SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Railway Club, Vancouver, BC (November 1987).
It’s pretty impressive that this show (ostensibly from the same month as the previous show) has such a different setlist. Between the two shows they play 22 songs and only four are repeated. And this time five of the songs come from their debut album, Greatest Hits.
This tape begins with a recording of “Indian Arrow” by the 13 Engines. It sounds very different from the other songs on the tape–the audience is very loud and you can hear a woman say “I wanna sing this one” (!). I know this song from a Martin Tielli solo tour (and indeed, he sounds pretty much solo here–although there is a piano, too).
The rest of the tape all has the same audio quality but sounds different from the first song. “Crescent Moon” begins mid-song (as if it was recorded over by “Indian Arrow”). “Sad Sad World” is more upbeat than the title suggests with a “vocal solo” introduced with Dave and Tim chanting M-R-T-I-N in time with the music. An upbeat “Ditch Pigs” leads to some silly banter during the guitar solo. “Churches and Schools” sounds a lot like Talking Heads. “Bridge Came Tumbling Down” is a Stompin’ Tom Connors song–they really had been playing him since forever. Then they play a good version of “Higher and Higher” (from Greatest Hits).
It’s their last night in Vancouver, apparently which leads to a lengthy talk about he next song–a funky version of “Good on the Uptake” with lots of screaming at the end (from Tim).
The band plays the full version of “The Ballad of Wendell Clark” (with a some jokes about “Joel” whoever that is). It’s rollicking and stomping and Martin starts playing “O Canada” as part of the solo. Bidini stops the song and asks him to play it again, so Martin plays it on a good echoed effect (and Dave Clark shouts “alright Joel!”) There’s some inappropriate jokes before Martin launches into a delicate version of The Beatles’ “Across the Universe-“-not the best version I’ve heard but still nice.
The final song is a romping stompin “PROD”–the only song The Rheostatics play in G#. It has a fun shambolic end and it ends the set with them saying they’ll be back to play some Menudo tunes after a short break (which we never do hear).
[READ: January 15, 2016] Making Friends
It’s unsettling to me that the Liō books come in different shapes. This one is even hardcover! The contents of these stories are not unsettling to me though, even if they are to some readers (looking online, you can find gripes).
Liō continues to be a strange kid who loves zombies and squids and spiders and playing pranks. This is his latest book (and I just confirmed to see that he is still publishing daily, so a new book must be coming soon, right?).
Tatulli still has some great gags. And this format book has some of the strips in color.
I enjoyed the one withe the yellow caution sign with the curved arrow. When he rides his bike around the corner, a monster that looks just liked the sign turns and snarls at him.
In continuing with Liō’s love of animals, he goes into a seafood restaurant with a flute and all of the critters follow him out.
Things don’t always work out for him though as in a later one just as he is about to watch a horror movie, he gets snapped at by a lobster who insists on watching a Jacques Cousteau program.
His cat is back–terrorizing badminton birdies among other things. He does a very spooky impression of the Cheshire cat. The cat (who I’m sure is named although I don’t recall the name) gets in some really great jokes on Liō. Like the way he wakes him up to be fed, or the hilarious one where he switches out breakfast cereal for his own cat food. I also love that the cat is able to read the beware of the cat sign and take action accordingly.
The girl (whose name is Eva Rose) still hates him as much as he love her. Her birthday present to him proves to be an unexpected disaster for her though when it doesn’t quite explode the way she intended. And what better way to show your love for a girl than to serenade her after trapping her in the grip of a python
I also rally enjoyed seeing the human side of Liō. When he makes something and it doesn’t work, he actually needs some support from his dad.
Some of the very best jokes are simple misunderstandings. Like the aliens he mistakes for hippity hops. Or when his time travels spray only manages to move exactly what he sprayed upon.
I always love the jokes where it is a literal interpretation of things that makes it so funny. Like when Liō tries to go to The Big City. Or what happens if you try to turn into a werewolf on a night with a half-moon?
There’s some interesting football jokes–unusual for Liō who doesn’t really do sports. In one, he catches the football from his dad and uses it as a pillow. In the second, he actually plays football (with a helmet that has a cut for his hair) but is stopped by a formidable opponent.
Or how about the interesting characters that are on line at the Home Improvement Center. Liō with his Venus fly trap is not the most unusual person on the line.
A few funny one-off gags include how Liō has a special way to celebrate July 4th. And his take on snow angels in the summer is genius. There’s also very funny Twilight joke–at a vampire’s expense. Once again we see just how useful a flamethrower can be for household chores.
Of course Liōlikes to scare others, but the biggest frights that he experiences all involve going back to school. Unless he can make some money on it, of course.
I love the premise behind Liō blowing bubbles into the freezer–wonder how you could make that work. There’s also a pretty funny one with the TV trying to eat him because he’s reading a book.
And how excited Liō is for Halloween week–screening the movies with his favorite characters and doing all manner of deviltry.
And just imagine what kind of fun Liō can have when he gets a camera! (or when the cat turns the tables on him with it)
This book ends with Thanksgiving (and an online search shows that these are actually from 2010), so I’m curious to see when all of these other strips are going to be released! I’m going to have to go and read all of the strips online, it seems.
For ease of searching, I include: Lio.
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