vintage

Toronto favourite Dave Bidini just doesn’t quit. Best known as a Rheostatic for 27 years (their final show was in March 2007 at Massey Hall, and it still tops the list of shows I regret missing — I was at a rehearsal literally around the corner), Bidini has also written a handful of books and adapted one into a play, and now he’s just released his first solo album with his co-conspirators under the name Bidiniband. It’s called The Land Is Wild, and also features Paul Linklater, Doug Friesen and Don Kerr, as well as a healthy list of guests.

To celebrate the album’s release, Bidini not only put on a show at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern last weekend, but also organized a “Hoser March”, beginning at Soundscapes with a Bidiniband in-store performance and working its way through Kensington Market to end at the Shoe. Stops on the way included She Said Boom!, with a fabulous reading by Claudia Dey; This Ain’t the Rosedale Library, including performances by Justin Rutledge and Gregory Samsung; Graffiti’s, with more Bidiniband (and a hilarious version of Joan Osbourne’s “If God Was One Of Us”!); and The Cameron House, with the Billie Hollies and Aurora Brown.

I must say that the march itself was a little anticlimactic — I was expecting to hoot and holler and stomp our way through the streets of Toronto, but it was more like a scraggly walk between venues. Some of the performances more than made up for that, though, including Gregory Samsung’s hilarious “The Book of Hosers”: reworked lyrics to “The Book of Love,” which we all sang on the street in front of This Ain’t the Rosedale Library, much to the amusement of the surrounding bars. Here’s a selection:

The book of Hosers is long and interesting
But everyone’s too drunk to lift the damn thing
It’s full of toques and literature and hockey
And instructions for rolling joints

But I love it when you give me things
You ought to give me wedding rings
I want to be like Geddy Lee
You have a dog with lotsa fleas
I dream of drinking from the Cup
You can you lend me 20 bucks

Blatant copyright infringement notwithstanding, it was an excellent singalong.

The Bidiniband release party at the ‘Shoe was kick-started by a performance from the excellently-named Tres Bien Ensemble, followed by Laura Barrett (avec magnificent band). I missed most of the former, but Laura’s set sounded terrific, and Randy Lee’s strings sounded better than most things I’ve heard at the Horseshoe. By the time Bidini and friends hit the stage, the place was still deplorably empty, considering the Rheos are mainstays there. Too bad. They sure didn’t let us down, though, playing most of the tracks from the new record and a large handful of other things besides (including a triumphant ending at 2:00 in the morning with “Horses” from the legendary Melville).

I’m unable to upload tracks since I still don’t have a stable internet connection — Tunesday is still on hold — but you can check out Dave’s official website … or watch the video of “The Land Is Wild” as Hockey Night in Canada theme song for Game 4 of Pittsburgh/Carolina here (!). There are few people more Canadian than Bidini.

Also happening in Toronto is the giant Luminato festival, co-presented by L’Oréal and billed as a celebration of arts and creativity. The ten-day culture explosion includes everything: music, dance, opera, theatre, film, photography, painting, etc. Part of their musical component is a bunch of programming centred around the guitar, and on Sunday, Yonge/Dundas Square hosted an all-day free music series with some pretty remarkable artists: I managed to make it there in time to see Jerry Douglas, bluegrass dobro player extraordinaire; Sonny Landreth, ridiculously soulful Louisiana guitarist (you might remember hearing about him before); The Campbell Brothers, who probably groove more than any other human beings on this Earth, maybe even Stevie Wonder; and Canadian producer and guitarist Daniel Lanois (solo). All for free! You don’t get much better than that, and it was pretty amazing. I think I’d like to hug the person responsible for programming that day. Do yourself a favour and see the Campbell Brothers and Jerry Douglas when you get the chance — I was blown away.

Kicking off the Luminato guitar festival was a show at Massey Hall on June 5 called “Three Girls and Their Buddy”: Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller. I probably don’t even need to talk about the show at all, since that lineup absolutely speaks for itself — it was, of course, terrific. Exceptional highlights included Miller’s solo cover of The Left Banke’s “Walk Away, Renée” and the three women singing “Didn’t Leave Nobody But The Baby” a cappella for the encore (if you’ve seen O Brother, Where Art Thou?, you’ll remember it sung by Emmylou, Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch). Whew.

Summer in Toronto! It’s a good one. Stay tuned for more Luminato and other stuff.

Sorry about the belated post today. I’ve been busy exorcising, adventuring and hoeing-down, so as you can imagine, there is precious little time left for blogging. Ha ha.

(For the record, I liked Constantine more than I thought I would. It was rather interesting, and Keanu Reeves’ trademark wooden face served him remarkably well in it.)

Today I’d like to draw your attention to an album that not enough Canadians have heard, not to mention the rest of the world. That album is called Melville, recorded by a legendary — and legendarily under-the-radar — band known as the Rheostatics.

Some background: the Rheos started up in 1980, and soon gained a well-deserved reputation as one of the most influential Canadian bands in history. Curiously enough, they haven’t gotten much attention in the mainstream, but with the musicians these days that are, that might have been a good thing. Whatever the case may be, the Rheostatics forged on and ahead for twenty-seven years, disbanding officially with a farewell show at Massey Hall in March 2007 (tragically, before I was employed there).

The album in question, Melville, was released in 1991, when I was two years old and wouldn’t have been able to appreciate it anyway. Chart magazine (RIP) ran a poll in 1995 to determine the top 50 Canadian albums of all time, and Melville placed 16th; in subsequent polls, it was fifth (2000) and 44th (2005).

The 2005 poll was actually what first drew my attention to the record, as I had been subscribing to Chart for a little while at that point and made it my goal to listen to all the records on that top 50. Other artists leading that album included the usual suspects of Canadian legend, namely Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Sloan, the Tragically Hip, etc.

It’s strange, then, that the Rheos would be considered equals of such muscular musical forces as these, but usually provoke a reaction of “Rheo-who?” from the average Canadian. Strange and unfortunate. They’re one of the most eclectic and undefinable artists in the country, for certain; it’s impossible to pigeonhole their sound, and I can only imagine what they might have said to people when they were starting out and were asked to describe their sound. “Uh … weird?”

Melville is a quirky record, and one that might take a while to grow on you if you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing the ‘Statics before. It’s pretty classic material, though, and along with Whale Music, was what first introduced me to the Gospel of Rheo. It features the usual suspects of jerky and somewhat angular tunes, Martin Tielli’s twisting, soaring vocals (for the uninitiated, think an intense-er Hawksley Workman), rollicking good-times tunes (in French!) in the form of “Chanson Les Ruelles,” and even a quintessential Canadian cover. And a song called “Saskatchewan”.

You might have noticed the excess use of the word “Canadian” in this post; that’s because it’s impossible to describe the Rheostatics without the use of that adjective. They are hosers through and through, and routinely write about the homeland in everything they do. To listen to this band is to snowshoe, to eat maple syrup, or to tack “eh” annoyingly onto the end of every sentence; but it’s also to appreciate everything that this giant landmass has to offer. Especially bands like this. They don’t come around often, so we had better listen up when they do.

Tunesday 8: Horses

I owe you a few recaps, I think!

On September 27th and 28th, Martin Tielli performed at Hugh’s Room in support of his upcoming record, scheduled to drop around Christmas. I checked out the second show, which turned out to be well worth the $20 advance ticket. Tielli played for probably about two and a half hours (with a “cigarette break” or two), and not once did the time drag or the set become boring. His backing band was stellar, featuring musicians such as Selina Martin and Monica Gunter, and a large handful of Rheostatics favourites found their way into the setlist between excellent new Martin tracks — I was particularly thrilled to hear “Saskatchewan”.

Lately I’ve been feeling like a lot of the acts I’m seeing are just doing the same thing over and over, you know, a cute little chord progression and a quirky-just-like-everyone-else’s voice and some whimsical lyrics. I get frustrated going to shows sometimes because I don’t feel like I’m seeing anything new. Refreshingly, though, Martin Tielli can never be described as “cookie-cutter”. Everything he does is different and interesting and unexpected, and I really appreciate it. Whether it’s writing songs prominently featuring coleslaw or continuing to make crazy noises on his Steinberger, Tielli is always a new experience, and I love it.

I also worked the Alanis Morissette concert this past week at Massey, and while I can’t put her on the list of artists I really love, there’s no denying that she has been incredibly successful (the RIAA lists her as the most successful female rock act of all time, and Jagged Little Pill is the top selling debut album ever — just to name a few). She certainly knows how to put on a show, too. There were lights and strobes and a New Age-y tapestry with her painted on it, and she danced and thrashed and ran around the stage as if her energy was totally boundless. I was pretty impressed. While there was probably an empty seat or two somewhere in the hall, it was virtually sold out and the audience was really into it.

Scottish songster Alexi Murdoch opened, charming and folky with just a guitar and a few effects. Some of the crowd was restless during his set, and by the end the volume of chatter had gotten considerably louder, but I really enjoyed his tunes. Perhaps something more energetic might have been more appropriate for an Alanis warm-up, but nevertheless, Murdoch did a fine job and there were at least a few people who enjoyed his work, judging by the “I love you Alexi!” shouts from the main floor.

In other news, Canada has a federal election on Tuesday. My prediction: another Stephen Harper minority. I’m terrified to even think of the prospect of a majority, and unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Stéphane Dion’s Liberals will have enough of a showing to turf Harper out. In other words … this election will more than likely end up being a complete waste of time, money, and useless attack ads. And an example of Harper breaking a law that he made to essentially avoid this exact situation. Politics is awesome.

And finally, a teacher from Alberta won the Hockey Night in Canada anthem challenge earlier today. Colin Oberst — no relation to Conor, I assume — of Beaumont won $100,000 and half the lifetime royalties for his composition “Canadian Gold,” which is the new Hockey Night in Canada theme song now that CBC no longer has the rights to Dolores Claman’s iconic and familiar one. 13-year-old (!) Robert Fraser Burke came in second with “Sticks To The Ice” — I hope we see more of him in the future.

If you’re a fan of the Joel Plaskett Emergency, chances are you heard about his 6-night run at Toronto’s Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in mid-December. And if you live in Toronto, chances are you probably attended at least one show, or fought unsuccessfully for a ticket – five of the six shows were sold out.

Never mind that Winter Nationals had been a Rheostatics tradition since Joel was cutting his teeth in Thrush Hermit. Never mind that they had just broken up in March and the fans were still sulking over the loss – and the end of the formidable Nationals run. The fact of the matter was that the Horseshoe’s 60th anniversary was coming up, a giant party was in store, and suddenly … there were no Rheos. A slight dilemma.

Enter Joel Plaskett. With his popularity on an exponential rise, a song in a Zellers commercial, recent tours with the Tragically Hip … well, he seemed like a pretty reasonable candidate for the ‘Shoe and a big anniversary bash. When he was approached by the head honcho of the Horseshoe, he gamely accepted – but decided that damn it, he was going to put a twist on things. For one, it was a milestone birthday; for another, a lot of people were probably not going to take a different artist playing Winter Nationals very lightly. So it was up to Joel to make it worth their while.

Being one part excited musician and one part sly businessman, Plaskett decided that he was going to play one of his albums every night (totalling five), and play the sixth night as a wild-card themeless Emergency set. Of course, this ensured attendance at multiple nights for people who “just couldn’t miss” certain albums; some crazy fans even went all six nights, this writer included. Sneaky.

Herein lies the genius of naming Plaskett the successor to Bidini, Tielli et al. There are few artists who could rehearse a repertoire of over sixty songs, play a full set each night (ramping it up a notch each time, as you’ll hear about) of almost completely different material, draw sellout crowds for an entire week, and still come away with fans who are not sick of seeing them. I’m still trying to come up with any other bands that are currently active who could do the same for me. Who on earth would I want to see six times in a row? Is there anyone?

Interesting: with these six Horseshoe Tavern shows, the Emergency has tied for most times I’ve seen a band live (nine) with Sloan, but I don’t think I’d ever voluntarily see Sloan that many times in such a ridiculously short period of time. Well, unless they played four album shows, Twice Removed through Between the Bridges – that would definitely get me out. But I digress.

The point is, Joel has a stage presence and a way about performing that is always, and I do mean always, fun and exciting. He does all the right things: engaging with the audience, making jokes, messing up every once in a while, having extended harmonica duels (Elkas playing “Low Rider”? Golden). Oh yeah, and bringing up a set of guests a la The Last Waltz didn’t hurt either.

If you’re curious, you can check out the complete setlists of his six-day residency at the ‘Shoe. If you’re not so into looking through them, allow me to impart the list of his guests:

• Tara S’Appart (Elevator)
• Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar, Grady)
• his father, Bill Plaskett
• Taylor Knox & Neil Quin (Major Grange, The Golden Dogs)
• Andrew Scott (Sloan)
• Mr Chill
• Gord Downie (Tragically Hip)
• Sarah Harmer
• Ian McGettigan (Thrush Hermit, former Emergency, Camouflage Nights)

Seeing Plaskett, McGettigan and Marsh on the same stage was certainly cause for quite a lot of celebration (especially their performances of “Light of the Moon” and “Down at the Khyber,” as well as unexpected Clayton Park favourites “Oh My Soul!” and “From the Back of the Film”. Let’s just say I picked that as one of the best shows of the year for a reason, mmhmm? There are few things more excellent than that.

Anyway, without going into excessive detail about each night, I’m going to say that there was no one week better than the reborn Winter Nationals at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern. Everything from seeing Joel play with his father to Gord Downie singing on “Love This Town” to the Hermit to “In a Town This Size” and “The Lakes of Pontchartrain”. Ladies and gentlemen, Canada mourns the Rheostatics, and we will for a long time; but in their absence, it sure is nice to have a guy like Joel.