Tag Archives: Will Kidman
Daniel Romano, Baby Eagle, and Will Kidman at The Shop, Toronto
11/07/2010
So last night I visited Toronto’s newest venue, The Shop, located underneath the restaurant Parts & Labour in the heart of Parkdale. I remember last fall when I started hearing people talking about a new restaurant, an offshoot of Oddfellows and The Social, opening up at Queen St. W. and Sorauren Ave. that was going to have a small “punk” venue in the basement. I’m always happy when bands have new places to play, but I was mostly excited to have a venue opening up so close to my apartment (Toronto’s west-end is severely lacking in rooms to see bands I like play). The venue now known as The Shop finally opened about a month or so ago and I meant to check it out sooner but I’m glad I waited until a show I really wanted to see popped up, as was the case on Sunday night.
Will Kidman opened the night with a quick set of songs that have yet to appear on any of his albums as Woolly Leaves (I’m still not sure if he’s playing under that name anymore). I captured some video but I had a feeling, perhaps because he was still reading the lyrics off a sheet, that a lot of the songs were still being developed and I don’t like to put stuff on the internet when it’s still being worked on. You know what I mean? Maybe it doesn’t matter. Anyway, I thought all his songs were among the best he’s written, and his cover of Neil Young’s “Shots” (which he also covered in the Constantines on their 2006 split 12″ with the Unintended) was particularly cool to hear.
Next up was Baby Eagle (Steve Lambke, also of the Constantines) who brought a full band with him, which I believed he dubbed “The Proud Mothers,” composed of three quarters of Attack in Black (Spencer Burton on drums, Ian Kehoe on bass, and Daniel Romano on acoustic geetar). It was a fairly similar set to the one I witnessed back in March at The Horseshoe when he opened for Daniel, Fred & Julie, which was fine because it gave me a second chance to hear all his new songs. My verdict: I like ‘em! While not too much of a departure from the rest of his material, with song titles like “Fisherman or Fish” and “River Bank Sitter,” moving to the East-Coast definitely seems to have informed his lyrics, at the very least. He has a new record called Dog Weather coming out soon on You’ve Changed Records, but it was available at the show last night! I listened to it today!
Daniel Romano was last up, armed only with his trusty acoustic and Bruce Peninsula‘s Misha Bower singing in harmony – the same formation I saw just over a month ago at his album release show at The Dakota Tavern. It was nice to see a lot more people come out to Sunday’s show, the record seems to be picking up steam and there were a lot of people up front listening attentively, but enough people towards the back of the room talking loudly and playing foosball made for a worse experience than at The Dakota. That’s okay though, there a plenty of other venues in the city that are better geared towards folk music. I think The Shop will be a good place to see louder music, when a little bit of chatter isn’t such a distraction.
Now that I think about it, are there any good places to see quiet music in Toronto? I mentioned The Dakota before, but even that place gets loud when there enough people there. I guess the only time you’re going to find a quiet room is if it’s a large venue and people have paid a lot of money to be there (Massey Hall for example). Any bar with a cheap enough cover is going to attract people who aren’t there for the music, and that’s okay. I feel fortunate enough that I can even see musicians I like on a weekly basis playing rooms that I can afford. What are your thoughts on this subject?
Julie Doiron, and Will Kidman at The Cobourg, Toronto
09/01/2010
Gather ’round children, it’s storytime! Back when I was 19 years old, at the height of my salad days, I was going to a few shows a week. This was long before I made the big move to Toronto; I was still living with my parents in Oshawa. We had this great venue in town called the Velvet Elvis, which was really the only place around where you could see interesting bands from Oshawa and abroad. It’s where I met a lot of my friends and saw some great bands for the first time (Evening Hymns, The Rural Alberta Advantage, and Ohbijou to name a few). When I found out that Julie Doiron was coming to town I definitely knew that it was a big deal, though I wasn’t too familiar with her music at the time.
Arriving at the Velvet Elvis that night I can still clearly remember the scene. I showed up for the show way too early, so that it was pretty much just me, the staff, and the bands. The Elvis was a small room; I don’t think the place was supposed to hold more than 40 people (though it often held much much more). So there I was, awkwardly clutching my camera, probably leaning against the bar trying my hardest not to look like a complete nerd. Soon the room filled with friends and strangers, far past capacity. Julie played a very casual set, playing songs off her new album, taking requests, and even throwing in some choice covers. There was even a memorable moment where an inebriated man asked if he could sing a duet with Julie, which she handled like a pro, humouring the guy until he wandered upstairs to pass out on the couch. I really enjoyed Julie’s set, and even got to speak with her briefly after the show.
The scene at the Cobourg a few weeks back was like a mirror image of that night at the Velvet Elvis. Once again I found myself in a very small room overflowing with people, while Julie played a nice selection of new songs, requests, and covers. Once again, I was way to early for the show, however instead of mumbling a few words to Julie after her set like I did the first time I saw her, when I arrived she invited me over to chat. Understand, after seeing her in Oshawa, I quickly became a huge fan, buying all her albums and seeing her every chance I could; I even got the opportunity to interview her on several occasions, so it’s gotten to the point where we’ll always have a friendly chat. Concerning the show, thankfully there wasn’t a drunk man demanding a duet, but Julie did surprise a member of the audience by requesting help on one song. The audience member happened to be Gentleman Reg, and the song happened to be one of Julie’s most well known tunes “Will You Still Love Me in December.” I’m really glad I was filming when this happened because it was definitely one of the highlights of the night, and it probably won’t ever happen again, so enjoy!
Opening for her was Will Kidman, who usually plays in the Constantines but on this night was playing solo. I’ve seen Will play a lot over the years, which is strange since it doesn’t happen that often. I guess I’m just always at the right place at the right time. He hasn’t had an album out since 2006’s Quiet Waters, but with the amount of new songs he was playing hopefully we’ll be getting a new one soon. I think this song is called “Crime Dog.”