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Archive for the ‘Canadian Music’ Category

Rheostatics: The Great Lakes Suite (TD Music Hall, Toronto, ON, November 21 & 22, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Alex Lifeson, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Dave Bidini music, Hugh Marsh, Kevin Hearn, Martin Tielli, Rheostatics, TD Music Hall, Tim Vesely on November 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 21 & 22, 2025] Rheostatics

I am a huge fan of the Rheostatics, but I’ve only seen them live one time–ten years ago!

They don’t play live much these days and they record music even less.   But they had just released this new project–The Great Lakes Suite.  And, even crazier, Alex Lifeson was on the record and was going to play live!  I could go to this relatively small venue in Toronto and see one of my favorite bands with one of my favorite guitarists.

When I saw Rheostatics, they were playing their Group of 7 album–it was a special event.  So, I saw them play my least favorite of their albums (although live it was really tremendous) plus a few extra songs.

The Great Lakes Suite is a beautiful piece of symphonic music inspired by the Great Lakes.  And this is what they were playing.  And no matter how much I wanted to see Rheostatics and how exciting it was to see Alex up close, I didn’t want to drive all the way to Toronto and hear a band I love NOT play the songs I wanted to hear.

I see on the setlist that they played the entire Suite and two encores.  So I’m glad I didn’t get tickets.

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Preoccupations / Goon (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, June 25, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Canadian Music, Goon, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Preoccupations on June 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 25, 2025] Preoccupations / Goon

I’ve seen Preoccupations twice already, once in the Foundry opening for Protomartyr.  They used to be called Viet Cong, but wisely changed that name.  They put on a great live show, but I was in a bit of a concert funk and didn’t bother getting tickets.  It’s possible that Preoccupations has changed their sound somewhat–a little softer and less abrasive perhaps.  They seem to have embraced a new wave feel.  I wonder how they deal with their older songs live if they’ve become kind of a different band.

Goon is a band created by Kenny Becker who is also an accomplished painter.  Fascinatingly, Becker suffers from a rare medical condition that periodically deadens his sense of smell and hearing, which for years shaded his day-to-day life with a dull pallor.   Similarly his songs are hazy and soft, synth pieces with soft vocals.  Considering Preoccupations opened for Metz last time around, this is quite a change.

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The Menzingers / Lucero / The Dirty Nil (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, June 7 & 8, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Canadian Music, Jersey City, NJ, Lucero, The Dirty Nil, The Menzingers, White Eagle Hall on June 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 7 & 8, 2024] The Menzingers / Lucero / The Dirty Nil

I have seen The Menzingers twice.  The first time I missed most of their set.  The second time I was in a terrible location and the sound was dismal.  I told myself that I really wanted to see one good set with them.

But they’ve come around a few times since then and I really just don’t care anymore.   So I guess I’m done with them.

I thought I had posted about Lucero before, that they had opened for someone else before, but  there’s no posts about them.

I have learned

Lucero is an American country-punk/alternative country/alternative rock band based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Lucero’s sound has been described as a “synthesis of soul, rock, and country [that] is distinctly Memphisian.” They have released 11 albums and one live DVD, mostly through their own label.

I have grown to like country punk more over the years, but I’d have no real desire to see Lucero.

(more…)

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Jann Arden–The Bittlemores: a novel (2023)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Cows, Environmentalism, Farming, Fears, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Jann Arden, Kidnapping, Mercer Report, Pregnancy, Rick Mercer, Sports on February 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JANN ARDEN-“Could I Be Your Girl” (1994).

It’s fascinating to watch the video for this song now, since all I really know about what Jann Arden looks like is the author photo and her TV appearances since the 2000s.

She’s got long dark hair!

The song is pretty and I guess lyrically it’s pretty dark and poetic.  This lyrics is pretty surprising for a pop song

And I am ashesI am JesusI am preciousCould I be your girl?

I don’t really care for the “oh my lord” backing vocals, for the sound, not the words.

Indeed, the whole song feels kind of bland.  For a song that seems pretty dramatic, I want a little more from the song.  Maybe the production is too smooth?

It’s catchy though and I suppose in the 90s it was pretty remarkable.  But really it’s just not my style.

At the bottom of this post, you can see Jann Arden talking about this song and basically telling me that I’m an idiot.

[READ: February 2024] The Bittlemores

I’ve known about Jann Arden pretty exclusively from her appearances on Canadian TV (she has her own sitcom too which is pretty funny in the parts I’ve watched).  She was a perennial guest on the Rick Mercer Report which I loved.  She was always funny and game for something.

Her music, on the other hand, is serious and poppy.

I didn’t know what to expect from this novel, but I knew I wanted to support her first foray into fiction (I won’t be reading her memoirs which sound very sad).

And I have to say that this story shocked me from the start because the home life she conveys in this story is so horrible, so miserable, that I was fairly shocked at the things I read.  And yet, her tone is never heavy, so even the most unpleasant things (an old man drowning kittens) are delivered in a tone that makes you not want to throw the book across the room and say “I thought you loved animals, Jann!”

But she pulls no punches as the story starts: “Harp Bittlemore is a horrible man.”  The Bittlemore farm was once a thriving farm but it is now mostly dried up and useless.  It is in the middle of nowhere, miles from anything and even more miles from the nearest city.  There’s a couple of sad cows and pigs.  And there’s a young girl.

Margaret is the Bittlemore child.  She hates living with the Bittlemores.  They are mean and unloving.  And she wants to get even with them.  What does a girl with no agency do to get back at the adults around her?  She gets pregnant.  At 14.

This didn’t punish the adults as much as it punished her, of course.   And as soon as The Bittlemores found out she was pregnant, they locked her in the house–for five months.  Margaret had been going to school but the adults told everyone that she had been accepted to a school in France and that she would no longer be in the area for a while.

When Margaret has the baby–at home, with Mrs Bittlemore stitching her up, Margaret makes a bold decision.  She runs away.  She climbs out the window of her room (while in a ton of pain) leaving behind her baby, and flees up the road with no destination.  She meets a truck driver (female, thankfully) named Tizzy who has a soft spot for this poor girl in trouble and she takes her as far as her route is going. (more…)

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Rick Mercer–The Road Years: A Memoir, Continued … (2023)

Posted in Alex Lifeson, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Corporate skewering, Dip-in Books, Essays, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Geddy Lee, Jann Arden, Mercer Report, Neil Peart, Political Humor, Politicians, Religion, Rick Mercer, Rush, Stephen Harper on February 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: February 2024] Rick Mercer The Road Years

Sixteen years ago I read Rick Mercer’s first book.  Since then I’ve read a couple of his other books, but I missed the first part of this memoir, Talking to Canadians.  I guess I’ll have to track that book down too.  Because I love the way Mercer writes.  I loved his show and now I love his print.

About his first book I wrote:

Rick Mercer is a great political comedian.  He puts all American political commentators to shame. I’m sure that much of this difference is the way Canada is structured. There seems to be so much more openness to politicians there than in our system.  For reasons I can’t fathom, politicians agree to hang out with Rick even though in the next segment he will rant about their incompetence.

Well, this book goes some way to take the blinds off how the show worked.

So this book picks up where his previous memoir finished–just as he was about to start The Rick Mercer Report.

He explains that the premise of this book and indeed of his show was “What does it mean to be Canadian?”  [Spoiler: he never does find the answer to that].

He talks about how the show was spun off from This Hour Has 22 Minutes and was originally The Monday Report.  (It was going to be on Mondays and they figured if they called it that then the CBC would never move it).  They didn’t really have a plan for the show–it was all kind of seat of the pants until they were about to start filming.  They decided that everywhere in Canada there was something interesting happening.  And he would go to check it out and show the rest of the country.  It would spur local and national pride.  And it would be funny as well.

So Rick travelled around the country and rode on “The Train of Death” (fortunately, the book comes with pictures).  And soon it was established that if Rick could be put in danger or humiliated, well, that was the show right there–locals getting the best of the snooty Toronto TV guy.

So he wore a beard of bees, he was tucked into bed by Prime Minster Stephen Harper, he pulled a sleeping polar bear out of its den and he had lots of crazy adventures with Jann Arden. (more…)

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Bahamas / Fortunate Ones (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, October 19, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Bahamas, Canadian Music, Fortunate Ones on October 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 19, 2023] Bahamas / Fortunate Ones

This is the second concert (which I did not attend) that has been at Union Transfer and then Asbury Lanes (if there’s ever someone I love, I could see them twice!).

I’ve been surprised that the bands are playing these two venues as I tend to think of Asbury Lanes as being very very small.  But I see that the capacity of Asbury Lanes is 700 and the capacity of Union Transfer is 1200.  I would have guessed Asbury Lanes to be about 300, but then I’ve never seen anyone there when it was sold out.

About five years ago I watched a video of Bahamas at Massey Hall and I liked it.

Bahamas is Afie Jurvanen a Canadian folk act. I haven’t followed them much but considered that I might want to see them. But when I listened to their newer songs, I didn’t like them.

It’s very much soft rock with, and I feel that this works for the name Bahamas, a kind of summery vacationy islandy feel.  It’s the kind of thing that I would enjoy hearing while I was walking around in a vacation chalet, but not someone I’d want to see live.

Fortunate Ones is a Canadian indie folk duo from St. John’s, Newfoundland, consisting of Andrew James O’Brien and Catherine Allan.

It’s nice that Bahamas invited another Canadian band along with him.  But I didn’t like either of their voices (which surprises me).

Needless to say I’m not going to this show.

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Bahamas / Fortunate Ones (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 18, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bahamas, Canadian Music, Fortunate Ones, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on October 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 18, 2023] Bahamas / Fortunate Ones

About five years ago I watched a video of Bahamas at Massey Hall and I liked it.

Bahamas is Afie Jurvanen a Canadian folk act. I haven’t followed them much but considered that I might want to see them. But when I listened to their newer songs, I didn’t like them.

It’s very much soft rock with, and I feel that this works for the name Bahamas, a kind of summery vacationy islandy feel.  It’s the kind of thing that I would enjoy hearing while I was walking around in a vacation chalet, but not someone I’d want to see live.

Fortunate Ones is a Canadian indie folk duo from St. John’s, Newfoundland, consisting of Andrew James O’Brien and Catherine Allan.

It’s nice that Bahamas invited another Canadian band along with him.  But I didn’t like either of their voices (which surprises me).

Needless to say I’m not going to this show.

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An evening with Sloan (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, June 28, 2023)

Posted in Canadian Music, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Sloan on June 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 28, 2023] Sloan

This is my fifth time seeing Sloan (and S’s third time).  And while I know that they have a new record out (and they played every song from it), I am so impressed by the number of new songs they played at this show.

Every time I’ve seen Sloan, they’ve done “An Evening with” which I love.  I do enjoy an opening act most of the time, but it’s so great getting two sets–two and a half hours–of music from the band you really like.

I’m always a little bummed that Sloan aren’t bigger here–they play such huge places in Canada.  But here they wind up in 250 person capacity venues.  Of course, everyone there is a huge fan, so that’s gotta feel pretty good.  Plus, I don’t want to see them in an arena.

Their new album Steady is really good and they started off the show with three new songs, one from each vocalist.  I love that they started out with a song from Patrick–his songs are so catchy.  They followed it with a Jay song–so distinctive.  And ended the trilogy with a Chris song–poppy and catchy with great harmonies from Patrick.

They jumped back to Twice Removed with a classic song I can’t believe I haven’t heard them play before, “I Can Feel It.”

Jay doesn’t have as many songs as the other guys so we tend to hear a few of the same songs from him when he sings.  But Between the Bridges is my favorite album of theirs so I’m always happy to hear a song from it.

After the new “Human Nature” with a killer melody, Andrew, the drummer, came out from behind the kit.  This is always fun, because Jay switches to bass and Chris switches to drums while Andrew sings and plays guitar. (more…)

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METZ / Preoccupations (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, December 11, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Canadian Music, Goon, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Preoccupations on December 11, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 11, 2021] METZ / Preoccupations

I saw METZ open for Modest Mouse four years ago and my ears might still be ringing.  I knew of Metz from their noise filled chaotic but amazing albums.

Their live show was less about the abrasiveness and more about their intense stage presence.  I knew I wanted to see them headline a show.

And then they announced it.  A headlining show at my favorite small venue (actually, this place might have been too small for them).  I was so psyched, until I saw that it fell on the same day as our holiday party.

Realistically there was no way I could go.  What a bummer.

Turns out later on, the band Stars announced their show for the same night and since I’ve never seen Stars, I would have picked them instead.  But what a drag when schedules can’t line up.

I’ve actually seen Preoccupations twice already, once in the Foundry opening for Protomartyr.  They used to be called Viet Cong, but wisely changed that name.  They put on a great live show.  This would have been a killer double bill.

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The Menzingers / Dirty Nil / Kayleigh Goldsworthy (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 27 & 28, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Canadian Music, Kayleigh Goldsworthy, Philadelphia, PA, The Dirty Nil, The Menzingers, Underground Arts on November 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 27 & 28, 2021] The Menzingers / Dirty Nil / Kayleigh Goldsworthy

I saw The Menzingers during Philly Music Fest.  I really enjoyed the set but I was in a terribly location and the sound was dreadful.  I told myself I wanted to see them again.  And there it was, just a month later at Underground Arts!

I couldn’t go on Saturday night because I had tickets to see The Districts, but then they added a 2nd show on Sunday.

But I had just gone to a show on Saturday and the previous week was just chock full of shows.  I couldn’t bring myself to go out again.  Especially since I had just seen them.

I do hope they come back again soon.  And it would be amazing of they could play a small club like that again. (more…)

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