The rest of the summer flew by quickly. I had less and less time to take photographs as more and more of it was consumed by, you know… I don't remember. But in any event, I was so busy I barely had time to sit down and edit photographs.
Plus, I started to feel more and more guilty about not writing. You know that feeling, where you haven't done something for so long that you put it off because you're too embarrassed to just pick it up again? Yeah, I knew you'd understand.
Facepainting
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
I stayed in Ottawa for the Canada Day long weekend. After lounging around the city, trying to avoid the crazed tourist mobs, I ended up on Parliament Hill with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
ostraya and her friends. We blew bubbles and painted people's faces, as we waited for the fireworks.
Spotlights
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Through the grapevine, we heard that the organizers might cancel due to the weather, but in the end they launched them. Jas, who had tagged along, eloquently described the spectacle as “fucking awesome”.
Cappuccino
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
When I returned to Montréal, I discovered that the office had acquired one of those fancy Italian coffee machines. I tried my hand at grinding, tamping, and pulling a shot.
Not bad for an amateur, eh?
The bosses had been talking about the July offsite meeting for some time and I was beginning to dread it. For some inexplicable reason, I thought of suffering in a lousy hotel at the corner of Nowhere and Nothing.
Instead, we drove to a lovely cottage retreat, had a local restaurant provide us with gorgeous meals, and lounged around in a hot-tub every evening. I love working here!
I soon discovered that my favourite abadoned store, Gillman's, was closing.
Binky Holleran, a local restaurateur, bought it. With the excess unsold inventory in hand, she asked various artists to make something out of it. Their exhibit was a fabulous tribute!
Counterclock
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
In my quest to make computer conferences more interesting, I did a cool tutorial at DemoCamp Montréal 3.
Instead of the overdone topic of “How to build a flashy, interactive ‘Web 2.0’ site that only geeks will use”, I opted for teaching people how to build a counterclock.
A counterclock, of course, runs counterclockwise. I ripped apart a clock I bought merely hours before, flipped its motion around, and got it working before the end of the conference. It went over pretty well.
Natasha Duchene
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
tashamonster and rubythirtythree held a little concert at Buddhi Lounge. That's a pretty nifty place that looks like a converted basement apartment. That's too depressing to actually live in, but makes a fun space for a club.
Whoever did their interior decoration is a genius! Colanders for lampshades and a bathtub-mounted television playing Disney movies complete the quirky atmosphere.
Peter Zion
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Because Peter threw a party for his triumphant return to Montréal, we met our really cool neighbour Jen. Apparently, madamewoo and I made such a good impression on her that she invited us to a picnic in the park.
Or perhaps it's just because we live so gosh-darned close? In any event, whipping up a little spaghetti puttanesca never hurts for a picnic that's right outside my front door. And neither does a little bit of photography.
Christine and baby
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Oooh, my friend Christine is having a baby. Doesn't she look beautiful? I got invited to their baby shower where I got to see kids running around like mad, a really happy dog, and three sane men stomping on a wasps' nest.
Hey Simon,
asked dwiseman, how would you like to go to a concert?
.
I could tell she was really excited. She'd gotten tickets to the Rheostatics concert at the end of March. (So I'm a tiny bit late in writing this up.)
I wasn't very familiar with their music, but I was happy to go along. After all, I like Dee and I like concerts, so how could I lose?
When we got down to Massey Hall, in downtown Toronto, people were crowded at the front doors waiting to get in. It was their last ever concert, so the huge venue was packed with fans.
We made our way down to the front, right smack in the centre. We looked behind us and noticed some people wearing VIP badges. We'd gotten seats in front of friends and family!
The concert was beautiful, the encores amazing, and the love of the audience was quite evident. People shouted, thank you!
and we love you!
during the many, many applauses.
Anyway, here are some photographs.
Martin Tielli
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Dave, Don, and Tim
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Michael Phillip-Wojewoda
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
I just came back from the most exciting morning.
Friday afternoon was a lot of tame fun. I had phở at Pho Hung with makemyway and springbird. Then we did some shopping, split an amazing veal sandwich from California Sandwiches, and ate a salad for dinner. That was pretty normal.
So was our trip to Lula Lounge. Makemyway and I went there to see jedward play with Samba Elegua. They're an amazing act! The crowd was dancing and laughing, well some of it, which was great for Toronto.
We left relatively early so that I could swing by Makemyway's house to pick up my camera. I had forgotten it there the night before. As I left her place, I realized that I had left my credit card at the lounge. So I tried to remember how to get back, paid my bill, and stepped outside. The band was packing up their gear, so I was able to say goodbye.
I was walking east when I noticed two people huddled in a bus shelter. I poked my head inside and asked where they were going.
You see, they were waiting at a Dundas stop for a streetcar. After hours. Which meant they would be spending a very long night in freezing weather. I surmised they weren't from Toronto.
Rodrigo and Francesca are actually visiting from Brazil. And they hadn't worn enough layers. I walked with them to College where we waited for a while, ducked into a convenience store to warm up, and caught the blue-night streetcar going east. I asked the driver to let them off at Jarvis, which is where there hotel is.
I bid them farewell as I got off at the Yonge stop. Soon, the bus came north and a group of us boarded. Most of the passengers were a bit unruly because the bars had just let out. When we got to Eglington, a whole bunch of people got on the bus. They had been kicked off the previous bus, which we saw as we drove past. I asked a girl what happened and she explained that a guy got angry at some other guy and punched out a window. There were about four police cars surrounding the abandoned bus.
Since our bus was quite crowded, I did the only thing I could think of: randomly chatting with strangers. This passed the time until my stop came up. A very drunk man said goodbye to his friends and exited with me. I walked with him for a while and we struck up a conversation. It seems that he is doing an anthropology degree at York.
This didn't explain why he had misplaced his hat in one of his friend's pockets. Or why he hit on every girl on our way north. Or why he had difficulty opening his front door, which I passed on the way back home.
Wasn't that an exciting series of adventures? So exciting, in fact, that now I'm wide awake! It's a good thing that I'm good at falling asleep.
It occurs to me that Montréal doesn't have enough public gatherings.
Oh sure, Montréal has its festivals during the summer. We're famous for them. In fact, that's one of the reasons as to why I moved to this city. Our vibrant street life is very attractive and very healthy.
But sometimes, this seems too organized. What happened to just getting together to do something fun, without having to pay a fee or get a programme? What if you could just pop in and participate? What if you were roped in, as you were walking down the street?
I'm thinking we could use the Tam Tam Jam as a staging area for some of the public events. It'd be easy to get people interested in a party we hold in a corner of the park.
Here are some of ideas for things that I've been kicking about:
DemoCamp — An idea started by TorCamp, you show up and have fifteen minutes to demonstrate something you've made. I think TorCamp people demonstrate programs, but I don't see why you couldn't show off something you've built, or some art you've done.
TuneCamp — In a city that's so full of music, wouldn't it be great to have a collection of people who are enthusiastic about it show up and just play? I suppose it'd be a disorganized concert, much like one held at a house.
Métro party — Get on the last car at Côte-Vertu, decorate it, and ride it all the way to the other side, picking up party-goers along the way.
Picnic in the park — Get a massive, red-checkered cloth and spread it out on the grass. Have people show up with picnic food and have the biggest potluck we can find.
Ice disco — In the winter, they flood bits of Parc Jeanne-Mance to make ice rinks. Wouldn't a skating dance party be just the thing? I think arranging some hot chocolate would be good too.
Pillow fight club — A classic event, we should find a sunny day to do it next year.
Disc swap — How about an impromptu music swap? Have people show up with CDs and DVDs they are bored of to exchange with a random one. Setting up players with speakers would be good, so people can enjoy the music together.
Dancing in the street — On the next car-free day downtown, we should try to get people to just dance in the streets. You know, "a chance for folks to meet?"
Strawberry social — People meet in the park bringing strawberry-themed treats. I think dressing up in hats and gloves would also be appropriate. And maybe horses.
Masquerade — A ball! Where everyone has to show up in costumes and masks.
Santa Claus parade — Doesn't dressing up as Santa Claus and going around town giving people candy canes sound fun? How about going on a pub crawl while we're at it? This shouldn't be restricted to the Christmas season, after all, candy canes go on sale on boxing day.
Free hugs — Get a few people, lots of signs saying "Free hugs / Câlins gratuit", and stand on Ste-Catherines giving people hugs as they go by. We could even augment this with buttons, that we could give away.
Guerrilla gig — Arrange for a band or two to hold an impromptu concert in one of the gazebos at public parks. Just show up with an amp, plug in, play a short set and leave.
Snapshot — We organize a tableau somewhere in the downtown core, where people show up dressed a particular way to do particular things. Then photographers show up to take pictures.
Flash rave — Invite some people to show up with their portable music players, take over a building and dance. We should look for a place that can provide free water.
Theme days — No pants day, Talk like a pirate day, whatever zany day comes up, let's set up a little zone in the city where this kind of behaviour is normal. Most of the time, people saying "yarr" are irregular, but what if we turned the tables?
Who thinks these might be fun?
A couple of days ago, someone mentioned this show to me and suggested that I write about it. I put it off for a while and then realized that it involves two pretty nifty things:
The first of which is that it's being held at Café Blue Monday, which is one of the few hip establishments in Verdun. This is a blessing for Verdun residents, but not so good for the café. Still, they have rather tasty food so I'm inclined to go.
Second, I've already heard Adam and Alden play, at a loft party that they were involved in a few months ago. It was rather enjoyable and they didn't mind my camera, so I was quite pleased.
Last night, I went out with cpirate, wlach, apenwarr, and his sister. Avery's sister was in town for a few days, so he thought it would be a good idea to show her what the local music scene was like. He invited us along and, I have to say, it certainly was a good idea.
We showed up at Sablo Kafé, which was already quite full by the time we got there. It's a little restaurant in Little Italy that serves a mix of international foods. The front door was blocked by the band, so we went into the little side door and squeezed past the patrons sitting about. A guy was jamming on the keyboard and we looked for a place to sit. There wasn't any.
Avery bought some tasty samosas while we stood about. And then a guy sat down at the drums and started talking. He introduced themselves as the Kalmunity Vibe Collective, a live organic improvised group that essentially jams on a theme. And for this concert, they offered a tribute to hip-hop.
The first set consisted of two percussionists, a bassist, a keyboardist, and a trumpter laying down improvised background for a series of MCs. They'd get up off a bench on stage-left, say their piece and pass the microphone. What could have sounded like a jumbled mess turned out to be quite sensational. Although several of the MCs weren't of the same calibre as their peers, the vast majority had their rhythms down pat.
Just before the break, X-WAM pushed through the packed crowd and showed us an extremely impressive display of beatboxing. The crowd was wild for his vocal tricks and spent the whole while cheering. During the break, we got to step outside of the very small room and got a breath of fresh air. Wow, it was really stuffy in there.
Since it was getting late, cpirate had to leave us, so we said a brief farewell. After the group returned from its smoking break, we went back inside. There were more people than ever, so much that it was impossible to move, let alone dance. We were treated to a duel between a superb tap-dancer and the beatboxer, which was mindblowingly fast. I'm still stunned thinking back on it.
The music transitioned more towards reggae, with rhythmic singing and tons of call-response. A trio stood in front of the microphone and wowed us with their voices. Nomadic Massive showed up to do their thing, which was very groovy A violinist got on stage and played some wicked tunes. In the end, everyone up front was singing and dancing and clapping. And the audience was just flowing right along with it. Connections were being made through music and the mob had become one.
Afterwards, it was smiles all around. We walked out of the warm, warm building and into the night. People were hanging about and chatting, I spent a few minutes thanking the musicians. And then we walked home.
I can't wait to go back again.
Article written for Akachic Records.
Last night, I went to a house concert thrown by rottenfruit. I brought along girlintheclouds because I thought she'd be excited to see a bunch of musicians jamming together.
Every time I go to house concerts, I really enjoy myself. I think it has to do with the intimacy. You don't need microphones or stage lights or anything. It's just people in a room entertaining one another. And it's great!
We arrived a tad late, enough to miss You and Me. But I did pick up their little two-dollar mini CD. I heard Elizabeth Bruce, Shane Watt, and The spare limb of Natalie Portland. Plus I got to indulge in some excellent cake and shortbread.
Man, I should go to these things more often.
A fair while ago, I went to the Green Room to see a free concert. It was a sponsored show, put on by Akachic Records, whom I happen to write for from time to time. I arrived early and sat down in the stifling heat. The bartender brought over a glass of ice water, for which I was eternally grateful.
The room slowly gathered people, some sat in the back benches, while others opted to sit up front. The stage was filled with equipment, two chairs, and some dim lighting.
First up were Panick and the Silent Folk. They're a small band that consists of two muscians, and they're a bit difficult to describe. They have songs that sound like poetry. Matt Risk strummed on his guitar as he sang complex verses with his raspy, straining voice. He was accompanied by Neboysha Rakic who made noisy, electronic effects. The room had filled up by this point and the audience was at attention. Perhaps they were trying to make out the symbolism. I should think.
Pagoda came up next. They're a band that drove all the way up from Washington, DC to play. They seemed to be travelling pretty quickly, as they wanted to leave for Toronto that night.
Their sound is nice and sweet. It's full of slow beats and powerful riffs. Their guitarist played tunes that were strangely melodic and their lead singer has such a beautiful voice when he hits the upper register. You don't expect this at all, since their appearance belies their music. When you see them, you'd totally think they just broke out of gaol.
We had a little break as the people on stage fiddled with their equipment. I took this opportunity to grab a bit to eat, and came back as Pax Nipponica went on stage. Even though their drums were laid down in advance, they were all sorts of catchy. Bruno C. stood by, keeping a watchful eye on the laptop as he played the bass.
Yan T. stood on the edge of the stage and sang softly into the microphone as he played his blue guitar. He's got a pretty voice, which goes well with the soft, touching music. Slightly creepy lyrics, now that I think of it. Pax Nipponica is a little on the poppy side, with Bruno's mussed up hair and Yan's square glasses, they could definitely win hearts and minds.
Their songs were geared towards that, with different arrangements than their CDs. Especially Turn off your cellphone, which was unplugged and much applauded. A very good set indeed.
Article written for Akachic Records.
My friend burst in to my apartment with a CD. "Here," she said as she thrust a CD in my hand, "put this on." Faced with such determination, I did what any person would do. I listened to the CD. And then I bought tickets to a Jesse Cook concert.
He was slotted for four shows at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, all of which were sold out. I surmised this by noting the very long line that snaked around outside Metropolis. People were talking vividly amongst each other while a camera crew walked around interviewing people. The show we were attending was being recorded live for a DVD.
We slipped inside and I found myself a front-row seat. The opening act, Papa Duke, is an instrumental band focused on high-energy gypsy music. It's led by Vasyl Popadiuk, a Ukrainian violinist of exceptional calibre. He was backed by a bass, drums, and wind instruments. Popadiuk was quite the focus of the music, jumping around on stage with his fingers flying across his violin.
He was always urging the audience to participate. Urging them to dance to the music, which was fast-paced and light-hearted. But it was too early in the concert for the people to move. For his last song, he invited someone from the front row to come up and help him play the violin. She stood up there holding the bow, as he sat off the edge of the stage. It was a fun gimmick.
After a brief interlude, the curtains came up again. On stage, Jesse Cook and his band walked on stage and smiled. Then they launched immediately into song. Jesse is a brilliant guitarist who takes his influences from rumba, flamenco, and pop. He chatted with the audience and seemed genuinely comfortable in his own humble skin. It was nice to see someone unflamboyant being happy that he was playing before a huge crowd.
I'm not sure if it was due to this being a live DVD recording session, but his show seemed to follow the same order as the live CD recorded at the Jazz Fest two years ago. In fact, some of the intersong banter remained across the years. But he played with a kind of confidence that was absolutely charming. And since it was a big production, he was able to invite some guest speakers on stage. Like Ron Sexsmith, who sang Fall at Your Feet unplugged. The whole acoustic experience gave a sense of quiet intimacy that doesn't show up in modern rock concerts anymore.
The audience loved him, and so there were multiple encores. But looking about the room, I noticed that we were amongst the youngest people there. It looks like he doesn't write a lot of new material and doesn't do a lot of self-promotion. So his fans are loyal and many, but few of them are new. Still, I recommend picking up his Jesse Cook Montreal record. You'll be pleasantly enchanted.
Article written for Akachic Records.
Two Thursdays ago, I found myself sitting in a hot tub, in a backyard, in downtown Toronto. The circumstances leading to this event are interesting, but beyond the scope of this review. We were basking in the setting sun and warm waters when my friend mentioned that he was going to the Legendary Pink Dots concert. A bunch of us got excited and he invited us to come along.
So we towelled off, changed into some appropriately black clothing, and hopped into a waiting van. We drove to Lee's Palace, where there was a small crowd of smokers gathered outside. After the requisite ritual of hand-stamping, we were inside. On the intimate stage stood four well-dressed men setting up their equipment. Loosely surrounding the stage was a decent crowd. Not too big, and not too small.
Their set started with slow, beautiful music. A languid saxophone meshed with the opiate vocals of Edward Ka-Spel. Here was an old Englishman, bedecked in sunglasses, singing with this charming druggy voice. It was like stepping into a dream filled with liquid music and anguished poems.
The sound changed into waves, like an ocean crashing on the beach. Niels van Hoornblower, the saxophonist, changed instruments throughout the set. First to an electric bagpipe. And then to a lovely flute. The bass-guitarist put down his instrument for a song and picked up an accoustic guitar. The range of sound that we heard was just gorgeous.
The crowd, all dressed in black and goth as could be, started swaying to the music. Some of them started nodding their heads in appreciation and tapping their feet. It was a beautiful sight to see. I made my way to the sidelines and caught a couple of photographs. And that's when Soandso hopped off the stage and mingled with the crowd. Every time he blew on his sax, it would light up and hit the faces of the audience.
The end came too soon, even after the extended encore. Afterwards, all of us sat in the van, happy to have been there. Happy to have gone together.
Article written for Akachic Records.
A couple of weeks ago, cloquewerk asked me if I wanted to see a show with him. A psychobilly show. Since I'd never gone to a psychobilly show, how could I possibly refuse? I agreed without even knowing the name of the band. Or any of the details. Which is good, because he didn't have them at the time.
Then, on the show date, I met up with messiahdivine at Café L'Etranger. The entrance appeared to be blocked by construction, which is a typical thing for this time of year, but we found a convoluted way inside. I brought along drheld and his girlfriend, who were staying at my place at the time. They left, wlach and _watchtower_ showed up. Then someone else, whose name I have now lost, showed up as well.
We walked to Club Soda, where the music was already thumping. I made my way to the front, where a small crowd was standing by the stage. Two people, wearing black T-shirts were busy flailing their bodies about in epileptic dance. I slowly navigated to front and centre, where I could try to get some photographs. Which reminded me that they had checked me for a "professional" camera as I came through the door.
I'm not sure I thought about Left Alone, who were very loud and difficult to hear. But the audience seemed rather pleased at it. Indeed, there were even people singing along, so I'm sure there were fans in the audience. The nice thing about this audience was that they were really into participating in the show. The poor thing about this audience was that their participation was not always constructive. Security guards were peppered liberally throughout the audience.
The Horrorpops were greeted by very loud cheering. Their setup was quite interesting, as they had dancers as well as musicians. This was actually a very good plan, because the dancers were not only fun to watch, but also good at inspiring the crowd to dance. Interestingly enough, the crowd's idea of dancing was very similar to moshing.
I had trouble standing still to take pictures. And my poor camera isn't very good at low light photography anyway, so I had to try very hard not to get jostled whilst protect it from flying bodies. It was exciting.
As the show went on, I began to acquire an appreciation for the music. But it was really the showmanship that was more exciting. One girl was wished a happy birthday by Patricia Day, and the girl was absolutely thrilled.
One of my secrets for taking concert photographs is to just keep on trying to capture moments when the stage spots get turned up. Typically, the musicians will pose, which makes for an interesting picture. But really, I do it so that I won't have to use the flash. Another secret is to keep on taking photographs, because most of them will turn out terribly. This is how I use probability to make up for a lack of skill.
By the end, my camera was full and I was sick of getting blows to the back. So I wandered towards the rear where I found Will moshing with some people in a less crowded environment. I stood around there a while, before I saw Watchtower trying to avoid the crowd. She was wearing these stunning heels, which were gorgeous, but not very useful in a mosh-pit.
Once the show wrapped up, we sat around outside on some temporary walkway and chatted. St-Laurent is being dug up again, so there are plenty of those to do that upon.
About a month ago, vierge_en_trop asked me if I'd like to see a concert with her. It's always a pleasure to socialize with her, so I agreed straight away. Even though I didn't know which concert we were to see, but I had faith in her taste.
She even brought over a sample of their music when we last had coffee. Olive was quite obliging to offer up musical accompaniment. It would be nice to have a portable device that stores all of my music. Sadly, I have yet to come across one that doesn't infuriate me terribly. I'm afraid that as I grow older, I find technology disappoints more and more often.
Anyway, Vierge and I bumped into each other on the street and arranged to meet up at this concert. So I bought a ticket and was all ready to go last Saturday, when I got a telephone call. It seems that I was to go alone. Since I'm always up for adventure, I set out with camera and notebook in hand.
The opening band was Action Action who had a pretty standard indie-boy rock sound. Sadly, the sound technicians really pumped up the bass for the opening bands, so it was quite difficult to hear anything. I wonder if bands ever consider running their own equalisers through their equipment?
Morningwood went on stage next. They've got a pop-ish punk sound that people seemed pretty happy to listen to. The gimmick they seem to employ, to the delight of their fans, is to have their lead singer, Chantal, display her ample cleavage. To be fair, I think she really enjoys the attention.
It's sort of creepy that most of the audience looked like they were still in high school. I suppose many of them were, though. Partway through their set, Chantal had an audience member get on stage. Whereby she was handcuffed, fondled, and partially unzipped. I think it took her a while to realise that something was wrong, because she seemed awfully embarassed afterwards.
It took a while for The Sounds to get started. In that time, the front of the stage got really crowded. I managed to catch the conversation of some kids beside me. Ah yes, high school students from the South Shore, drinking themselves sick. Brilliant.
The set they put on made the audience go wild. The girl standing beside me had been waiting to see them play for years, and sang along with every song. That was actually pretty good, since the techs had rejiggered the bass but it was still drowning out the lyrics.
They certainly put on a good show and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. They surged towards the stage often enough to show their appreciation. Although it's good to have a camera, it's quite easy to get crushed when standing up front. Or kicked by an errant foot, which came from a crowd surfer. I thanked the security guard, who stood close by, for keeping me conscious. I think he checked to see if I was a professional photographer.
On Tuesday, it started snowing again. Now, people were awfully disappointed, since they were really ready for spring. But as far as I'm concerned, winter came and went with barely whimper. Anyway, snowing. It was snowing as I walked out of the métro and started looking at the addresses on rue Ontario. As I wandered about looking quite lost, posixeleni noticed me and called out my name.
We went up to a two-storey loft that was quite large. Except for the fact that six people lived there. I spent some time meeting people and chatting in the kitchen. A group of people arrived shortly after we did, bringing food and noise in with them. Soon thereafter, someone came by with a jar to collect money. I threw in a fiver and then it was time to start the show.
You see, this was an indie show, being hosted at someone's place. A bunch of people sat around on couches, while I prefered the hardwood floor. It's easier to get photographs that way. By the light of a very old lamp, we heard three sets of musicans play.
There was a guitarist who was coming down with a cold.
And a man from Paris, who did a whole bunch of odd things. Like shake a tape deck. Or whistle sweetly. Or crank a set of chimes that were operated by paper tape.
The last set involved a duet with a guitar and some other instruments. What's interesting is that Alden remarked about how music can still be performed in people's homes. Of course you don't need tapes and equipment and stages to make music.
Strange world it is, where people think music has to come from factories! And the recording industry hasn't even been around for that long. People's memories really are quite short, aren't they?
Last week, on Saturday, I went to Main Hall to see a show. Now Main Hall is actually a really difficult venue to find. I forgot the address and walked past it a couple of times before breaking down and calling a friend. Once I got the address, someone was putting up a poster on the front door, so I could have just been patient.
I went upstairs and got myself let inside. I was on the guest list, you see. I suppose you could say that I'm a scenester now, after all, I get put on guest lists for the photographs I take. This is not as horrible as it sounds! I quite enjoy it.
There was so much stuff on stage that there was barely any room to stand! Instruments and kit and pedals and monitors and cables strewn everywhere. I dragged a table and chair up close and sat in it, waiting for the show to start. Then, Antizario got up and started jamming.
Antizario is from Ottawa and they drove down to play. They had instrumentals that were really good. Rich, mellow tones that sounded like crusing through a bright city at night. With the orange vapor light flicking past your window. Then Flip Kuma came up and started rapping with them. It was very pleasant.
In between sets, I got to hang out with posixeleni and her friend Jay. We were chatting a while and I realised that they were starting to scream a bit. So I gave out a spare pair of earplugs. Sometimes, you just got to be generous!
I was writing in my notebook, taking notes about the environs, when I saw a girl writing in her notebook! Intrigued, I asked her what she was writing. It turns out that Sabina was writing notes for a short story! I offered to send her some photographs and she seemed quite pleased.
Soundclash was up next, which had the production values of a high school band. There were those solid black music stands you'd see in high school orchestras. And a big, wooden upright bass. But the music, it was so bright and bold and beautiful. They had some very experimental jazz with an excellent groove. Eric Hove from the Alex Bellegarde concert was jamming up there with his saxophone. A beautiful sound to behold.
Koybayashi came on last with old classics and wonderful new tunes. The house was packed at this point and was full of Kobayashi fans. You could just see the smiles spreading on the band's faces as they realised that this concert would be spectacular.
I'll have to admit that I came especially because it was Eleni's last show in Montréal with them. So I had to be there. And she didn't disappoint at all.
The vibe was on and people were dancing and singing and clapping along. Afterwards, people came up and congratulated Franco and Josh and Eleni. I walked around and saw people just smiling to themselves. Later, I walked with Eleni and another friend down St-Laurent, before I parted ways and went back home.
Have I recommended that you see these guys yet? Because if I haven't, you should.
Last Wednesday, I went to my first concert in a while. I have to thank the lovely and generous love2heart who gave me her ticket. She was too busy with painting to be able to go, which was sad, because the show was quite wonderful. I'll have to return the favour some day.
I arrived at Métropolis a little late. Only five minutes late, but I saw two scalpers trying in vain to sell their tickets. They shook their heads and walked off. I went inside and walked most of the way up to the stage, right next to a loudspeaker. At that time, I really wished I could find a pair of earplugs, because it was really quite loud.
Holy Fuck was the opening band and they filled the stage with light and smoke and noise. Good noise, I think, but I'm not quite sure. They had a drum set and a bassist on stage, which is pretty typical. In the centre, two people played with keyboards and synthesizers and tape decks which fused into this odd organic-electronic improvisational rock. The crowd seemed to like what was happening and they had a good time on stage. And I enjoyed many passages of their work, even though some of it was too chaotic for my tastes.
Islands came up on stage next with Nick sitting on someone's shoulders. They finished the first song, and then he started saying the strangest things. Like it was their first time in Montréal and that they considered moving here. I don't know how many people got the deep sarcasm there.
This time, their set was far tighter and they did a very good job. The audience was well pleased with their poppy happy music, with some of them even dancing. This was actually quite difficult as we were tightly packed near the stage. I was pushed a couple of rows closer to the stage by the people in back. This caused me to end up behind two very tall boys who spent most of the show bouncing up and down, hitting people around them with flailing hair and flying arms.
There were some girls who kept on trying to push their way up front. There was a pocket of space close to the stage that other people were using to dance. The short girl standing beside me was quite upset at this and got into a shouting match with one of the perpetrators. This didn't have the desired effect and people just got more pushy and more rude. Youngersters! They have no shame. Eventually, the short girl and her friend were crushed in the crowd, unable to see the stage. And since the crowd was thick and the air was stale, they were having trouble breathing. I offered them my space.
With camera in hand, I moved around, asking people if I could get closer to take some photographs. Graciously, some of them let me through. There I was, tightly packed with other people, about a meter from the stage. When Metric came on, a bunch of people surged forward.
There's a lot of hype surrounding them, but there's some truth behind it. Unfortunately, the hype leads to sold-out performances in crowded venues. But I digress. They had a catchy rock sound that was well executed. But the most distinctive part of the set was Emily Haines's very raw, noisy vocals.
Comparing it with the record that I bought afterward, their live performance was more visceral than the studio-quality production. For some reason, my natural preference for a polished sound was overwhelmed by the sheer steel of Emily screaming into a microphone.
I managed to get off a couple of good shots and tons of poor ones before it became impossible to take photographs. This is because people were being thrown side to side as the front rows started pushing each other around. Really, there wasn't enough space for this, and some girl almost fell down.
They got off the stage and stayed off for a long time while the crowd clapped and stomped and cheered. Just as people were looking around and the applause was dying, the band went back on stage and performed for another hour. I think that made up for the tired arms that people had. When all was said and done, people crowded around the stage hoping to get mementos of the concert.
I spied moonlightjoy hanging out by the walls and I talked to her a bit. Or rather, shouted, because I couldn't hear anything any more. We chatted for a bit but I was really tired, so I excused myself and walked home.
My shipment of earplugs has arrived!
If you voted in the poll, I'll be trying to find you in some way or another. Their unit price is $10.37, but I'm chill with rounding down to $10 per pair. (GST and duty are pretty expensive.)
I also ordered some extras, so if you're interested, please let me know.
N.B. The picture on the right shows beige earplugs, but I ordered the clear ones.
There are some people that I never actually see in Montréal. You'd figure that this would be possible, living in the same city, but this is more difficult than you think. Oh, I know them, we are just never at the same place at the same time. I've tried to meet up with abelynx at concerts, and shows, and such. But it never seems to work out. So when I heard that her band were playing in Toronto, I figured that I had to go.
I made my way down to Neutral, where I tried to get in the back door, but failed. The front door was far more difficult to locate, because it was easily confused with the door to some offices. It should be easier to tell a Goth bar from a Dental clinic, but I am unused to such things.
Being early, I managed to snag a couch and was sitting there when northbard walked in the door. He looked at me quizzically for a while as he tried to place who I was. Eventually, we recognised each other and things went much better from there on. We were chatting on the couch when people starting filling in.
When The Scroll came on stage, there was a lull in the crowd. Since I was nominated Official Band Photographer for the evening, I got up with my camera in hand and did my duty. There were boys being tough and boys being bad. The girls were sassy and sultry as they sang and danced. As the night wore on, they rocked out hard, which seemed to please the crowd to no end.
After their set, I helped pack away things and put them backstage. Then I found evildrgo who was filming this event. We went out for some fresh air, where we met some people whose names I have forgotten. No, no, I remember there was a girl named Souda and a boy named Ian. He had a camera. Then we went back inside and recognised a girl with an awesome shirt: her name is Laura.
At around midnight, I was starting to get tired as was Dr. Go so we decided to head off. But not before we bought into our cultural stereotypes, much to Northbard's distress. We then decided to further this wanton madness by eating some decent, trashy Chinese food for 宵夜. This is something I crave, because it is so difficult to find in Montréal.
We found our way to a restaurant that I've already forgotten, near the corner of Spadina and Dundas. I'm sure that someone will leave this information in the comments below, yes? I ordered a big plate of 乾炒牛河 while he got a large bowl of soup and noodles. I was quite a bit hungrier than I realised, because I totally ran out of food to eat. Sated and happy, I walked Go back to the Marriot where I left him to be poisoned by spies—I feel pretty guilty about that.
I have been going to concerts for a while now and one of the few smart things I've done is to pick up a package of earplugs. Some of the shows I go to are really loud, especially because I stand really close to the stage and speakers, so I can get good photographs. Plus, it was great to have a pair in my bag for flying: do you know how loud it is to sit on top of a jet engine?
Unfortunately, the earplugs I bought are disposable, construction grade. Not that there's anything wrong with them—they block out sound really well. And if I were operating a jackhammer, I'd want 29 dBs of noise reduction.
However, they block out sound too well because they block out as much of it as possible. This means that high-pitched sound like voices are damped far more than low-pitched sound. So the music I listen to live is a little muddy. The lack of hearing loss is a good tradeoff though, so I keep these earplugs in.
Etymotic Research specialises in making hearing protection for musicians and the like. Musician's earplugs have their frequency response designed to be flatter, so high-pitched sound is damped about as much as low-pitched sound; so things are evenly quiet, not distorted. But I'm not a musician, so I don't care to pay hundreds of dollars for an ear mold and special earplugs. But they also sell a slightly cheaper product for casual usage. Instead of $120 a pair, they're more like $12.
The ER-20 earplugs come in a little carrying case and are reusable. I talked to their sales guy and they'll last you a long time, as long as you clean them with warm water. So I've been thinking of ordering two pairs for myself. But then pphaneuf wants to put in an order with me as well. And look, bulk purchases qualify for discounts!
So I'm wondering if any of you would like to chip in for a bulk purchase? I'm not looking to profit, so I'll sell them to you at cost.
Poll #660818Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 20
How many ER-20 earplugs would you buy from me?
9 (45.0%)
I went to a show last Friday at Le Spectrum. I was a little concerned that they wouldn't let me in because my ticket had ripped in half, but the security guy matched the numbers on the back and waved me through.
I thought I had shown up early, but this was obviously not the case. The front was full of people sitting with their backs to the stage. I asked one guy if the space next to him was free sort of stuttered that nobody was there. Then he didn't pay attention to me for the rest of the show, except to sneak surreptitious peeks at the photographs I was taking.
Actually, this was the first show that I saw with crazy posters on the door. "No professional cameras! No audio recording! No video recording!" It made me thankful that my tiny little camera that fits in my back pocket can take reasonably good looking photographs. I guess I'm not that envious of SLR owners after all.
The Out Crowd, a band from Portland, opened the show. I only remembered they were from that city because Avery is there now at a conference for Linux Desktop Architects. I was invited to this conference, but I think Avery does a better job at representing us at these particular events.
Where was I? So this band got on stage and I could already tell that they're fun people. The bassist immediately started smoking (in the non-smoking venue) and their keyboardist was wearing a coonskin cap. They played a song and then motioned that they needed more sound on the monitors. Then they played another song and motioned for more monitors. And another, with more monitor-motioning, that basically blew into very loud feedback. They fought with the soundcrew for the rest of their (reasonably decent) set.
After the set, Matt the lead singer, tried to engage the crowd in a chant of "Fuck the house sound guy" but was cut off before he got very far. The girl running the sound board then chastised him for his inability to project into a microphone. Fireworks erupted on stage and people stormed off angrily.
So... we stood around waiting for things to calm down. Eventually, they did and people set up the stage for the next band. I looked around at the audience as I'm wont to do and noticed this girl with the best outfit ever! It looked like she stepped out of a Jane Austin novel. I asked her if I could take her photograph and she obliged; in return, I offered to e-mail her the photographs that I took.
Eventually, the lights dimmed and The Dandy Warhols showed up on stage to much cheering. I figured that this would be a long set, because they started playing at 21:00. They started off the first hour with some pretty mellow songs which were not particularly fun but weren't bad. As the show progressed, the stage lights got brighter and brighter, which made it much easier for me to take photographs. Unfortunately, the crowd got rowdier and rowdier, which made it much harder for me to hold the camera steady.
After the first hour, Courtney and Brent got too warm, so they started taking off their clothes. Cries of "get naked" and cheering from the girls did not actually encourage them to do so. This marked a transition to quicker songs, that involved more rocking, some trumpeting, and Zia bouncing up and down to the beat.
Sadly, I only got reasonable shots of Zia by means of the flash. But this was not particularly bad at this concert, because they were firing off the strobe lights constantly. I would have taken advantage of them if only the strobe light pointed at her didn't illuminate just her legs. The pictures I got were really weird, with this bodiless pair of legs dancing around.
The last hour of the concert was quite exciting. More people had crowded up to the front, so I could no longer really move nor stretch. I was fairly sure that my back was shooting pain all over the place since I had to stand ram-rod straight. And the woman behind me kept hitting me with her purse. The band played some songs that the audience sang the choruses to, which was pretty fun.
Then they stood in the back for a five-minute smoke break; like the tough kids at the back of the classroom.
They came back and did a five-song encore, which people started moshing to. Do you know how difficult it is to take decent photographs when people keep on bouncing into your back? I think the woman in back kept on getting pushed repeatedly into me. After the show was over, the crowd quickly dispersed. I dug my jacket out of my bag and some people ran up to the stage looking for set lists and guitar picks. I didn't get one because they all looked really torn up.
There was a big lineup at the coat check, so I just let myself out the back door. I'm not really sure I should have but it was convenient.
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