I didn’t get off work until midnight last night, meaning I missed Taylor’s big gig, but I still made it to the Tranzac afterwards for the latest OOTS presents show. Luckily that seemed to be where most people ended up after the Timber Timbre show so I was still able to see some friends, which is key. I missed the first few acts (Chris Yang and Gavin Gardiner) but got there just in time to see Guelph’s Richard Laviolette, whose quiet masterpiece A Little Less Like a Rock, a Little More Like a Home was a favourite of mine a few years back, and who I last saw at SappyFest about a year ago. However, in stark contrast to that show, yesterday Richard was backed up by his new-ish band (well, it was the first time I’ve seen them) the Hollow Hooves, who brought some welcome muscle to his fragile sounding songs. It was a very different performance tham I’m used to him putting on, but I liked it all the same.
I ducked out after a few tunes to catch up with some friends outside, but hopefully it’s not another year before I see Richard again.
Today when I got home from work I learned of the passing of Michal Majewski. Going to shows in Oshawa, you just knew Michal. His artwork adorned countless show posters and his presence was guaranteed at every good concert no matter who was playing. I think I first met him at the Polish Hall (where he often put on shows), but I honestly can’t remember our first encounter. Either way, going to as many shows as I did meant I’d see Michal most weekends, and we would always chat for a while. I was always curious about what he was up to, since his work was just so inspiring to me. Looking back at my own show posters from that time, there are many instances where I tried to copy his style. If he noticed, he never said anything. I truly believe he had more than enough talent to really get known for his work one day if he wanted to. No doubt.
The only time I ever actually commissioned something from Michal was the last year we did the Hometown Hoedown, December 2007. We had all the bands booked, but the shows were quickly approaching and we didn’t have a poster. I hesitantly emailed him asking if he could quickly make some posters for us, thinking it was kind of obnoxious to email him with no warning asking for a complicated poster to be done in such a short amount of time. To my surprise and delight, Mike said he’d do it, and a few days later I met him in the parking lot of the Elvis on one of the coldest damn days of the year to pick up the posters from him. He didn’t need to do that, he had other stuff on his plate. Instead, he helped us out, enormously. That’s just they kind of person he was.
Rest in peace Majewski.
Take a look at some more of his amazing work here.
Yesterday, after I “launched” my new website, I realized that I didn’t have anything new to post. Thankfully I uncovered this gem that I shot last month during NXNE. I wasn’t able to take in too many shows that week due to my work schedule, but Casey and Jonas we’re playing right across the street at Whippersnapper so I ducked out and caught a few tunes, including this one – a boisterous take of the track “Thunderlove” from Ohbijou’s new album Beacons. It was a lot of fun seeing them play together, they should do it more often. Evening Hymns have an album called Spirit Guides pretty much in the can, so hopefully we’ll have it in our hands by the end of the year. I’ve heard a bit of it, sounds pretty epic.
Welcome to my new website, Morning Noon Night. Having a blog strictly dedicated to documenting the music I love has long been an aspiration of mine, and for the past year I’ve been using my personal website for that purpose. However, to me, it didn’t feel like a real website. Other blogs were starting to link to my site and it felt cumbersome since my blog didn’t really have a name besides my own. So I bought this new URL, transfered all the relevant blog posts, and with the help of my good friend Dale Harrison, designed this website so that it will (hopefully) be a destination for music fans everywhere.
So, thanks for stopping by. Let’s see where this takes us.
I’m struggling coming up with anything to say here. I shot this last month when Woods played at Soundscapes. Watch the video, if you like it, there are two more here.
Here’s another video of Attack in Black playing live. It was my third time seeing them live in one month, and definitely the smallest venue I’ve seen them play in (the last two times were at the Horseshoe and Massey Hall). This one was an unannounced show (a fundraiser for a friend actually), with the rest of the bill rounded out by Blackburn, Wayne Petti, Sarah Harmer, Travis Good, and Greg Keelor. Needless to say, the boys kept it pretty low-key, though they still rocked pretty hard. Van beers followed. Hope to visit ‘em in Montreal sometime soon.
Sorry for taking forever to post this video. I shot it weeks ago and uploaded it last week, so I’ve really had no excuse. I’ve been busy shooting tons of videos lately, so their is plenty of stuff coming down the pipeline. Stuff that I’m very excited about. If you look hard enough you’ll be able to find some of it, just not on this blog. As for the above video, PS I Love You are a freakin’ sweet band from Kingston, ON. My roommate’s been raving about them for months and I got pretty into their EP when he brought it home, so I jumped at the chance to see them live, even if it meant taking the train to Hamilton. Heck, Hamilton is full of great people, I should go there more often for shows. Good vibes all ’round.
When I was chatting with Kehoe before the show I said that the first time I saw Attack in Black backing up Jimmie was at an in-store at Criminal Records about a year ago. I didn’t realize it until he told me, but that was their first show together! Since then they’ve become quite the tight little rock unit, surely due to their non-stop touring schedule. They’ve also started a label together and each released fantastic new records, so it was good to have them back in Toronto. The first video here is a song called Province to Province, which is an older tune they re-recorded for Still Jimmie, and performed here flawlessly. The second video is actually of two songs, Leaving Your Death in a Flowerbed and I’m a Rock, both off of AIB’s new album Years (by one thousand fingertips). I’ve also got a video of the opening band Hunters & Anglers up on my YouTube page.
Here’s a video of an impromptu performance of Nei Young’s song “Look Out for My Love” done by Rick White and Julie Doiron at the Horsehoe Tavern back in March. There are some missing lyrics in the chorus sure, but it’s still a damn fine cover. Julie’s voice is really beautiful here…
Dale and I went to the Horseshoe last Saturday since that was where everyone else was going to be. Great Bloomers were having their CD release show and they lined up a couple great bands to open the show. The first band I saw was called The Cutting Edge. I would describe them as a little bit honky tonk with some definite bar band influence. They kept the crowd moving with a set of rowdy originals and a few recognizable covers thrown in. I told James afterwards that they stole the show before I’d even seen the other bands, and I am sticking to that. Next up was Sports: The Band. I’ve never seen them before and I am most definitely not friends with anyone in the band, so I was surprised when I found myself so entranced with their set. They had a good stage presence and their songs were immediately catchy and memorable. I was humming their tunes for the rest of the night. I was feeling a little claustrophobic (as I often do at the ’shoe) so I only stuck around for a few Great Bloomers songs, but they were in fine form and had a large, attentive audience, so I’m sure they were stoked. Check out my YouTube page for some video I took of them right before I split.
