A November to Remember ... with Venue Accessibility Ratings

October 22nd and 25th

Time to get out a bit before the winter brings out our cocooning instinct.We filled November with two plays and a hand-full of concerts. Also slid in 3 family dental appts and a couple visits to the doctors...it's all good.

I'm adding the Accessibility Ratings for the venues Cece and I visit in case anyone googles that...we always do.

Gonna cheat a little and start my November in October because C R Avery is in Southern Ontario with a new show. Well, I’m hittin' the white lines to see a concert starring CR Avery, yeah, but you know it’s not the one that I had in mind. He’s got a new one out now, I don’t even know what it’s about, but I’ll see him in anything so I hit the white lines.

He's touring his new book of poetry, Some Birds Walk For The Hell of It. I love that cover,  the original 26X30" oil on canvas portrait is hanging in my Blues Room. Had the good fortune of purchasing this before it was selected to be the cover. When that happened See Are dropped me text to say: "Boss, you're painting just got picked for the cover of my new book. Doubled in value. BAM!" He talks that way.

You can see Man at Bar and his other works in this quick video.

But I digress and it's early.

I took in the Wednesday October 22nd show at The Supermarket on Augusta with my son, Michael. Though I was at the venue early 60 people slipped by me, when I got in there was only standing room at the back wall. I thought the entrance WAS that back wall and I was waiting for it to be opened. Turns out the entrance was around the corner towards the bathrooms, out of site of the main restaurant. In what could only be considered a bizarre coincidence someone else thought that was the entrance, as the wall was pushed towards me, Corin Raymond and his girl were trying to make their way in.

Hip-hop, beat box, blues singing, spoken-word, painter CR Avery felt he didn't have enough descriptors in front of his name. This year he adds carnival barker, stand-up comic, strip-tease dancin' Master of Ceremonies.

In Toronto he had three young members of the Toronto Dead Poets Society...or something. Kids with a great command of the language and a keen interest in contemporary issues. In Ottawa we had the more mature PruFrock opening. I've seen this guy before and he is a captivating artist.  I didn't tape the kids in TO or any of the Ottawa show so you can find more on PrufRock here. Under the link you just passed.

So what's CR up to? Semi-naked girls, that's what. In the east end of Vancouver there's been a marriage of the spoken-word and burlesque communities. I suspect Lola Frost has something to do with it but we haven't seen her in Central Canada yet.

This year's show is moving into performance art with the burlesque accompaniment, dance routines and even some comedy in the persona of hipster-hickster from the 'Schwa. 

Show opens with CR standing in the middle of the audience doing his acoustic homage to Amy Winehouse, Israel's Saviour and Queen. A lot of the rest of the evening is canned music and a single lead guitar...but it's primarily about the poems.

Spoken word and dubbed music all included in these tracks:

This Is Not Fine Art

Lunch Pick-Up Poem

 Accessibility Rating: D. You can't get in if you're not walking due to a couple steps at the entrance. All it would take is a portable ramp and a little help, not a lot of effort.

For the "hittin' the road" part Cece and I are off to Ottawa for a second show. Pretty much the same as the pace of the show is driven by the pre-recorded music and video vignettes that open each segment. A little bit of everything in this years incarnation of CR Avery.
In Ottawa we were at The Hub. A kind of community center/drop in center for those who miss the halcyon days of hippie-dom.

Accessibility Rating: A.  Venue is on the sixth floor but there's an elevator and helpful staff.

We also got to see some kids in Hallowe'en costumes when we visited with dear friends Ryan and Teri and their almost 2 year old son, Watson. Watson was hosting other friends and cousins for their first Hallowe'en.

The morning after we took some time to visit the War Memorial where a young soldier, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, was gunned down in a tragic act.

November 2nd More costumes, less kids.

 Wicked was wrapping up it's second run in Toronto. November 2nd marked the last day for the Broadway crew's road stand. And my 58th birthday. We had a stand-in for Glinda (the 'ga' is silent), the not-so-good witch, as it turns out. Didn't matter. Couldn't tell. Great production, great story, you'll never watch the original the same way.

Accessibility Rating:   A very good experience. The wheel in from the cross-street parking lot is a little hairy as the roads are in terrible shape and there are street-car tracks, but that's a City issue, not a venue issue. The Ed Mirvish Theater has a wheelchair lift at the Victoria St entrance. There is no automatic door entry but the ushers are present and they will treat you very well. Inside the venue an usher pointed out where the accessible washrooms were the moment we came in. They also brought us into the theater in advance of the crowd.(First in, last out, get used to it.)  We did not have a designated wheelchair and companion seat (usually found at the outside wall of venues) so an usher took our chair away for storage. He came back at intermission to see if we wanted it and brought it to us when the exiting crowd passed our row.  We would never hesitate to see an event here.

Rating: A-  The lack of an automatic door opener means you struggle with the chair and door if the usher is otherwise detained and makes it an obstacle to people with no companion present. The lobby is very crowded before and after the show because it's small. Doesn't really allow you to go to the merch table or concessions stand very easily. The only things that kept this from being an A+

November  8th

From the big stage to the small time, where art thrives on love, not dreams of fortune or fame. Our friend, Toronto Troubadour Corin Raymond, has a song that champions the 'small time'; clubs where artists perform for hat-money, community theaters, street corner busking, all the places where the chance to practice the art is worth more than the compensation. The Durham Shoestring Performers "The Phoenix Lottery", at over two hours live running time for a mere $13.00 per person, is bang for your entertainment buck. It takes 3 months to prepare for 6 shows...and almost all the players have day jobs.

Cece and I were out here to see an old high-school friend, Boyd Tattrie, who spends his spare time working the community theaters in the small towns east of Toronto. We had become reacquainted this past year through a Facebook page and a Riverdale Collegiate reunion dinner. In fact we'd seen him in a Whitby Community Theater production of Cabaret just prior to the reunion. That dinner had Cece and I meet up with the person who introduced us to each other at a Food Truck Fair. We also found time to hook up with another comrade who had grown up to enjoy the same type of roots music we did...in two cities neither of us live in. Gotta love the interweb.

Follow this link to a friendly and accurate review.

Accessibility Rating: A  Parking close to the entrance, elevator to the venue and a front row seat. Small lobby.

November 12th

Back at the Tranzac where in November of 2012 we witnessed the live recording sessions that became Paper Nickels. I didn't write a blog about it because it was supposed to be a surprise. This year we are celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Corin Raymond's first CD, Record Lonesome Night. The deluxe package comes with a t-shirt, poster, book and the record. So I went for it.

The celebratory concert comes with a bindle full of opening acts and a special guest.

First up is the Steven Wright of folk-music, Jack Breakfast .
Think of early Simon and Garfunkel on 'ludes.
Here's a taste of the sardonic wit, a song about every young man's dream a woefully alcoholic girlfriend. While Jack's intro says this song is unrecorded, I beg to differ.

LCBO

Jack's followed by country songstress Angie Gunn
She's got an old-time country voice that makes you want to keep on listening.  She performs at The Local fairly regularly and looks to be filling a couple of Corin's 6pm Thursday slots at The Cameron, at least December 4th. Here she is channeling Jimmie Rodgers.

(I Can't Give Up) My Good Ole Ramblin Ways

Next up Declan O'Donovan, who is doing a Wednesday 6PM residency at the Cameron House this December while visiting from the Yukon.  An aggressive and talented piano player, he has a commanding stage presence and some captivating songs.

Here he is singing a Song Loosely Based on A Story He Heard about Hank Williams.


Evalyn Parry has been called the "female C R Avery", and I'm not sure that can be done. A multi-talented artist she is wrapping up a year-long tour of her stage show, SPIN. After some brief technical difficulties, which were gloriously covered up by a rendition of Bucket of Time, we were treated to a musical bicycle and some suffragette history.


It occurs to me that I'm beginning to collect a few artists performing the songs that Corin covered on Paper Nickels; Corin's 2 songs ,obviously but also Raghu Loganathan singing Sugar Candy Mountian, Scott Cook performing The Lord Giveth (and the Landlord Taketh Away) and Evalyn Parry doing Bucket of Time. I know John Borra (Blues Mama) is playing around Toronto. I've heard even Doug Norquay (Cruel, Cruel Town) is onstage once in awhile. I've seen Max Metraux (Anastasia) at The Cameron, at the bar...perhaps he can be enticed onstage. But I digress.


Here's a video of She Rides from SPIN



The Tranzac is filled to capacity on this chilly mid-week November night. 10 years ago, to the day, that Record Lonesome Night was released.

Corin opens his set with a 15 minute spoken-word piece about the making of RNL. Not the recording of the songs, that was simply the moment it was put down. It took a lifetime to get to that first record and it contains a lifetime of hurts and hopes. Besides being Toronto's Troubadour you can see that Corin has a future in just talking to us.

His crack band runs through the complete album, with special guest Sean Cotton (of The Undesirables) making an appearance on One Fine Day.

The evening is filled out with songs that will be making their way to next years album, Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams. Hard On Things, Morning Glories and Rain Bed are going to be highlights.

Which is why there's no recording of this night. Get thee to The Cameron House most Thursday nights between 6 and 8 to get your fix.


Accessibility Rating:  A. You have to walk through an alleyway from the parking lot if you don't get a spot right on Brunswick but that's not too big a deal. The venue is on the main floor so if somebody gets a door for you, you're good to go.

November 17th

No it's not the return of Vincent Price. Bob Dylan's back in town. Which is where he has to be for me to see him nowadays. At 150+ shows I've lost the urge to travel. The cowboy band and static set list makes it easy to stay home.

Now for those of you who haven't been keeping up, here's something you won't see at a Dylan show anymore.

He plays piano or he stands center stage with mic and harps.

I haven't been too enamoured with Dylan's band since Larry Campbell left back in another lifetime, one of toil and blood. Truth is, they are superb. The arrangements are lush and intricate, if a little slow overall.

The show has a strange configuration with 9 songs (50 minutes) followed by a half-hour intermission then 10 songs, including the encore, (58 minutes) to close the show. The band probably only requires a 15 minute nap but the audience needs the extra time to return to their seats with double-fisted drinks.

Toronto, Ontario
Sony Centre For The Performing Arts

November 17, 2014

1.	Things Have Changed (Bob center stage, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic)
2.	She Belongs To Me (Bob center stage with harp, Donnie on pedal steel)
3.	Beyond Here Lies Nothin' (Bob on piano, Donnie on electric mandolin, Stu on acoustic)
4.	Workingman's Blues #2 (Bob center stage, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic)
5.	Waiting For You (Bob on piano, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic, Tony on standup bass with bow)
6.	Duquesne Whistle (Bob on piano, Donny on lap steel, Tony on standup bass)
7.	Pay In Blood (Bob center stage, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic)
8.	Tangled Up In Blue (Bob center stage with harp then on piano, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic)
9.	Love Sick (Bob center stage, Donnie on electric mandolin)
	(Intermission)
10.	High Water (For Charley Patton) (Bob center stage, Donnie on banjo, Tony on standup bass)
11.	Simple Twist Of Fate (Bob center stage with harp, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic)
12.	Early Roman Kings (Bob on piano, Donnie on lap steel, Stu on acoustic, Tony on standup bass)
13.	Forgetful Heart (Bob center stage with harp, Donnie on viola, Stu on acoustic, Tony on standup bass with bow)
14.	Spirit On The Water (Bob on piano, Donnie on pedal steel, Tony on standup bass)
15.	Scarlet Town (Bob center stage, Donnie on banjo, Stu on acoustic, Tony on standup bass)
16.	Soon After Midnight (Bob on piano, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic)
17.	Long And Wasted Years (Bob center stage, Donnie on pedal steel, Stu on acoustic)
	(encore)
18.	Blowin' In The Wind (Bob on piano, Donnie on violin, Stu on acoustic, Tony on standup bass)
19.	Stay With Me (song by Jerome Moross and Carolyn Leigh) (Bob on piano, Donnie on pedal steel, Tony on standup bass)

Bob opens with his Oscar winning song, Things Have Changed. It's a primer for those who were looking for the blue jeans, acoustic guitar and harp halo.
He follows with a '60's classic, She Belongs to Me.  It used to go like that, now it goes like this.  Bob gets to exercise his lungs with a couple harp solos. He's as warmed up as he is going to get.
With Bob you can never know what he means in his songs but perhaps Beyond Here Lies Nothing should be later in the set. Unless of  course he's being sarcastic, in which case it may be time to start paying attention. Co-penned by Robert Hunter, from Together Through Life, or To Get Her Through Life, as you wish.
I suspect the girl in She Belongs to Me, from Bringing It All Back Home, is not the same one he paid tribute to in the previous song. Sounds a little more high-maintenance.

Workingman's Blues #2 is epic. It's The Times They Are A-Changin' of it's day...or maybe the Desolation Row, or Only A Pawn in Their Game. I mean the third line is "the buying power of the proletariat's gone down".  It's the story of where we are and why we're fucked. This one is worth annotation.

You can get the official lyrics here http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/workingmans-blues-2  but that's not how he did it on the 17th.

Waiting For You has most of the audience wondering where this song came from. It's another sound-track release, it was in Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood. It's a waltz. No more need be said, break out the skates.

The band hits its highest speed in a rocking  Duquesne Whistle which takes on a bit of the power that used to reside in Summer Days and Thunder on the Mountain.

Pay In Blood doesn't reach the apocalyptic heights of the recorded version. It's a big mood song and the mood isn't quite achieved. "I got something in my pocket make your eyeballs swim/I got dogs could tear you limb from limb"

Bob throws the crowd a bone with Tangled Up In Blue. Once he reaches the refrain the audience recognizes it's hearing a song it knows.
Set closes with Love Sick . No Soy Bomb but a new arrangement with Charlie laying blues lines all around Bob's vocals, a little reminiscent of Freddy's quieter moments..

Then we get an Intermission. WTF?!? This is a ridiculous addition to the show.

A banjo version of High Water (for Charley Patton) opens the second set. While this song has rocked over the years I prefer the banjo in it, because I was there in 2001 when it first came out..

Then we get, with the exception of the aforementioned Workingman's Blues #2 and the last three songs to come, the best Bob-moment of the night in Simple Twist of Fate. A bit of upsinging appears but a wonderful turn of a couplet saves the song and makes it  smile-inducing.

I like Early Roman Kings. It's not epic but it has a great pace.
They're peddlers and they're meddlers
They buy and they sell
They destroyed your city
They'll destroy you as well
They're lecherous and treacherous
Hell-bent for leather
Each of 'em bigger
Than all them put together
Sluggers and muggers
Wearing fancy gold rings
All the women goin' crazy
For the early Roman kings
 

Forgetful Heart has people swoooooooning every where it's played. I say, ehhh. Way too, oh, I don't know, emotional, maybe maudlin. Not emotional in a way that you can see a happy resolution, more in the way of ... we're never getting out of this dark tunnel of love are we? 

Spirit on the Water will not leave this set list soon it seems. A dark song hidden behind a light, waltz-like melody. Not a highlight of the show for me but when Bob growls You think I'm over the hill, You think I'm past my prime, Let me see what you got, We can have a whoppin' good time" you know he has to be smiling a little bit inside.

Another moody song, Scarlet Town, really hits its mark.

And one more waltz because we all know you can't get enough of them. Soon After Midnight.

The last three songs really elevate the show. Long and Wasted Years, cousin to the rambling Brownsville Girl, just has a magical allure.

Usually Blowin' sucks but this version has a little juice running down its leg. Blowin' In the Wind 2014 is closer to the Basement Tapes version than anything else you might remember.

We close with a Frank Sinatra cover. Really? Perhaps a portent of things to come on the 2015 album. Will it be all Frank all the time or will it be standards done by various artists? One thing's for sure, no Bob songs. Stay With Me is really glorious though.

Remember Hermans Hermits Henry the VIII ? Well this is like that; second verse, same as the first. I'm tempted to mash the two nights together, left-channel 17, right channel 18, just to see how much variance there is. Very little I suspect but Bob's often dropping little lines or interjections when least expected, so it may be a project for a snow-bound weekend.

Not unlike reading this post. When will it ever end? Well, not tonight and not here.

Some of my opinions of the quality of these songs may be wrong. Check 'em out yourself.

Accessibility Rating: A+ You even get to park in the front driveway if you reserve a month before the show.

November 21

 4-6-3, an X, an O, can't think of a better way to end the day.

It's white-rapper month and Buck 65 is Canada's contribution to the genre. He's had a rough go of it the past couple years. Changed his life, then changed his wife. Some things were his choice, others were not. His stint as the afternoon show jock on Radio CBC 2 has limited his touring in the past few years. Seems he's decided the changes weren't all he hoped they would be and he's back on the road, ending a worldwide tour in Southern Ontario.

We're at the wonderful Danforth Music Hall where they've recently taken out the floor seats for Standing Room GA...on a severe slant. Really works your calves, never mind your bucks. My son and I spend the opening set in the balcony seats and good thing too as Buck 65 puts on a two-hour show. With NO intermission. (see above)

Lots of stuff from recently released records and yet to be released records. Neverlove, due out right now, is Buck's divorce album, his Blood on the Tracks, if you will. I like his early stuff...and we get a sprinkling of those with new arrangements.

FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! Open the Gates of Hell for sure. Buck opens with a song that threatens to blow his throat in a few short minutes.  It's an invitation to an evening with a guy riding the subway naked.
"we'll know we found a perfect beat when everyone is speechless"


D1T02    Zombie Delight
D1T03    Buck talks


Ballad time with eerie Kate Bush like wailing from the back up singer. Roses in the Rain tells the story of the moment the love was finished.

"In cold and blinding silence
Doesn't want to
Leave the house
He's in divine defiance
Harmonizing unbeknown
Studying the ceiling
They're running for the last room everybody and concealing "

D1T05    Shutterbuggin'/Only War

I like it when Buck is subtle, witty and sly. Love Will Fuck You Up is not one of those times but he has a story to tell.

D1T07    Buck talks

Wicked and Weird I'm road hog! Great travellin' music.

D1T09    Band intro
D1T10    All There Is To Say About Love
D1T11    ??/Bandits/??/Indestructible Sam(medley)
D1T12    Laundromat?
D1T13    ??a song about paris  ?

A medley featuring side boob/Roses and Blue Jays/September She Comes/Poland/Bachelor of Science

D2T01    So Fresh (Laundromat Boogie, 2014)
D2T02    Heart of Stone/Pants on Fire/Stella
D2T03    Paper Airplane
D2T04    A Case For Us
D2T05    Buck talks
D2T06    Centaur
D2T07    Dang/NSFW Music Video
D2T08    Full Moon (Bike For Three)
Smalltown Boy
D2T10    Buck talks
D2T11    Superhero In My Heart

Blood of A Young Wolf is like The Cult meets hip-hop.

No better way to almost end the day. 4-6-3

D2T14    Super Pretty Naughty

Accessibility Rating: B You can get in but the GA isn't conducive to a good view.

A November to remember is a wrap.

A Mini-StaycationEcho Beach<>BMO FieldKitchener Blues Fest

Wow, this weekend came upon us suddenly. Didn't even know we had plans.

The Offspring is bringing the Summer Nationals back to Toronto. The 20th year anniversary of their break-out tour with three other Orange County acts: The Vandals, Pennywise and Bad Religion.

I may be getting too old for this shit.

I've got both my kids in tow, each of them with a date. It was back in 1997 I had a 14 year old Emily and 12 year old Michael on the rail at the Warehouse for The Offspring's Ixnay on the Hombre tour. Somehow this makes sense.

Boy the punks are getting old. And we're talking Third Wave punk. Of course with Joe Strummer gone and all the Ramones passing on, the First Wave isn't fairing so well either.


But you gotta love the sound. Three minute pieces at full throttle and all the anti-authority rants you can handle for someone looking ahead to collecting their pension.

This may not be an accurate set list but it's pretty close. Lots of crowd favourites in here. 

    It's a Fact
    People That Are Going to Hell
    Happy Birthday to Me
    Live Fast Diarrhea
    I've Got an Ape Drape
    Oi to the World
    I Know, Huh?
    Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government)
    And Now We Dance
    My Girlfriend's Dead
    Don't Stop Me Now

Pennywise hit the stage with a lovely anniversary banner (it's their 25th) and more power-punk, a notch up in intensity. I was up on the rail for these two bands. The mosh-pit continued to grow and get a little more rambunctious but they kept a tight circle and there was plenty of space for those who just wanted to watch and listen.

        Pennywise
        Rules
        My Own Country
        Same Old Story
        My Own Way
        Restless Time
        Minor Threat
        (Minor Threat cover)
        Unknown Road
        Perfect People
        Fuck Authority
        Society
        Yesterdays
        Bro Hymn

Here's a picture my daughter took from the soundboard, with the CN Tower in the background so we will always know where it came from.

I thought they had the opening bands in the wrong order. Bad Religion's set was a little muddier, moodier and less fun. Of course my son and 8,000 other fans begged to differ. 

        Stranger Than Fiction
        New America
        21st Century (Digital Boy)
        Fuck You
        Struck a Nerve
        Skyscraper
        Sorrow
        No Direction
        Only Rain
        True North
        You Are (The Government)
        1000 More Fools
        Best for You
        Do What You Want
        Infected
        You
        American Jesus

And here's The Offspring's even shorter version.

Ahh, The Offspring. Always a good time. Have had my son beside me all 4 times we've seen them, it's a family tradition. This year they are playing their hit album SMASH in it's entirety, in order.

        Smash:
        Time to Relax
        Nitro (Youth Energy)
        Bad Habit
        Gotta Get Away
        Genocide
        Something to Believe In
        Come Out and Play
        It'll Be a Long Time
        Killboy Powerhead
        (Didjits cover)
        What Happened to You?
        So Alone
        Not the One
        Smash
        Self Esteem
        Encore:
        Intermission
        Americana
        All I Want
        (Can't Get My) Head Around You
        Why Don't You Get a Job?
        You're Gonna Go Far, Kid
        Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)
        The Kids Aren't Alright




We're out of the park, everyone in a good mood, stuck in the horrific traffic jam that is Construction Season in Toronto. Day 1 down.


Day 2 starts with the car in the shop and the utility company replacing our water meter. Than another horrific traffic jam entering the park.

We were watching the World Cup awhile ago and saw the advert for the Women's Under 20 World Cup being hosted by Canada. There's something about International amateur events that allows me to overlook the Roman Empire elements of our sporting culture. It's even easier when it's the women who are sharing the spotlight. Sport is purer.

Our girls are not expected to win this event but they have a chance of getting out of the group round with a victory tonight. After losing the opening game to Ghana by a score of 1-0 it's imperative we beat Finland. Of course 'beat' sounds harsh when you look on the field and see 16 year olds playing at a superb level.

The opening game tonight has third rated PRK (People's Republic of Korea, you know they have property in the far east, on the bad side of the wall) against Ghana, both victors in their opening matches. The game is filled with yellow cards and hard tackles. Even the referee was sent off due to injury. In the end PRK won 3-0 but the lasting memories are of the boisterous Ghana fans who beat drums and sang throughout the match.

When it was over they switched to Canadian flags and broke into a rendition of our National Anthem.

Our girls fell behind early even though they were dominating the possession stats. A couple of defensive lapses resulted in a half-time deficit of 2-0. It seemed insurmountable.

In the second half we made a couple key substitutions, adding some fresh legs up front. Two goals a minute and a half apart evened up the score early. We then netted a third at the 80 minute mark to seal the victory and keep hope alive.

Next up: PRK.

Day 3 starts a little more leisurely with a late breakfast and a short drive to nearby Kitchener for their wonderful, free Bluesfest.

Buddy Guy and Quinn Sullivan opened the festival on Thursday night with a headliner show at the Clocktower Stage in Victoria Park. We're here today to see two artists we've seen previously.

At 3:15 PM we get the Alexis P Suter Band. We saw Alexis back in 2006 when she was a steady opener at the Levon Helm Rambles held in Woodstock NY. She was impressive then, she's a force of nature now.

Soulful blues is what she delivers. Powerful voice. A lotta woman. She's sassy and frisky, just like Big Mamma Thornton but she brings the house down when she pours her emotions into Let It Be. Goosebump time.




She also dedicated a song to Levon Helm, a rendition of Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door that closed many a Ramble.

And she had her own songs too. From her newest release she gave us You Don't Move Me No More and Shake Your Hips and a few more.  Included in the set was her signature song, Built For Comfort, Not For Speed. Great set.

Junior Brown I missed in 2006 when he opened the early portion of Dylan's Ballpark Summer tour but I caught up with him later at the Ottawa Blues Fest and have been a fan ever since. Even made a trip out to Ann Arbor to see him because he doesn't bring his brand of Tex-Mex guitar to Canada very often.

His set list hasn't changed too much, did hear 2 or 3 new songs, one of which was a ballad that replaced my favourite song...but you can't always get what you want. His set was marred a little by muddy sound making it difficult to capture the lyrics on some songs where Junior's baritone voice is the instrument. Impressive guitar playing all the way through...that you always get.

Junior dedicated a song to the Johnny Winter who passed away last month. It occurs to me we're going to see a lot of these dedications if we continue to see these artists who have had long careers.



Had a great day under the big tent. Hooked up with long-time Dylan companion, Michele.

We have shared many a miles and hotel rooms chasing Dylan around North America. Also saw a high-school friend, James, who was in town from Massachusetts for a neice's wedding. A little bit of everything this weekend. The kids, the wife, music, sports, more music, friends and plenty of summer sun.

OH, and here's the Junior Brown song I wished he'd played.

A Tale of Two Artists Corin Raymond at the Cameron HouseJack White at the ACCJuly 31,2014

A nice double-header of sorts. With Jack White playing the ACC on a Thursday night I'm able to head to The Cameron House for Corin Raymond's twilight set behind the red velvet curtains. Somebody is opening for Jack but they won't be better than this.

Cece and I try to see Corin Raymond as often as possible. It's good for the soul. In a small, dark club on Queen St West, you step between the red velvet curtains, wait for your eyes to adjust to the darkness, find a spot on a worn bench, get a drink and sit back to enjoy Toronto's Troubadour and whatever band he's assembled. The Sundowners usually consist of guitar wizard and local producer David Baxter, bass player extraordinaire Brian Kobayakowa, currently backing Serena Ryder on her year long break out tour, and multi-instrumentalist, Juno award nominee, Treasa Levasseur. You get almost two hours of this for a Pay What You Can ticket price. Tonight Treasa is not available and our guest piano player is Mike Evans, in town to record a new record and do a spot at the venerable Hugh's Room.  

Corin's onstage, plugging in and setting levels, as the place begins to fill up. He's holding 3 conversations with people spread throughout the room. His mind is on a Nick Cave concert he's attending a little later and his upcoming vacation/working break, that will take him from Winnipeg to central BC in August with a stop at Wabigoon Lake on the way out.

He's focused when he takes the stage. Opens with a Doug Norquay word-painting of a bar on the outskirts of Hades, where people with no feet will get you drunk and steal your shoes.

"By the light of day salvation's face
Looks like a couple piss holes in the snow,
Bury me in the devil's bourbon glass,
Kill me if Ethel's Lounge is closed."

Bet it on the dogs, for sure.

Get happy! Ridin' West on Dundas is a setting sun, smoke on your mind, ride through Kensington Market in the twilight of an April day. Foot stompin' music.


That's enough of that stuff, let's get blue.



John Borra's Blues Mama (or Blue Yodel #127 as I like to call it) opens a tri-pack of songs about lost love, lost love and lost love. Sometimes it's her (Blues Mama), sometimes it's you (Hard On Things) and sometimes it's just the situation (The Law and the Lonesome). It's always something.



Maybe it's because Corin's going to be gone for a month but he's playing SONGS tonight, not just songs.

Next up a ballad about, well, lost love, but also about snow in Nashville. If Wishes Were Horses is perpetually fighting for the favorite song of the week spot in my mind.



Our hero, the protagonist in every Corin Raymond song, has had a pretty tough day so far. You'd think he'd be ready to pack it in.  Not quite.  Take Me To The Mountain (But Not Yet) is a revival-tinged shout out to the master for just one more chance at life's bucket list. A plea for more time to enjoy the simple joys that cross our paths...pickin' a horse or bedding a girl.

Ridley Bent's upbeat story about, well, love lost and misplaced vinyl, the raucous Nine Inch Nails leads off the tri-pack of songs that end the first set.

"The breakup was a rough one,
She pulled out a shot gun,
We worked it out,
She got it all and a matching couch..."


Stealin' My Heart and 3000 Miles lift the spirit of the crowd as the hat gets passed and we take a quick break before the truncated second set.




The crowd is much noisier as the second set opens with a brand new song about our outdoor-friends that we pass but don't always see. These characters our found in Toronto's Kensington Market, an area made famous by Al Waxman. It's an urban ode.

The next tri-pack of songs features tunes from Corin's recent Paper Nickels release. More Doug Norquay with Cruel Cruel Town. It's followed by a cover of Evelyn Parry's Bucket of Time and closes with Ole Fort Mac, a real depressing song about the prices paid for our oil, yet it's also a celebratory anthem. A little cognitive dissonance is needed to joyously sing this song but that's how it has to be done.

The next tri-pack finds another favorite ballad about well, lost love, Wish I Was In Love, and a wonderful ballad called Blue Mermaid Dress closes it, that song is about, well, lost love. In between we don't have to wonder why the singer drinks just a little bit too much.




Show closes with an anthem for all present tonight, the fans and the artists.



Corin Raymond - vocals, guitar
Dave Baxter - guitar, mandolin, backing vox
Brian Kobayakowa - bass
Mike Evans - piano, backing vox


Set 1

Ethel's Lounge
Ridin' West on Dundas
Blues Mama
Hard On Things
The Law and the Lonesome
If Wishes Were Horses
Take Me To the Mountain
Nine Inch Nails
Stealin' My Heart
3000 Miles

Set 2

Sweetest On The Vine (Kensington Market Song)
Cruel Cruel Town
Bucket of Time
Ole Fort Mac
Wish I Was In Love
I Only Drink A Little (Too Much)
Blue Mermaid Dress
There Will Always Be A Small Time

And here's an extra fun video from Corin. My son was one of the videographers:)



From the small times to the big times, Jack White doing his first solo arena show.

I wasn't even going to review this show until I read a critics recap in The Toronto Sun. Jan Stephenson was definitely at the same concert, she just heard something different than I did. She loved the 'sing-a-longs' and the 'mega-hits' with extended guitar solos. She hated the piano ballads. Thought I'd set the record straight, as I see it anyway.

I hope I don't have to defend my Jack White credentials. He is the only rock-god out there now. Miles beyond anyone, including the self-deprecating Kanye West, in talent and vision. Doesn't mean he's perfect.

Actually it's less a case of perfection, more a case of things have changed. He's changed. I've changed. My tolerance for the face-clawing element of Jack's set is not growing. It's interesting too because Jack seems to feel he can't control his fans either. There's a pre-show announcement with the dim hope that you can convince the audience to not spend the night viewing the show through the glare of their cell phones, yet he invokes the audience to sing-a-long or chant...which is fine if I thought I'd pay for any of them to perform the songs.  The ballads seemed to be a signal for people on dates to pick up their dinner conversation. The new songs were met well, I'll say that.

It doesn't matter if I get it all, there's no denying that Jack is mastering a new element of live theater; conducting a band. Every song is a vehicle for one of the members. Usually it's Jacks guitar but an energetic drummer, pixie fiddle player, bass player and someone on the theramin, all get their time in the spotlight. (As a sidebar the theramin has now made an appearance at 4 shows I've attended this year.)

It opened well enough with Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, reworked but still the same at heart. The next 12 minutes and 31 seconds will seem like an eternity. 

The low-light of the show was Lazaretto followed by the instrumental High Ball Stepper. Yawn. First off Lazaretto was butchered. He dropped TWO excellent verses and a couple lines at the end of other verses. The song goes on for over 4 minutes but the last minute and a half are an instrumental jam that leads into High Ball Stepper...which goes on for an excruciating 7 minutes and 8 seconds including the feed-back droning.

Here's my breakdown of the poorly treated Lazaretto.

* sung
**mumbled
***missed


*My veins are blue and connected
*And every single bone in my brain is electric

*But I dig ditches like the best of 'em
*Yo trabajo duro
*Como en madera y yeso
*Como en madera y yeso

**And even God herself
*Has fewer plans than me
*But she never helps me out with my scams for free,
*though she grabs a stick and then she points it at me
*When I say nothing, I say everything
***Yeah when I say nothing, I say everything

***They threw me down in the lazaretto
***Born rottin', bored rotten
***Makin' models of people I used to know
***Out of coffee and cotton

***And all of my illegitimate kids have begotten
***Thrown down to the wolves, made feral for nothin'
***Quarantine on the Isle of Man and I'm trying to escape any way that I can, oh
***Any way that I can, oh

*I have no time left
*Time is lost, no time at all, throw it in a garbage can
*And I shake God's hand
*I jump up and let her know when I can
***This is how I'm gonna do it

*They wanna blow down in prison
*They're lighting fires with the cast of the masses

*And like the dough I don't fall down
*I'm so Detroit, I make it rise from the ashes


Fortunately the WTF spell was broken by a lovely countrified version of Hotel Yorba, dedicated to Stompin' Tom Connors and slightly marred by the dropped lines that Jack had the audience fill in. More on that habit later. Great fiddle work in this song.

Jack hits his stride with the triumvirate of songs that follow; Temporary Ground, Weep Themselves to Sleep and Missing Pieces.  This is new Jack White at his best. Great songs well delivered. Missing Pieces included a brief part of Howlin' Wolfs' I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline).

Jack moves to the piano for Apple Blossom but once again lets the audience fill in some lines. Look, Bruce was doing this back in 1975. We know you're famous and cool because the fans can fill in all the gaps but I ain't bought one of their records, nor attended one of their shows. There's a reason for that. Jack's vocal delivery is wonderful, all tremelo and whatnot. The piano didn't suck either. This is followed by what is the highlight of the show for me tonight, a tender reading of the Danger Mouse song, The Rose With the Broken Neck. It's a song that must be heard, can't be described.

The two song acoustic revery is broken by the familiar and welcome chords of Cannon. This marks the "every non-Racs or Dead Weather Jack show I've attended" number of times I've got this song in concert.(Somewhere over 20 but under 30). It's not a show without a Cannon medley. He adds a stunning guitar solo, a Hendrix cover a snippet of Hear My Train A-Comin', Astro and an unidentified lyric to it tonight.

Another great song from the new record, Just One Drink gives us a few minutes of mindless joy before we head into the tri-pack of monster songs that leads to the encore.

Two White Stripes anthems wrapped around a Raconteurs rarity. A bouncy You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do What You're Told) is fleshed out by less minimalist drumming than Meg brought to the song. Jack's solo is rippin' too. Top Yourself is the vehicle for band introductions and solo's including a lovely refrain from Lillie Mae on the fiddle and a shout out to Geddy Lee during the bass solo.
That extravaganza consumed 10 minutes and 35 seconds before Jack goes into I'm Slowly Turning Into You for the set closer. He graciously tosses in a couple versions of his take on Tampa Red's You Can't Get That Stuff No More.

At this point I should have turned off my rig. The 6-plus minutes of audience noise during the encore is about how much of Seven Nation Army I was going to miss when the batteries on my recorder died. It's been a long night and there's 10 songs left.

Two hard rockin' blues tunes to open the encore; the manic Icky Thump followed by the majestic sounds of Ball and Biscuit.

If that Danger Mouse cover was the single highlight of the night then next segment, three acoustic songs, with silver stand-up bass and the entire band in a tight circle at center stage, was the visual sweet-spot of this show. The wonderful Alone in My Home with the haunting "becoming a ghost" refrain is another testament to the quality of the new songs on the Laz record.
A long instrumental noodle as the band is taking position and Jack is picking the next song leads into a lovely rendition of We Are Going to Be Friends...with the ever-present audience participation.
Love Interruption gets the acoustic treatment with an unrecognized riff tacked onto the end.

Steady As She Goes ratchets up the volume before Jack breaks into the bombastic Hello Operator...again marred by dropping key lines for the audience to sing. With the rest of the songs I could take it...but Hello Operator? HELLO!?!?!?!?!

Two more songs from what I now realize is a terrific album. Would You Fight For My Love? Lovely piano piece with jungle drums and ethereal violins. Great vocals. That Black Bat Licorice may not have the weight of the previous song but it rocks us into the final anthem of the night...the head-bangers delight that is Seven Nation Army.

 I got a little bit to say about Seven Nation Army and the shit that was going down in the mosh-pit during the recognizable Stripes songs. The live experience at a Jack show changed with this song. It marked the moment when the Stripes lost their innocence, through no fault of their own. It's become such a well-know 'rock classic' that it attracts an element more interested in head-banging than in respecting the art of the show. 15 minutes before Jack takes the stage we get a PSA on cell-phones and how viewing a concert through the hazy blue screen (not to be confused with the hazy blue stage but that's a subject for another rant) is not the best way to enjoy the live experience. I concur. I would just like to add that dodging elbows in a vicious slam-dance fest or being groped and thrown over the stage security fence at the end of an abusive crowd surf isn't conducive to it either.






        Intro
        Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
        Lazaretto
        High Ball Stepper
        Hotel Yorba
        Temporary Ground
        Weep Themselves to Sleep
        Missing Pieces/I Asked For Water(She Gave Me Gasoline)(H.Wolf)
        Apple Blossom
        The Rose With the Broken Neck
        (Danger Mouse cover)
        Cannon/Hear My Train a Comin'(Jimi Hendrix cover)/Astro/unidentified riff and lyric
        Just One Drink
        You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)
        Top Yourself
        I'm Slowly Turning Into You/You Can't Get That Stuff No More (Tampa Red)

        Encore:
        Icky Thump
        Ball and Biscuit
        Alone in My Home
        We're Going to Be Friends
        Love Interruption
        Steady, As She Goes
        Hello Operator
        Would You Fight for My Love?
        That Black Bat Licorice
        Seven Nation Army(incomplete)

Jack's Glastonbury set on YouTube

The Beatles, Shakespeare John Otway, John Cooper Clarke UK Road Trip Pics and Ruminations February 2 -10, 2014

We headed into this trip with a little trepidation. It was the first time we had flown with the wheelchair and we are back in the UK where cobblestone streets reign supreme.

We needn't have worried. What a terrific vacation. Good fortune followed us everywhere ... except when we were driving. And understand, this is no fault of Cece's. She is a supreme navigator and what we found was all her doing. Any issues with getting lost really came down to a quick-trigger finger on the driver who just couldn't seem to wait for the right exit on the round to come around...or, keep going around if you're not sure.

Here's Cece giving me instructions: "Honey, go straight for .8 miles then at the round take the third exit towards A5080 Liverpool."

Here's how I react: When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride Till I get to the bottom and I see you again Look out Helter skelter, helter skelter
Helter skelter.

But we found Liverpool and so much more.

One small mishap with the wheelchair transfer. There was some confusion as to whether it would be brought to the plane or we were to pick it up at the baggage carousel. Baggage carousel it is...but no chair. Luckily Cece spotted the gentleman who grabbed it at the plane door as he was being wheeled by her. We recovered ours and were on our way.

To our second travel lesson. Watch out for the car rental upgrade scheme. No matter what you order online they will try to slyly move you up a notch or two for another £15 a day extra...though the 'extra' part was not crystal clear. I declined and tried to pay in Canadian dollars. She hit me with a chorus of "You never give me your money...You only give me your funny paper and in the middle of negotiations, you break down."

So we're on the long and winding road and we're so tired. The only way to do Europe is stay up as late as you can that first day. So we head off to find all the Beatle related historical sites we could locate.

First stop, St. Peter's Church in Woolton, appropriately it's on Church Road.

It's here, on July 6, 1957 that Paul McCartney remembers first meeting John Lennon as he relates on tape in a display at The Beatles Story.

Follow this link to The Beatles Bible for a great retelling of that day 

History, being a thing that always changes, has recently been revised, as told to me by Tim Swaddling on Facebook: "As revealed in Lewisohn's new book, Paul first met John on a bus. Lennon didn't remember the encounter later but Paul did, as Paul was aware of John previous to that as someone he found interesting. John's reputation preceded him. It is, of course, where they established the friendship and musical interests."

Just to the left of the church is a graveyard where Eleanor Rigby rests.

Paul says his song has no relation to this marker. So that's TWO myths blown to hell and we've only made one stop. 

Suffice it to say this much is indisputable. St. Peter's Church is the starting point of the Beatles Story.

And John was the Quarryman. The Man from Mendips.

This is located at 251 Menlove Ave. John's formative years were spent here. Yoko purchased this house in 2003 and donated it to the National Trust. His daily travels took him by places familiar to his later fans.

Strawberry Field, John threw in the final 's'. 

It was a Salvation Army children’s home with sprawling wooded grounds where John often played as a child. The brick walls have been heavily graffitied by visitors over the years. The red iron gates have recently been replaced by replicas. Unlike The Beatles.

The best second fiddle in rock n roll is next ... well, tied with 'Keef maybe. Paul McCartney grew up at 20 Forthlin Road.

The small house was an early gathering place for the Beatles and many songs were written here. Because of this historic significance, the National Trust purchased the property in 1995.

 It's amazing this sign is still here on the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles taking over America. I didn't bring the right tools.

Did find a barbershop on Penny Lane.

Where I took some time to get a clipping and the barber took this photograph.

The people who own the home George Harrison grew up in do not want a sign on their door. They get enough attention without it. When we appeared on the scene the door was slightly ajar. We chose not to walk in. This is located at 12 Arnold Grove. It is also a designated heritage site. The house is packed in at the end of a few very small streets. I dare you to find it! It was precarious backing out of the road as there was little room for a U-turn and no way out by going straight ahead.

Next on the list: Ringo's house. Fatigue combined with frustration to make us give up on this one after circling around the general area for over 30 minutes. Just could not find the one street we needed to get us to where we could get out and walk to where the house used to be. I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink. Isn't it always Ringo's fate to be the last and least considered? Hope he doesn't take it personal. It's a reason to go back.

It's been a hard days night and we're off to our hotel at Albert Docks...where we fix ourselves another drink. This is the view from our room.

Speaking of A Hard Days Night, our cab driver dropped us off in front of that very spot to begin our second day in Liverpool.

It's right outside the Cavern Quarters at Matthew Street, a pedestrian mall dedicated to the memory of The Beatles in these alleys.

These dark and narrow roads lead into a huge, bright, pedestrian mall called Liverpool 1. A marvelous 2 square mile shopping heaven. It was packed, even before the mid-day break made it too congested.

We circumnavigate the mall a couple times then make our way to Albert Docks for a trip back in time via The Beatles Story Museum. The first part of the exhibit is housed in the glorious brick buildings of the Docks.

It's a great walk through accompanied by audio and video stops. I'll just post some pics I took on the way through.

Out on the street for a one mile walk to the newer confines of the second part of The Beatles Story. This building contains the Fab 4D experience, Elvis and Us and the Hidden Photos exhibit. No photos allowed at the Elvis and Us exhibit, Graceland rules. The most distressing part of the story, the day the Beatles met Elvis, was that Col Parker and Epstein made sure there were no recordings of the impromptu jam. Not very forward thinking of them.

Here's a link to the Hidden Photos gallery.


The road out of Liverpool actually has us braving the deep interior of the city again as I was not able to get that haircut the first time we happened by the barbershop on Penny Lane. Also forgot to get the Eleanor Rigby headstone. Still didn't find Ringo's house. If it was there.

We made it to Royal Leamington Spa in good time but did get lost along the way. Ended up in Stratford-Upon-Avon a day before we wanted to be visiting. After we found our hotel we decided not to head out in the evening to a town we had not yet visited to catch a play. Ate the tickets. Got acclimatized to our host city for the next few days. Gives us a reason to go back.

The next morning has us venturing back to Shakespeare's hometown. We can't find it. Right away. But we do. Another town with a large pedestrian mall making it easy to see the buildings.

Here's Shakespeare's birthplace. It's old.

And his daughters house.

And Hope House where he died.

And his deathplace

Beside his wife, Anne.

Housed inside Holy Trinity Church.

That's it for the pictures. More ruminations and some sound samples below.

Day out in Leamington Spa, another shopping/walking town...but with a hill. Easy enough to get around...a little to boutique for my liking. Met a nice 'outdoor friend', they are always there for conversation if you have an eye that actually sees them.

We are outside the Leamington Assembly early enough to chat up some other OCD patrons who think 7 o'clock doors means being there at 6:30 PM. Nice marquee here; Stiff Little Fingers, The Stranglers, Buzzcocks and Joan Armatrading coming soon.  We'd made some arrangements to make sure we could access the venue in comfort and Mr Paul Hannon took great care of us as he wheeled us to the rail before the main doors opened. Now for a high quality recording I should have stepped back about 30' or so...but it's the rail, so I'm not leaving.

In the bar I run into John Otway and grab his arm as he's reaching for his wallet. In retrospect that might have been a touch fresh. "In Canada the artists don't pay for their beer, they get paid in beer. Put you wallet away sir." "But I'm buying for the whole band," he replies. Once we ascertain he's not travelling with the London Philharmonic I agree to buy the entire band a round. Cost only £22. Got 15 minutes of conversation out it, well worth the price. John and the boys will be in Canada in May. I will be there buying another round.

I won't got into too much detail about Otway, or tomorrow's show with John Cooper Clarke. Suffice it to say that Cece and I flew to England to see them and built the rest of the trip around these two nights.And we don't just go anywhere to see anybody...OK, maybe we go everywhere to see everybody, but this one is real special.  It's too late to turn you on to them but I was so happy in the moment that it made this trip more than worthwhile.

As one of the band members said when I related seeing Otway in 1979 and 1980. "Well then, same show, same gags, you will be right at home." For the most part he was right...on both counts.

John opens with two punk-paced early hits; 'Cor Baby That's Really Free and Beware of the Flowers ('Cause I'm Sure They're Gonna Get You Ya) and I'm smiling cheek-to-cheek. These are from 1977 but they are not his first release...that is yet to come.

Next up is a wonderful cover that makes you see a classic song in a different light. More of that to come as well. Otway tears into the 'i felt the spoon in my hand' version of Tom Jones' Delilah.

Next a 'new' song (ie. it was released after 1981) called Enjoy, It Won't Last Long, a heartfelt ballad. John does ballad and bedlam.

Louisa On An Horse is bedlam at it's finest. John's a visual artist. The first two songs tonight were accompanied by running-cross-stage-somersaults. Dangerous for anyone, never mind someone collecting their pension. This one has John making a neck-brace for his mic with a coat hanger. 'Cause he's ridin' you see. On an horse.

First set closes with two more punk-speed pop tunes, Lets Pogo and We Rock.

Second set. More mayhem.

Opens with his second, if fabricated hit, Bunsen Burner. Do the google, or not, there's better stuff to come.

House of the Risin' Sun. The BEST EVER audience participation sing-a-long. It wasn't like The Astoria but it was fun.

Another new fast paced song, Crazy Horses, is followed by a wonderful ballad, Josephine. We wanted Geneve in this spot but you can't have everything. It's followed by another newer song, Oh My Body Is Making Me. Not Bodytalk, that would have been cool.

Cover time, Canadian style. Bachman Turner Overdrives, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet.

Back into ballad mode for Best Dream I've Ever Had and then the money shot.

Back to back.

The extremely rare, Birthday Boy. I've taken liberty with this edit. Before the show a couple showed up with some birthday cakes meant for a post-show celebration. The owner of the venue is celebrating his 112th, or something. After the third song I shouted out... "Who's the lucky birthday boy", but it was a little premature. So I've edited that cry and put it at the beginning of this song. Nothing is real.

And then...Cheryl's Goin' Home. It's John's Let It Be or his Like A Rolling Stone or his Terraplane Blues...the best he's ever done. I've got a video of my 3 year old son playing air-guitar to this song. It's pretty precious.

Show closes with When We Were Two.

Bam!

Our driving difficulties convinced us to book a hotel in Northampton for the John Cooper Clarke show rather than risk driving back an hour after the show. Good choice. Cece found us another hotel that was walking distance to the venue. You know what that means, right? Pre-drinking!

We're up front again tonight. JCC is breaking himself up. Makes it a little hard to follow but once again I am so in-the-moment I'm just lapping it up. We get a lot of familiar stuff and some new tomes that were pretty funny.

Show opens with a piece on the rhyming names of the inhabitants of Northampton. It's followed by Hire Car, which is what we're driving, but I'm taking much better care of it than John would.

Get Back on Drugs, You Fat Fuck is a laugh riot.

John goes off on tangents. They don't translate well to tape but they are fun to watch and listen to.

We got the Beasley St/Beasley Boulevard Suite. Even the most run-down areas eventually become gentrified.

He closes out with the Beatle-esque I Wanna Be Yours and the dark and funny, Evidently Chicken Town. Not suitable for airplay.

On the last Sunday we head to Talke to spend some time with some friends and their growing family.

Then we're home. And looking for something to do. The last Beatle reference was waiting for us as the airline hostess announced our baggage claim carousel is Number 9, Number 9, Number 9.