SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-The Horseshoe Tavern Toronto (February 16, 2001).
There are seven live shows from 2001 on the Rheostatics Live website. In this block, I’m going to talk about the first four shows because the final two of the four are drummer Don Kerr’s final shows with the band.
There is a lovely introduction by the club owner, who thanks the Rheostatics for playing there so much. The sound quality is great and the crowd is really into it. At one point someone shouts out “Californication” (which is a line from “California Dreamline”) and Martin says that the Red Hot Chili Peppers are playing down the street. Another funny line is when someone shouts out “Jessie’s Girl” and Dave says that there’s a trend in shouting out bad songs. Nobody wants to hear the “Rheos do Rick Springfield.” That’s just bad energy.
“Fat” sounds great and it’s quite a long version. The vocals for the next few songs are fun. Martin is crazy on “CCYPA.” “When Winter Comes” has a great and fun intro.
The notes say that song 12 is “We Went West” but it is actually a cover of a Celtic Blue song “Heading Out West” with Alun Piggins (from Celtic Blue) on harmonica. It works well with them.
“California Dreamline” has some funny banter. Dave says he loves the way Martin says “Sowthern” California. Martin says English is not his first language. But that he is wearing an amazing shirt.
They have a lot of fun with “Legal Age Life” which they open with a “pa pa ooh mow mow” refrain and in the middle they throw in some “I Wanna Be Sedated.” This show also has one of the best versions of “Claire” that I’ve heard.
This is the first version of “Mumbletypeg” that I’ve heard where it includes the spoken word part (like on the record). And I love that they throw in “PROD” into the end of “Four Little Songs.”
This show was simulcast online (which is pretty high tech for 2001, no?). You can also watch the simulcast on the Rheostatics live site.
[READ: April 20, 2015] “If You Cannot Go to Sleep”
I enjoyed that this story was pretty much a fictionalized version of many people’s insomnia. It opens, “First she tries counting.” As it progresses through a series of nights, we encounter her fears, both reasonable and excessive.
But interestingly, before it even gets into her dream fears, she has a long unsleeping thought about the difference between working at a discount store and an upscale store–the discount store must be depressing, but the upscale store must be full of insufferable people–what would be worse?.
Then we learn a bit about her life. She studied French and even lived in Paris for a time. Now she works translating technical manuals and she hates it. Her husband finally quit the job that he hates–something she hoped he would do for years. But now that he did that he has moved to France–without her. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 