). Once you are there, you can't miss it.

Then we hooked up with friends for dinner and a show. Jethro Tull was in town but we opted for that Bob guy again.

Glad we did. Seats were much better, very close to the stage. If last night was the best show since 2005, tonight was the best show since last night.

The delivery was even better, though that might have been a condition of our improved seats.

Songs we lost: Shooting Star, Spirit on the Water, Can't Wait, Hard Rain, Workingman's Blues #2

Songs we got for those we lost: It Ain't Me Babe, Love Sick, Simple Twist of Fate, Visions of Johanna, Not Dark Yet

I'd say we got an upgrade.

2010-11-20
Tsongas Center
Lowell MA

1. Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking
2. It Ain't Me, Babe
3. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
4. Love Sick
5. Rollin' And Tumblin'
6. Simple Twist Of Fate
7. Honest With Me
8. Visions Of Johanna
9. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
10. Tangled Up In Blue
11. Highway 61 Revisited
12. Not Dark Yet
13. Thunder On The Mountain
14. Ballad Of A Thin Man
15. Jolene / Band Intro
16. Like A Rolling Stone

CR Avery and the Special Interest GroupThe RivoliToronto ON2010-11-12

"Sister, tell your Brother, Brother tell your Auntie, Auntie, tell your Uncle,Uncle tell my Cousin, Cousin tell my friend
Goin' up the (Rivoli) Mama, don't you want to go?" BwMcT

Finally a home game in Toronto The Good, Hogtown, Hollywood North, or, my favourite, Dirty Little York.

CR is back in town, pushing his new book of poetry and the DVD he made with Toronto film maker, Michael Levesque.

38 Bar Blues is available online and the DVD, Subtitles For A Foreign Film, should be out in December.

This venue is the shooting location for the two concerts that make up that DVD, it's kinda like home to the krewe I drag around to these shows.

And a second to home to CR, so The Rivoli's packed to capacity. The 'other CR', Toronto's Troubadour Corin Raymond is here. Members of the Toronto Youth Slam are in attendance in the hopes of learning tricks from the Bard of East Van.  Ronna Blume a Toronto area poet who was featured at last weeks Words Aloud. got up to do a Neil Young (sorta) poem, the drummers family, CR's videographer and some old guy who keeps following him around with a pair of mics.

So after 4 attempts I finally get a board. Was hoping to have enough A+ material for a live record but there's time enough in the future to nail that project. What I did get will tide me over the winter.

So what about the show? Well, it was Toronto and the audience was in the mood, so you know the band delivered.


CR Avery vocals, harmonica, keys
Noah Walker guitar
Evan Bates bass
Adam Farnsworth  keys, backing vocals
Kevin Romain drums


Set 1
Track 01 Shirley Dragon
Track 02 Is This What You Wanted?
Track 03 Ice Rinks
Track 04 Neil Young'sSongs Are Really About Cars (reading by w/ Ronna Blume CR on keys)
Track 05 Blackbird
Track 06 Motel 50 Miles Out of Town

Set 2
Track 01 This Disclosure
Track 02 Promiscuous Women
Track 03 Very Sarah Palin/Commercial Drive
Track 04 Honeymoon Is Over
Track 05 talk - 38 Bar Blues plug
Track 06 Dungeon of Love/Love Song
Track 07 Make It Count On Election Day (off board)
Track 08 Dinner For One
Track 09 Pryor/Dylan Rap/ Folk Singer
Track 10 band intro
Track 11 On To Something/Piano Lessons
Track 12 encore break/talk
Track 13 Doll House and Pocket Knife
Track 14 Midnight Gold Mining
Track 15 talk - Subtitles for a Foreign Film plug
Track 16 My Own Road To Go


3 nights that finish at 2 am ...  gruelling
850 kilometers on the road...  time consuming
Hotels, Food and Gas      ...      $400

5 sets of CR Avery in a week ...  priceless

CR Avery and the Special Interest GroupCarden St CafeGuelph ON2010-11-11

It's Remembrance Day and just remember this...war is for the corporations and the entitled. People got no issues with each other requiring that option.

This is the hometown of John McCrae, the poet who penned "In Flanders Fields". Now there's a coincidence you wouldn't come across if you didn't scour Wiki for an interesting tidbit about where you are going.

The Carden Street Cafe is not merely a funky (and cozy) live music venue, it's a decent eatery. Brought the wife out with me tonight for a little, umm, west coast culture in The Royal City, named after the descendents of King George the IV, and, more importantly, the current home of Sleemans Brewery. Guess I won't be quaffing any Stella from the tap tonight. Turns out there's no Sleeman's at this bar either, only Wellington. Family feud probably.

What a difference a couple of days make. While there's some dish crashing distractions because this is an eatery, the crowd was focussed on the artist with only one or two parties catching up on the days activities over the din.

CR has super-sized his set. We get a 40 minute warmup followed by a solid 70 minute closing set. Everything works on the audience. The spoken-word pieces get the silence they deserve.(Piano Lessons, A Few Thousand Words) The raucous songs get the response they require to take them over the top (Dungeon of Love, Dinner for One, Folk Singer). We got a snippet of Love Song tacked onto Dungeon and we got Birdcage wrapped up in On To Something...kapow!

Oh, wait, show ends with Midnight Gold Mining...wham, bam, thanks for coming out.

Set 1
Track 01 Piano Lessons
Track 02 This Disclosure
Track 03 Promiscuous Women
Track 04 Very Sarah Palin
Track 05 talk - art is boring
Track 06 A Few Thousand WordsTrack 07 talk - swag plug
Track 08 Dungeon of Love/Love Song

Set 2
Track 01 Maggies Farm
Track 02 Make It Count On Election Day
Track 03 Goin' To Bed Hungry
Track 04 Dinner For One
Track 05 Dylan-Pryor Rap/Folk Singer
Track 06 On To Something/Birdcage
Track 07 encore break
Track 08 The Marines Lament
Track 09 Band Intro
Track 10 Midnight Gold Mining

CR Avery and the Special Interest Group This Ain't HollywoodHamilton ON2010-11-09

We are in the "Ambitious City" of the early 1800's when George Hamilton founded the settlement that was going to unsettle the Iroquois nation once and for all. (Five Nations at the time, could have used that 6th Nation to shore up the defence but it's unsure if the Tuscarora would have tilted the balance.) Later, as industry took over, it was the "Birmingham of Canada" which was cool until they turned on the water hoses in the southern version.

Put the shameful history of our cultural genocide behind and what you have now is "Lunchbucket City", made up of salt-of-the-earth blue-collar workers, soon to be on display at the ROM, next to the dinosaurs.

"Steeltown" has just seen it's workers locked out of the US Steel plant this past week.

"Hammertown" is getting close to puttin' the "Hammer" down.

Well, that's my eulogy and I'm all out of nicknames.

In town to breathe some life into this shut-down-at-sundown city are CR Avery and friends. Dinner at a local Vietnamase eatery, 15 minutes of Roger Marin's set, too much of some other guys set, and not a minute before 11 pm the show starts.

Starts strong too with a punchy Boxer Who Just Returned From London. At this point it seemed like the middling-sized crowd was in the mood. But it was early.

Back in 1980 Iggy Pop taught me something when he walked out on a concert 23 minutes into the set, yelling at the audience, telling them that if they didn't want to rock, well then, neither did he. Shortest show ever! The lesson? The audience often gets what they deserve. Or, from a more positive perspective, the audience is an integral part of making a show great. Without the energy pouring back from the seats it's just a bunch of sweating guys pumping out chords.

This Disclosure, with a hook/melody borrowed from Small Town, is a gender-bending excercise in failed relationships.

CR gives a shout out to the less than 'magazine beautiful' in Promiscuous Women. Sensing the crowd is not yet engaged he first strokes them, telling them they look like a good Tuesday night crowd, then gently admonishes them, letting them know the fate of the show rests in their hands as much as his. He calls out for their help to elevate this set above mediocrity. A slightly better than half-hearted sing-a-long threatens to make this ploy a success.

But this crowd ain't that interested.

Very Sarah Palin starts as a diatribe and ends as an all out rockabilly blast. The band leaves the crowd behind half way through this song. They're gonna have fun and no one can stop 'em.

Dungeon of Love keeps up the pace.

Dinner For One is this tours litmus test. Rude, crude, and I'm guessing someone's tattooed. This is the song that lets the band know if there's life beyond the lights or if dead people really can smoke. (old joke, don't work no more in this new age of smokeless bars) Tonight's response from the girls was, let's say embarrassed, in a giggly way. It's much better when the women howl. The men howled, in a drunken lasvicious manner, which didn't make it any less embarrassing. Great '50's girl group' style to this song, complete with the shoo-be-doo-wops.

CR's still working hard. In a final effort to involve the crowd he brings the show to them, stepping off stage for an unplugged version of his 'Fanfare for the Common Man', Make It Count On Election Day. A tip of the hat goes out to CR's good friend Corin Raymond, who reminds us there will always be a small time as long as they are singing in the parlours. A little down-home country stomp-along for the populist crowd.

Back to the stage for a new rap, the Dylan Meets Pryor intro to a raucous version of Folk Singer.

The night closes with I'm On to Something and the band continues to rock.

Despite a drunken cry for 'one more song' from the one guy who was not paying attention all night, the crowd thinned out and CR was just about to do the same.

You can set 'em up but you can't knock 'em out every night.

Now on a totally unrelated note CR was gracious enough to allow me a soundboard patch of this show, as he did last time we were at This Ain't Hollywood. That time I mentioned to the sound guy that there was no feed to my recorder. He insisted there must be because everything was set as it should be. Until he realized it wasn't, with about 3 songs left in the set. This go round it seemed like all was well, I was getting a good signal, though I did not have headphones on, I was relying on my monitor. Turns out that when he cut the preshow canned music from the PA's he failed to shut it out of the soundboard, so it continues to play over the band. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, I won't get fooled again. Seriously though, shit happens, big thanks to everyone for the effort and the sound inside the venue was pretty good, except for that low hiss, which is what matters.

So these samples are from my audience recording I was capturing simultaneously because I trust no one.

Set List

Boxer Who Just Returned From London
This Disclosure (Small Town Redux)
Promiscuous Women
Very Sarah Palin
Dungeon of Love
Dinner For One
Make It Count On Election Day
Folk Singer
I'm On To Something

CR Avery and the Special Interest Group Words Aloud Festival Durham ON2010-11-06

A special day in the middle of CR's cross Canada full-band tour. Words Aloud
has invited him in for a weekend of concerts and workshops. We caught two unique sets; an afternoon bookstore set and an evening art gallery show.

Four members of the Toronto Youth Slam Team open the afternoon at the Great Books & Cafe at The Mill in Williamsford, a 20 minute drive north of Durham. The kids are alright, perhaps a little old for their age, but that's ok, there's plenty of time left to be younger. My favorite artist ended up 4th out of 4 today, so it shows you there is no accounting for taste, or I know nothing about poetry. All the kids performed well but I was drawn to the rough-edged urban poetry of Skummilk, he took some risks with his material.

What the venue bio doesn't tell you is this bookstore/cafe was a major grow-op in it's previous incarnation, which explains the 4 year renovation. Just a little local history.

This is a 'pay what you can' event for no more than 50 people, counting the one's standing in back and seated on the massive staircase. A very good turnout in this rural community a couple hours away from Toronto.

After an entertaining 3-round slam from the youngun's CR Avery takes the stage for what is one of the best sets I've seen him deliver, and I've seen more than a few good ones. He really takes to these intimate rooms. Using the house piano, one mic and his harmonicas he's got all the tools he needs to win the crowd. And win them over, he does.

You gotta give props to these local arts-community sponsored events. They make it possible for performers like CR to travel across the country and build a mini-tour around the event. People at Cicada Fest, Perth Folk Festival and this Words Aloud program are keeping the spirit of music alive in the face of the crushing mediocrity the major labels and distributors are hoisting on us. Search them out, be a patron, if only by showing up.

CR absolutely nails every song this afternoon. He starts at the piano, quiety, slowly, letting the audience settle into their chairs, atune their ears and focus their attention. When I'm Gone usually closes a set but CR is wasting no time warming up the audience. He's hot, they gotta catch up.

The sign that he really had his mojo working comes in the spoken word Hendrix/Dylan piece that follows. As he's moving through the story at his usual machine-gun pace he stumbles on a single opening word to a line and deftly drops into his 'hip-hop-beat-box-syllable-popping' vocal style and covers up the flub...I'm sure no one noticed. No one else that is. I believe he used it to the same effect in the PET poem that ended the set, the only two times he missed a step.

The audience is enlisted to play the part of orchestra on the lovely piano ballad, Like A Train In The Snow. It's only a mini-set so we can't be waiting until the encore break to reel them in. CR has a handful of terrific ballads (When I'm Gone, Bus To Baton Rouge,Rain Falls On Eternity)and though his press-kit says little about his ability to deliver these songs, they may represent the height of his combined playing,singing and performance skills. 'Course I only think that 'till he rips off a burning blues number like Motel 50 Miles Out of Town.

It's been a long wait, maybe close to 20 shows and a few thousand miles, but CR finally pulls out Down at the Cafe. Perhaps we had to be in a cafe. Perhaps we required the poetry slam to be part of the show...don't know, don't care, just happy to hear it.

Most of the songs are getting a little introduction tonight and CR invokes the spirit of Tom Waits' to shrug off the pressure of selling a million records Stateside in Big In Japan. The audience, once again, takes to his harmonica-beat-box riffs, resonding enthusiastically as sweat begins to pour off our boy on stage.

Come February we'll be watching the next song as part of a Hockey Night In Canada presentation, his homage to Wayne Gretzky and bitch-slap to the American sense of self-importance with Already the Great One.

38 Bar Blues is the new book of poetry, just released and now available online. We get a brief reading of Old Love The Gambler.

In December CR will be in the city of angels to record with a full orchestra. One of the 6 songs on the sked is the story of his outdoor friend, The Kind Man of Alexander Street. Inner city music, save your city music.

A spoken word piece, Pierre Elliott Trudeau closes out the set. This poem continues to morph. CR has injected a line about Diefenbaker's stand on the Bay of Pigs which makes his other claims about Trudeau's willingness to stand up to the US more historically correct. My guess is someone in Alberta made the case for Dief. While CR does use the "just watch me" quote he should add a couple lines about how PET handled the FLQ terror without terrorizing the people, as a leader should.

Here are some sound samples from the afternoon set.

Set List

When I'm Gone
The Grey Armpit of Rock n Roll
Like A Train in the Snow
Down at the Cafe
Big In Japan
Already the Great One
Old Love The Gambler (poem recital)
The Kind Man of Alexander Street
Pierre Elliott Trudeau

The evening set is at the roomier main hall of the Durham Art Gallery and CR has his band, The Special Interest Group, along for the unplugged session. Road veterans Noah Walker (guitar) and Evan Bates (bass) are joined by two newcomers Adam Farnsworth on keys and Kevin Romain on drums. Hope the boys are enjoying their initiation to life on the road with a circus.

Only one song repeated in the evening set, PET, and it was by request of the organizers. It got a slightly different treatment with jazz accompianament(sp?)to spice it up a touch. Gave it a finger-snapping beat-edge.

Two classic covers to open, both changed almost beyond recognition, updating the words of Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan.

He follows with a great version of Ice Rinks that builds in intensity and explodes at the end, complete with a little Salt n Peppa.
Blackbird gets the CR treatment then we get some new songs.

Sound samples below.

Set List

Is This What You Wanted?
Maggies Farm
Ice Rinks
Blackbird
Make It Count On Election Day
I Know I'm On to Something (I Just Don't Know What)
A Few Thousand Words
I'm Gonna Eat You Out
Pierre Eliot Trudeau
My Own Road To Go

Gord Downie Queen Elizabeth Theatre2010-11-05

OK, I'm thinking this concert is a sign that I try too hard to find shows. Nothing against Gord Downie , he's a consumate entertainer...it's just do I really have the time to start up an interest in his solo work? November was looking like a light month when I booked this show but now I've got 5 shows in 8 nights then a trip to Massachusetts in late November to catch a couple Dylan shows. It wasn't easy dragging my work-weary ass out of the house on this cold winter night.

Bonus fries right off the top - Gord is his own opening act. A quick 40 minute set was followed by a brief intermission and an hour and forty minute set to close.

He's doing a unique art show with his songs. On stage he has an overhead projector from your grade 5 math class. Using cut-out shapes of thin acetate, a pyrex bowl (one without Pyrex imbedded on the bottom, no product placement here) and assorted liquids and water colours. To introduce the songs he builds a scene from these assorted pieces, layering the cut-outs, then using the pyrex and liquid to bring scenes to life. It really was pretty good. We had a lighthouse against a dark ocean, the twin towers aflame complete with plane, assorted moonlight scenes with flying birds, geese in fact, and too many others to remember without a camera.

While this was something new, bordering on interesting, it was an anchor to the pace of the show. The silence was filled by assorted Hip-heads thinking it was a license to have a conversation with Gord. Any chatter coming from Gord, or introduction to the upcoming song, was off-mike and hard to pick up in this lovely, but too large, room.

Set 1
Track 01 ?The Myth
Track 02 The Dance and It's Disappearance
Track 03 Moon Over Glenora
Track 04 Yellow Days
Track 05 The Hard Canadian
Track 06 talk w/ projector art
Track 07 Night Is For Getting
Track 08 audience chatter/song intro
Track 09 Trick Rider
Track 10 Canada Geese
Set 2

Track 11 The East Wind
Track 12 Vancouver Divorce
Track 13 Christmas Time In Toronto
Track 01 Gone
Track 02 11th Fret
Track 03 The Drowning Machine
Track 04 Steeplechase
Track 05 Figment
Track 06 Yer Possessed
Track 07 outro/encore break
Track 08 ?What You Gonna Do About It?
Track 09 Broadcast
Track 10 Going Going Gone
Track 11 Chancellor
Track 12 Insomniacs of the World, Good Night

CR Avery Does Ontario Various Venues Durham, Hamilton,Guelph and TorontoNovember 2010

Back with a full band, a new book of poetry and a DVD, CR Avery is storming across the country and spending a little time in our nape of the woods, er, neck of the way, ummm, how come he's here?

It's the Rock N Roll Bandit tour with some spoken word tossed in for the thinkin' crowd.

Check out the dates!

Midnight Ramble starring Levon Helm w/ guest Steve Earle 2010-10-09

Third Ramble at the Barn, 4th in total, at some point I should be having my fill, you'd think. The Midnight Ramble won't be around forever and when it's gone I'm betting there won't be anything to replace it. This is mostly a nostalgia trip but there's something life affirming about paying homage to good times past, while creating new good times.

Out of Toronto on the Friday afternoon of a long weekend on both sides of the border. (We Canadians are celebrating our compact with the First Nations, Thanksgiving, while the Americans are celebrating the beginning of the end for those First Nations, Columbus Day. Ironic, eh?) The night drive to Binghamton NY allows us to spend the full day seeing sights, which start at Yazgur's Farm, now the Bethel Woods Center site.

This was another 'beginning of the end'; as the 60's closed the counter-culture was having it's last group grope in the mud. It was a much nicer day as I look over the field where the multitudes assembled.

We have breakfast in nearby Monticello at Tilley's Diner with our good friend, and neighbourhood guide, JS.

A mid-day stroll around Woodstock for photos is followed by a trip to the Woodstock Cemetary to visit Rick Danko's last resting place.

From here we're off to visit his old stomping grounds, Big Pink.

We hook up with our friend JS at Joshua's Restaurant on Tinker St where the Apple-Burnt Butternut Squash soup was the star attraction. After dinner it's time to make our way to the barn.

Steve Earle definitely made the show tonight. Opened with Copperhead Road...BANG...take that. Jerusalem was in there too and i wish i was more familiar with his catalogue so I could tell you what he played but it all sounded great.

He's doing a record with T Bone Burnett and will be touring with his new band, The Dukes, early next year, we were told. The bass player (since 1988) and drummer (since 1999) were the oldtimers. Besides the guitar playing kid and the fiddler girl he had his new wife on the keys. He did a full set (8-10 songs) as the opener and came back for 3 songs near the end of Levon's set.

My wife pointed out to me Steve's little interjection at the end of The Mountain...."don't let them FRACK in these mountains". There's a huge controversy in the area about the mining method, fracking, which threatens the water tables.

During the set he spoke of a recent lawsuit he was involved in, one that would see him making money as it had to do with royalties due for songs he'd written. Trouble was he had to tell them when and where they were composed and his memory ain't too reliable when you get past 16 years ago. (sober 16 years now he proudly tells us.)

After his set I was downstairs when Steve came out with his new baby (about 3-4 months old) carrying him out in a car seat. Nice looking kid, was sleeping. Steve was calling out to his wife to start the car and warm it up. He's recently moved into the area, we think, as Levon called him their new neighbor.

As for the main set:

Larry Campbell is almost ready to tour on his own. he was awesome. his guitar playing is what it always was...terrific. his vocals are getting better and he's really got an emerging stage prescence.

Levon wasn't in as great shape. He did maybe two songs (Ophelia, and the maybe is because I can't name another complete song) and verses of Blind Willie McTell and The Weight (which had Steve Earle doing the opening verse) and lent harmonies on the chorus to some other songs.

If you can do it once, you should.

Observations from my friend JS :

Levon did a "call and response" on "I Want to Know" - he called, Larry, Teresa & Co. responded. His voice was frailer when he spoke than when he sang, but it was clearly in need of rest. The evening was really great. The Levon portion of the show has become much more "professional" since I last saw it; the arrangements, set-list, staging are much more of a show and probably a reflection of taking it on the road for performance in more conventional venues. The musicianship was superb - horn section (4 brass strong); 2 keyboardists - organ and piano (and accordion); huge acoustic bass; 2 guitars (Larry and Jimmy Weider- the Band's last guitarist. Levon was on drums throughout (he did one song on mandolin) and played well - no flagging there. The whole thing struck me afterwards as kind of Levon's version of "Theme Time Radio Hour" - an anthology, of sorts, of the music that formed him; it covered quite a wide spectrum - from blues and ballads to dixieland and gospel. The Band songs were moving - mini-anthologies in themselves, they've now taken their place in the Great Songbook of Americana and stand next to the likes of "Deep Ellum Blues" with a total sense of aptness. The whole segment was quite moving - and long! They played till 12:30 am. Steve Earle was really excellent, too - I began to appreciate his song-craft and his voice.

CR Avery The Undesirables The Cameron House 2010-09-18 CR Avery The Boathouse Kitchener ON2010-09-22

CR is back in the Toronto area almost promoting the delayed release of his rumoured book of poetry, 38 Bar Blues, which should be available from Write Bloody Publishing any day now. He'll be back in November with a full-band tour that promises to be rocking.

Booked for two shows in Kingston ON at the Kingstons Writers Festival this weekend, he flew out early to lay a few tricks on us in London, Toronto, St Catharines and Kitchener. During his downtime he's working on the final edits for his upcoming live concert DVD, Subtitles for a Foreign Film, set for release in October.

Tonight he's opening for story-teller extraordinaire, Corin Raymond and his excellent guitar-picking puppetmaster, Sean Cotton; The Undesirables. The backroom of The Cameron House is cozy. Seats about 30, stands another 30, it gets hot quick. A three-shirt night is in store, I'm told. Also, ladies, don't ever buy a ticket for a backroom gig. The womens washroom is at the back of the room and you have free access from the front of the bar...just tell 'em you had some yogurt induced issues and stay awhile.

Some new songs from CR tonight, 3 in all, with the Neil cover of Campaigner and two originals, one a spoken word piece about Ice Rinks the other a piano ballad, My Own Road To Go. He starts a little slow, taking a few tunes before he can shake tax issues from his worried mind. When he starts feeding off Corin's laughter from side-stage the set turns.


Track 01 Intro
Track 02 Campaigner (Neil Young)
Track 03 Big In Japan (Tom Waits)
Track 04 The Marines Lament (3 months in hell)
Track 05 Ice Rinks Track 06 talk
Track 07 I'm Gonna Eat You Out
Track 08 Love Song
Track 09 My Own Road To Go
Track 10 Blackbird (Lennon/McCartney)
The Undesirables are playing some new tunes as well, showcasing their new release, Cancer Shoes. They are warming up for a weekend of special guests and concerts on the First of October. Locate Corin on facebook for extensive details and get ready to do the (GO) Bus Stop Walk.

Track 01 Intro
Track 02 ?Ooh, Summer's Gone
Track 03 You're Gonna Find Out
Track 04 Good News
Track 05 Cancer Shoes
Track 06 Umbrella Girl
Track 07 Look Out Jack
Track 08 story - singing bones
Track 09 Singing Bones
Track 10 talk - Ferraro's bleedthrough
Track 11 Waitin' On A Later Train
Track 12 Dancin' on the Fault Line
Track 13 It's A Sunny Day
Track 14 encore break
Track 15 Rain Song(w/ CR Avery)
Track 16 When I'm Gone (w/ CR Avery)

The Boat House

It's early morning on hump-day, it's raining and it's dark. Think a round of CR will charge the batteries. Another opening set tonight, which is good, 'cause home's about an hour and a half away and work don't care that I like live music. Or so I thought. As we arrive at the bar CR informs us he's the headliner...and that's good for us too.  Nice little venue in the heart of Kitchener on the shores of Victoria Park Lake. Great locale, with lots of park land and what appears to be a man-made lake ringed with benches and picnic tables. This must be one happening place with walk up business on the summer weekends. 'Course, summers gone and it ain't a weekend so the place is sparsely populated for the opening set by Blair Harvey.

Decent stuff, easy on the ears. The kid has a terrific voice, similar in sound to Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo. Some interesting flair on the guitar with a unique strumming pattern that simulates a snare drum sound while he's playing major chords.

By the time CR's set is underway we have about 20 drinking customers in the place. 18 are attentively focussed on the stage. 2 are not. CR tried his best to shame them into shutting the fuck up, first a full-frontal insulting attack in  Leadbelly's Sylvie,  then a gentle poke inside a couplet at the beginning of The Boxer Who Just Returned from London that just washed over their self-absorbed little heads. This couple of guys, seated no more than 6 inches from each other, felt they had to talk over whatever din was emanating from the stage. At least 2 different groups in the audience asked them nicely to quiet down, take it outside or get a room. Unfortunately the owners didn't give a shit either as they were almost as loud, saying only, it's a bar, people talk. Point taken, there was no cover charge. However if you hope to attract people into your bar to listen to live music you would think that an atmosphere conducive to that pasttime would be encouraged. There was no way apparent to shut these guys up so CR did the next best thing; cut his set short at a 1/2 hour for a 20 minute break, hoping to let them run out of steam.

It worked, as well as you could hope. Blair gets another 3 songs in front of a half-packed and fully baked house. The alpha-male in our couple leaves. Silence returns as Talker-the-Lesser is on his own. CR comes back for a 45 minute second set that won over the remaining faithful, most notably the 2 cuties in the front row who alternately blushed and laughed through the dirty blues ballad, I'm Gonna Eat You Out. The night closes with a steller performance of Tightrope, sans the tightrope refrain, as CR hits his mark late in the night.

Set 1
Track 01 Intro
Track 02 Campaigner (Neil Young)
Track 03 Sylvie (Leadbelly)

Track 04 talking assholes talk
Track 05 The Boxer Who Just Returned From London
Track 06 I'm A Dairy Cow, Baby

Track 07 Blind Willie McTell (Bob Dylan)



Set 2
Track 08 Star of Bethlehem (Neil Young)
Track 09 Hendix/Dylan
Track 10 The Great One
Track 11 Voodoo Child (Jimi Hendrix)
Track 12 I`m Gonna Eat You Out

Track 13 Tightrope

Disregard the date on that poorly edited photoshop poster. He's in Ottawa on the Saturday the 13th and at the Rivoli on Friday the 12th.

Wanda Jackson Cosmic Charlies Lexington KY 2010-09-12

Missed my chance to see Wanda Jackson in Toronto this year while I was taking my 100 year old grandmother and her 6 children to their hometown for a party! So when I saw a chance to catch a show and visit some friends in Lexington...well, like my grandma, it don't take much to convince me to get in the car for a road trip.

Wanda Jackson
Cosmic Charlies
Lexington KY
2010-09-12


Track 01 Instrumental Intro
Track 02 Mean Mean Man
Track 03 Rock Your Baby
Track 04 Hard Headed Woman
Track 05 talk
Track 06 I Gotta Know
Track 07 talk
Track 08 Lets Play House
Track 09 Heartbreak Hotel
Track 10 talk
Track 11 I'm No Good
Track 12 Shakin' All Over
Track 13 talk
Track 14 Fujiyama Mama
Track 15 Funnel of Love
Track 16 Right or Wrong
Track 17 Cell Block #9
Track 18 talk
Track 19 I Saw the Light
Track 20 Let's Have A Party
________
Track 21 Whole Lotta Shakin'/Rip It Up/Let's Have A Party

Billy Bragg The Ark Ann Arbor, MI 2010-09-11

It's a strange world where a Canadian has to cross into the US to get his yearly dose of righteous leftist indignation. For reasons beyond comprehension Billy has opted to bypass the True North Strong and Free this year and focus on the Land of the Afraid, er, make that Brave.

Gives us a chance to hook up with a like-minded Stateside friend and introduce her to Britain's Phil Ochs...that is, without the self-destructive tendencies and bitter cynicism that led Phil to a downward spiral. (As a side-note could you imagine if Phil was alive during the 8 years of the Bush ascendancy? He would have been apoplectic.)

Ann Arbor is a lovely town in the fall. Easy to stroll, lots for the eyes to feast on. The kids at the University are just back in residence and the streets are filled with people getting that last bit of summer. Michigan is coming from behind to defeat Notre Dame 28-24 as we stand in line. The Ark is a mecca. Unfortunately it rained all day so we couldn't experience much of that.

Did manage to run into Billy on the street just before the show. Stopped him to give thanks for introducing me to CR Avery back in 2008 and for playing a superb rendition of John Cooper Clarke's Evidently Chicken Town to the tune of Bob Dylan's Desolation Row back at The Phoenix in 2009. Mentioned my plans to make it over to the UK in the spring of next year if I can find JCC and John Otway playing dates the same week. He mentioned he'd gigged with both of them, simultaneously even. Now if Billy were playing when I was there he'd be a natural to see, but him I can see anywhere, the others, not so much. He pulled out his iPhone to show me a pic of his young son with JCC.

At this point I felt like the character in Jack White's Take Take Take...that was all that I wanted. Except I wanted more. I asked Billy if I could impose on him for an autograph, on my copy of his debut, indy EP, Life's A Riot w/ Spy Vs. Spy, the import, which I've been carrying around for a good many years. This guy is nothing if not magnanimous and he followed me into the restaurant where my wife and friend were wrapping up dinner. "Look who I found!" I announce.




Billy's still lightly touring Mr Love and Justice, but also playing a few new songs from his recent stage production. He's had a busy year with the election and all, slaying the BNP in his home riding.

Lots of talking tonight, the show ran over 2 hours. Billy got caught up in a rambling story about signing 3 posters "To The Lion's Den", then later discovering, while driving down I94, that was an porn movie store.

But he played some songs too;

Billy Bragg
The Ark
Ann Arbor, MI
2010-09-11

Disc 1

Track 01 The World Turned Upside Down
Track 02 To Have Or To Have Not
Track 02a talk
Track 03 The Price I Pay
Track 04 Greeting to the New Brunette
Track 05 talk
Track 06 Tomorrow's Gonna Be A Better Day
Track 07 talk
Track 08 I Ain't Got No Home
Track 09 Sexuality
Track 10 talk
Track 11 Everywhere
Track 12 The Unwelcome Guest
Track 13 talk
Track 14 The Fourteenth of February
Track 15 talk
Track 16 There Will Be A Reckoning
Track 17 talk
Track 18 Tank Park Salute
Track 19 talk

Disc 2

Track 01 NPWA
Track 02 Levi Stubbs Tears
Track 03 talk
Track 04 I Keep Faith
Track 05 Power In A Union
Track 06 encore break/talk
Track 07 Ode To Joy
Track 08 talk
Track 09 The Milkman of Human Kindness
Track 10 A New England

The Specials Sound Academy August 27-28, 2010

So nice you got to see it twice.
Or so rare you gotta do a pair.

The Specials cancelled back in April and I caught a major break.
My tickets were in hand and plans were in place to see that springtime outing but I was forced to modify my travel dates for New Orleans which caused me to be out of the country on April 19.

Then I traded in a bit of my banked-Karma and one of the band members got sick.

Sorry 'bout that.

To make it up to us they booked an extra "thank you" show, and being forever grateful, I figured it's a nice weekend, let's play two.

They are coming off a very busy summer of festivals in Europe...14 or more and these two final dates in Toronto look to be the 'wind-down' for their 30th Anniversary tour which started with sell-out shows in England last fall.

Never have I seen so many people, packed so tightly, dancing up a storm, without any undo aggressive behaviour. It was like 'family friendly skank' nite. Unfortunately the cutie in front of me decided to profer an unrequested lap dance on me...unfortunate because she was whining and grinding (er, wrong band) against my recording rig and she flipped the gain from +10 to +30 causing me to lose 7 songs, Friday Night/Saturday Morning among them. Oh, well, there's another date.



And that date was even better, if it could be. Second night we get the same enthusiasm, friendly, fun-loving crowd and another sweat-fest. A little less crowded tonight, which was nice.

The encore sees an extra song, the rare Guns of Navarone. The only difference from the previous night.

The Specials
Sound Academy
Toronto ON
08-28-2010

Track 01 Intro
Track 02 Do the Dog
Track 03 (Dawning of A) New Era
Track 04 Gangster
Track 05 It's Up To You
Track 06 Monkey Man
Track 07 Rat Race
Track 08 Poor Little Rich Girl
Track 09 Blank Expression
Track 10 Doesn't Make it Alright
Track 11 Stupid Marriage
Track 12 Concrete Jungle
Track 13 Friday Night, Saturday Morning
Track 14 Stereotypes (Part 1 &2)
Track 15 Man at C & A

Disc 2
Track 01 Message To You Rudy
Track 02 Do Nothing
Track 03 Little Bitch
Track 04 Nite Club
Track 05 Too Much Too Young
Track 06 Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)
Track 07 encore break
Track 08 Ghost Town
Track 09 second encore break
Track 10 Guns of Navarone
Track 11 You're Wondering Now

Heart Casino Rama 2010-07-23

OK, I know this one's going to look a little out of place when you browse through the shows I've seen over the past few years. Closest I came to '70's power-rock would have been Alice Cooper. I was offered a pair of tickets to this show by a generous benefactor in Chicago. Apparently a big fan of Heart (and Def Leppard too if I remember last years offer.) I'm reluctant to be a gun-for-hire, it seems so mercenary and so much can go wrong. But it can be seen as a service too, and if you want it, come and get it.

What I do get out of it is a night out and the chance to drop a few hundred in the casino. (FTR, I was down $140 at the roulette table when I went 'all in' with my last $25. Won big, got to play another half hour, left a $25 tip for the croupier and was only down $15.)

Ann and Nancy can still kick some rock'n'roll ass. It's a small group of women who have been able to hold their own in the male-dominated group category. Joan Jett comes to mind. Chrissy Hynde, even with the testosterone laden band. Patti Smith. This is not fluff and the ladies are not poseurs. They've been on a massive year long tour that started late in January and runs through to the end of September. Impressive, as the girls start to celebrate b'days in the more advanced range.

They are on the road a month ahead of the release of their first album in 6 years, Red Velvet Car. They debuted some tracks at Seattle's EMP this spring.

An excellent show. Ann's voice is really something and I'd argue she has more skill now than she did 30 years ago. Songs like Magic Man and Crazy on You are improved. Her inflection hints at a wealth of life experience she didn't have when she first sang these songs. There were a lot of highlights but if you want a short list; Alone and Crazy on You. Virtuoso performances.

On a side note it was refreshing to see women give women standing ovation after standing ovation, a real celebration of talent and survival.

Disc 1

Track 01 Cook With Fire (Dog and Butterfly, 1978)
Track 02 Heartless (Magazine, 1978)
Track 03 Never
Track 04 Straight On (Dog and Butterfly, 1978)
Track 05 Dog and Butterfly (Dog and Butterfly, 1978)
Track 06 These Dreams (Heart, 1985)
Track 07 Hey You (Red Velvet Car, 2011)
Track 08 Even It Up/Gimme Shelter (Bebe Le Strange, 1980)
Track 09 Red Velvet Car (Red Velvet Car, 2011)
Track 10 In the Cool
Track 11 Alone (Bad Animals, 1987)
Track 12 WTF (Red Velvet Car, 2011)

Disc 2

Track 01 Magic Man (Dreamboat Annie, 1976)
Track 02 Crazy On You (Dreamboat Annie, 1976)
Track 03 Barracuda (Little Queen, 1977)
Track 04 encore break/band intro
Track 05 What Is And What Never Should Be
Track 06 What About Love (Heart, 1985)

Jimmy CliffMassey Hall2010-07-19

One of five inductees to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame this year, Jimmy Cliff is enjoying a resurgence as he tours his first release in six years, Existence.

You know, I hate to be the one to dis the revered Massey Hall but they need some new vocal mics...or somebody at the board who knows what they are doing. I see about 60 shows a year in different venues and this place currently sucks sonically. Smashing Pumpkins, David Byrne, Joan Baez, Levon Helm...all muddy vocals and clear instruments. Maybe it's my seats...dead center on the floor.

Opening act was a folk-singer, Trevor Hall. Bit of a child-prodigy. Was a fortunate son who was born in South Carolina but found himself at an LA arts school where his first record was being sold to friends by grade 10 and he had a Geffen contract before he graduated.

Ain't nowhere to go but down from those lofty heights.

Geffen releases little of his work and subsequently drops him from the label. It's indie time in what is the new world order of the music industry.
He's touring this most recent release, This Is Blue. More than decent, reggae tinged set. Kinda like The Police without that insufferable lead singer and all that Tantric stuff.

Here's his the songs and a couple samples.

Track 01 You Find Me
Track 02 Where's The Love
Track 03 All I Ever Know
Track 04 Om Shakti Om
Track 05 ?Good Rain (new song)
Track 06 Unity


Jimmy Cliff was life affirming and just plain fun. He rolled out all the hits and more and spent a good part of the night jiving around the stage. It's all in this set...The Specials, The Police, gangsta rap, the sounds of Jamaica, a hint of Bob...a real treat.

Disc 1

Track 01 Intro
Track 02 Wonderful World, Beautiful People
Track 03 Sitting in Limbo
Track 04 Rebel Rebel Rebel
Track 05 Wild World
Track 06 One More
Track 07 Save Our Planet Earth
Track 08 Vietnam (Afghanistan)
Track 09 The Harder They Come
Track 10 World Upside Down
Track 11 I Can See Clearly Now
Track 12 Many Rivers To Cross


Disc 2

Track 01 Bongo Man/By Rivers of Babylon
Track 02 Treat the Youth Right
Track 03 My Rub A Dub Partner
Track 04 encore break
Track 05 You Can Get It If You Really Want

Dead Weather 2.0Sound Academy2010-07-15

Jack's back!

It is what it is, but it ain't no White Stripes.

It's not even The Raconteurs.

First time out to the Sound Academy. My KOOL HAUS boycott is forcing me to find new venues. Wish I'd have missed this one. Lovely looking place with great sound. Stage is too low and the bar is too big, at least 60% of the audience wouldn't have been able to see the artists. Don't get VIP parking. It's close to the venue but it takes a good while to get out if you don't miss the encore. If you take the TTC, bring a lunch for the walk in.

Opening band, Lullabye Arkestra, was, ummmm, melodically challenged. You know it's not a good sign when ticketbastard mispells your name.
Shame on the people behind Dead Weather. I see live music in this city. I know there are more worthy bands. It's nothing but laziness that sees this act win a covetted opening spot. Strange thing is Jack has seen his 'other father' Bob Dylan books acts as talented as The Raconteurs, The Foo Fighters, Elvis Costello and Kings Of Leon, in front of his set. The old goat may not be the stallion he once was but he ain't afraid of no pony's.

Next time you venture this way drop me a line and I'll find you a group that challenges AND pleases your audience.

Their set list went something like this:

Drone #1 Instrumental
Drone #2 w/ vocals, duet
Drone #3 w/ vocals, solo
Screamfest #1
Screamfest #2
Sonic Insult #1
Drone #4
Sesame Street Song, as in "one of these things doesn't belong here, one of these things isn't the same." Some lovely classic sounding country tune that really spotlighted the chicks singing abilities. I'd give you an mp3 but it might suck you into tracking this band down.
Screamfest #3
Sonic Insult #2
Drone #5 and onwards.

Thing is this husband and wife team is about 12 years too old for what they're singing and the only club that would tolerate this shit shut down about 6 months ago when the Kathredal/Big Bop et al left the Queen St scene.

Jack's been making some noise about the quality of discourse on the internet of late. He's been planting stories in the press deriding that sea of cowards who hide behind avatars and screen names while pissing on the world outside.

Well, that brings this review to an end.

Just kidding, I'm gonna bitch. These are strange shows with the Dead Weather. I have a suspicion there's a dynamic at play that is never going to let this band grow beyond the status of a Jack White side-project. I know, Jack'd come up and smack me right now for saying so but it ain't just me, check out the event code on the ticket above.
It's like Alison hasn't brought in a group of hardcore Kills fans to see how she's doing. Dean probably doesn't have a flock of QOTSA groupies on the road. I'll bet dollars to donuts that anyone who was enamoured with Little Jack's stint in the Greenhorns would'nt last more than 2 songs. Who's that leave?

Well, two kinds of people...those who gotta go 'cause it's a 'White Stripes happenin' night out' and me.
The first type were the ones jabbering through the intro's to You Just Can't Win and Will There Be Enough Water?

I go because if I could have witnessed Shakespeare writing notes in the margins of Christopher Marlow's work I would have been there to pick it up for posterity's sake.

The band is better than they were last year. Louder. Tighter. The songs...well, I've only heard them once so I can't tell you if the new ones are better. Hustle and Cuss is the only one that stood out.

Set List

60 Feet Tall
Hang You From The Heavens
You Just Can't Win
So Far From Your Weapon
Cut Like a Buffalo
No Horse
Jack talk - collecting Cdn debt
Difference Between Us
I'm Mad
Rocking Horse
Hustle & Cuss
Gasoline
Die By The Drop
New Pony
Will There Be Enough Water?
(encore break/band intro)


Blue Blood Blues
Jawbreaker
I Can't Hear You
Treat Me Like Your Mother

CR AveryCicada Music Fest #22010-07-11

A daytime show in the lovely sunshine. Once again a stellar set right in front of CR's, delivered by Brock Zeman.

CR is up to the challenge as he gives us three covers tonight, Waits' Big In Japan, The Beatles Blackbird and Lucinda Williams' Bus to Baton Rouge. Highlight of the set was the impromptu blues riff that retold the story of last nights post-concert jam.

Track 01 Big In Japan (Waits)
Track 02 Door By The River
Track 03 Small Town
Track 04 ??KKK
Track 05 Bus To Baton Rouge (L Williams)
Track 06 Blackbird (Lennon/McCartney)
Track 07 Evidently Sweet Child Blues(w special guests Shade Proposals)
Track 08 Piano Lessons
Track 09 encore break/talk
Track 10 Folk Singer

CR AveryCicada Music FestPort Dalhousie ONJuly 10,2010

Poet, beat-boxer, rock n roller CR Avery is still out there, working hard, waitin' on you to get it.

He'll be back here in September for a book tour if fortune smiles.

Yesterday I caught his headlining set at theCicada Music Fest.

He's back onstage at 5pm today so you still have time.

We were well entertained in the early afternoon by Dust Devil alumni Kevin Higgins and Barbara Malteze before the Roger Marin Band put in a headliner quality set of their own.

CR came out and challenged the gathered multitude...complete with a parental advisory at the beginning in case things got ugly. They didn't. They never do. The score is now CR Avery 17, enlightened audience 0.

Here's the songs, with some samples.

CR Avery
Cicada Music Fest
Port Dalhousie, ON
2010-07-10


Track 01 Parental Warning/Intro
Track 02 Is This What You Wanted? (Cohen)
Track 03 The Boxer Who Just Returned From London
Track 04 Maggies Farm (Dylan)
Track 05 I'm Gonna Eat You Out
Track 06 Jimi Hendrix/ Dylan
Track 07 Love Song
Track 08 Pierre Eliot Trudeau
Track 09 When I'm Gone

Levon Helmw/ special guest John HiattMassey HallToronto ON2010-06-29

Levon Helm brought 'Ramble Light' through his old stomping grounds...or close by anyway. While the Yonge St taverns he played in the early '60's are long gone, Levon is still plying his trade as he skips by 70 years of age.

He's overcome a fair bit of adversity, from business quarrels and bankruptcy to severe health issues, yet to see him smilin' from behind the drums, singing those songs, you'd never guess it.

Coming full circle, from Arkansas to Toronto to Woodstock and back, of all things lost along the way, the love of music wasn't among them. I've had the pleasure of seeing the Midnight Ramble in the confines of Levon's barn in Woodstock on couple of occasions. It's a "must do" event for all fans, can't be beat as an experience. He's brought along his crack house-band, led by Larry Campbell, who once starred in the best band Bob Dylan's ever had...that wasn't called The Band. Levon's daughter, Amy, is on the road lending vocal support and completing the familial circle.

Evening opened with a set from John Hiatt, who has made a career out of being almost famous. A bit of a shape-shifter early in his career, moving between New Wave, rock and roots, his more mature years prove that you can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy.

Hiatt's set list

Drive South (Slow Turning, 1988)
Lift Up Every Stone (Crossing Muddy Waters, 2000)
Crossing Muddy Waters (Crossing Muddy Waters, 2000)
The Open Road (Open Road, 2010)
The Tiki Bar Is Open (The Tiki Bar Is Open, 2001)
My Baby (Open Road, 2010)
Cry Love (Walk On, 1995)
Feels Like Rain (Slow Turning, 1998)
Perfectly Good Guitar (Perfectly Good Guitar, 1993)
Tennessee Plates (Slow Turning, 1988)
Have A Little Faith (Bring the Family, 1987)
Riding With the King (Y'all Caught, 1989)

Karen ElsonLive at the ElMoJune 16,2010

Let's get these two things out of the way :
This music is a bit too slow and soft for my liking.
Karen Elson is real easy on the eyes.

Neither of those things have to do with the art of the show.
They speak only to my personal preferences.

Great voice. A cross between a mature Joan Baez and Kate Bush. Interestingly enough she seems to borrow a little from both those artists when composing songs. Karen's writing is from another time, if not another dimension. She owes a lot to traditional English folk songs; melodically, thematically and for the ethereal, haunting moods.

Her road band consists of Jackson Smith (Patti’s son and the husband of Meg White) on guitar and virtuoso Rachelle Garniez(who has previously collaborated with Karen in Citizen’s Band and garnered some co—writing credits on this record) on accordion and organ. The rhythm section is made up of drummer Marc Fellis and bassist Olivia Jean. Further support is provided by Mark Watrous on fiddle and pedal steel.

This band has mastered the art of understatement, which keeps the focus squarely on the stage-shy Karen.
At times they threaten to rock, other times they hint at rolling, but overall they waltz.

The lyrics are filled with deliciously descriptive scenes. From the cold-blooded murder-by-embrace in the title song ("She looked at him with pleading eyes / he softly spoke,"my dear the love has died" / and then he muffled her desperate cries under the moonlight", to the melodramtic "the only rain...are these tears" in the dust-bowl ballad Mouths to Feed.

A juxtaposition of an alt-country lounge act and stories from the Romantic era.

The hour long set included an almost complete run-through of the album and closed with a great cover of Donovan's Season of the Witch. Ironically, it was with the cover that Karen seemed most at ease, like she was able to just perform for the fun of it, without the pressure of laying out her own compositions for acceptance or ridicule. She's had almost universally good reviews of the studio work. Her short tour has elicited some excited typing on the interweb. It's still early, she's gotta find her mojo, then she's gotta show it to us.

Set List:
(missing)
The Birds They Circle
Pretty Babies
Cruel Summer
Stolen Roses

The Truth is In the Dirt on the Ground (incomplete)
Milk & Honey (Jackson C French)
100 Years From Now
Lunasa
I'm In Trouble with the Lord
Save the Last Laugh
(encore)
The Ghost Who Walks (solo)
Thief At the Door
Season of the Witch (D Leitch)

PS:I spent the early part of the evening down the road at The Smiling Buddha where I missed CR Avery's set in support of Toronto poet, Dave Silverberg's Toronto Poetry Slam. Time well wasted there. Unfortunately, a little too much as I misjudged Karen's starting time by about 20 minutes. Oh well.

Evelyn/EvelynFeaturing Amanda Palmerand Jason WebleyThe Great Hall2010-06-04

Ecstatic about being out from under the clutches of Roadrunner records Amanda Palmer is taking her cabaret stylings on the road with a circus twist. Evelyn/Evelyn promises to be interesting, if nothing else.

Amanda's a peculiar niche artist, a combination of performance art and music. Purveyors of this genre of entertainment take a chance, everytime they step onstage, that the gathered few will just not get it. It takes a little moxy to get out on the end of the limb. (Similar artists, Vermillion Lies and Hank and Lily.)

The Great Hall is a vintage venue located on the vibrant Queen St West strip. Been standing since 1889 and now it serves as a magnet for the avante-guarde. A great marriage of artist and locale.

After the cacaphony of a short opening set by Sxip Shirey he stays on board to play the evenings MC and the oppressive overseer of the twins, The Great Scaphisto.

The girls are shy, and you can't really blame them, they've had a difficult life. They sing songs of passage, which in their case involves love and loathing. Yet underneath the seething animosity you can feel the emotional bond that keeps these sisters together.

I won't review their set because it's really a visual thing. You have to see this to truly appreciate the art. There are some excellent reviews of this show online, just go to googleblogs and search the girls. Check out this youtube documentary.

In what was a huge surprise we were treated to a couple extra sets after the girls had finished as both Jason Webley and Amanda Fucking Palmer had some time to spare after their afternoon tryst at The Drake Hotel.

Webley comes out strong; a big voice on this foot-stomping-accordionist. Lots of audience participation required for his set. First time in Toronto for Jason and I'm happy to report the enthusiastic crowd made him welcome.

Amanda Palmer is well loved by her circle of friends. This tour, if successful, may allow her to buy outer-clothes. It will be our loss. She seemed particularly excited about the upcoming release of her ukelele covers of Radiohead songs.

Here's a list of the songs they played:

Evelyn/Evelyn
w/ Sxip Sherey
Jason Webley
Amanda Palmer
The Great Hall
Toronto ON
2020-06-04

Sxip Sherey

I Live In New York City
Rain on the Roses

Evelyn and Evelyn Neville

Happy Birthday Evelyn
MC Intro
Evelyn Evelyn
Have You Seen My Sister, Evelyn?

MC Rap
The Tragic Events of September - Part 1
MC Rap
Chicken Man
You Only Want Me 'Cause You Want My Sister
The Chalice of Knowledge
Elephant Elephant
MC Rap/Interlude
Lean On Me
MC Rap
My Space
MC Rap/Encore Call
Love Will Tear Us Apart

Jason Webley

Dance While the Sky Crashes Down
There's Not A Step We Can Take That Does Not Bring Us Closer
Pork Goulash
? (new song or another song)
Icarus


Amanda Palmer

Astronaut
Missed Me
Ampersand
Amanda talks
High and Dry (Radiohead)
Amanda talks
Do You Swear
Amanda and Jason talk
Electric Blanket
Runs In the Family
Drinking Song

Karen ElsonEl Mocambo06/16/2010

There really should be so much more in that title...like Mrs. Jack White!
Except she ain't him and that's not what it's about.
Truth be told I wouldn't be going to this show if it wasn't for the Third Man Records connection and that marriage and kids stuff.



Doors open and there's no telling how. I wouldn't have gotten to Jack White if it wasn't for Bob Dylan and White himself has stirred my interest in other artists, like Loretta Lynn for one. Let's see if his mojo is working on this artist. Quite the limb you climb out on when you're promoting you're other half.

Having said that, I'm looking forward to this show. Karen's made her mark in NYC as part of the cabaret troupe, The Citizens Band,
garnering a wealth of positive reviews for her singing and songwriting. She's been involved with the likes of Robert Plant, Michael Stipe and Cat Power over the years, so it's not nepotism that finds her out here with her solo debut, The Ghost Who Walks.

With Jack's help and her own connections she has surrounded herself with a stellar band for this showcase venture. Accordion and polka rhythms come from NYC diva Rachelle Garniez. My Morning Jacket guitarist Carl Broemel sits in on the country-IOT, pedal steel. Greenhorns, Raconteurs and Dead Weather bassman Jack Lawrence helps out no one on drums, near as I can tell from the website. Mr. Meg White, offspring of Patti and Sonic, Jackson Smith plays lead.

The question is...will this be her road band? Will the Dead Weather lend their drummer? Perhaps Jackson's wife will test out the stage again? Will the kids be along for the trip?

Terry Sylvesterformerly of The Hollies2010-05-08Crowne Plaza Hotel

Terry Sylvester performed a short set back in 2008, or was it 2007? at Hippiefest, which explains the memory issue.

The Hollies were inducted in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame this past March and he's opening a small celebratory tour with two nights at a buffet-and-music club in his adopted hometown. In light of the confusion at the induction ceremony it will be interesting if he has anything to say.

And we're celebrating as well, Monday marks 31 years of wedded bliss, and while we may have more memories behind than years in front, we are still keepin' on.

Terry has been all around the biggest stars that came out of the British Invasion. He grew up near McCartney in Liverpool and an early band of his opened for The Beatles throughout the early '60's at The Cavern Club, including their last club show. If you scroll down that Cavern page you'll find a flyer with The Escorts listed.

Fortune continued to smile, in a rather wry manner, when his band The Escorts were left terribly short of members due to illness. On the same bill, The Hollies. Graham Nash and a couple others came to the rescue...joining Terry onstage 4 years before he officially became part of the group, ironically replacing Graham. In the intervening years he found himself a spot in The Swinging Bluejeans.

Not a bad series of event to get you through the decade. So here we are, 40 years later.

It's 'rock concert lite', a short set with a handful of Hollies originals and a sprinkling of other British Invasion era hits. Pure nostalgia, enjoyable throughout.

Track 01 Carrie Ann
Track 02 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (Dylan)
Track 03 Just One Look
Track 04 Make It With You (Gates/Bread)
Track 05 Bus Stop
Track 06 Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying (Gerry/Pacemakers)
Track 07 Hippy Hippy Shake (Swinging Bluejeans)
Track 08 The Air That I Breathe
Track 09 Till There Was You (Beatles)
Track 10 Long Cool Woman
Track 11 He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother