SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (May 24, 2017).
After decades of live Rheostatics shows, this one finally catches up to just one year ago today. Which means that after this four-night run, the only unmentioned shows from Rheostatics Live are ones from this past December.
I really wanted to get to these shows in person, but four nights in May in Toronto is not easy for me to swing.
First of four shows at The Horseshoe Tavern dubbed Spring Nationals. Dave Bidini, Dave Clark, Martin Tielli, Tim Vesely, featuring Hugh Marsh on Violin and Ford Pier on Vocals and Keyboards. In addition to the newer songs that they played in the Winter, they debuted three new songs: Rear View (Tim), Here Come The Wolves (Dave B), AC/DC On My Radio (Dave B/Dave C).
This show is “only” 2 hours long, which is something of a surprise, but maybe not for a Wednesday night. The sound quality is great and there is a ton of hilarious banter.
“Saskatchewan” takes a while to start but it’s worth the wait as Martin and everyone else sound terrific. Interestingly, the music sounds somewhat different with the keys and violin. Not radically different, but noticeable.
Martin says, “That was called ‘Saskatchewan’ we wrote it in the 1940s.”
Next up is Dave Clark’s newish song “Super Controller.” There’s a long fiddle intro before the big “bah bah bah bah dah dah dah dah.” It segues right into “Soul Glue” where everyone does their parts wonderfully–especially the vocals.
The Daves offer a “big shout out to Friendly Rich” for opening the show and congratulations to Rich for some awesome music games for people to play. He’s loving and kind and he’ll hug you…. but only if you ask him to.
Dave: “Great to see you all on Wednesday night–the first of 4 shows. We’ve got opening night jitters. Not really, we’re mailing it in.”
Martin: “I’ve got the jitters.”
Martin to Dave: “You’re the most nervous driver I know. No, your driving makes the most people nervous, but you are the opposite of the uptight driver. You dance with the car.”
Dave: “Hugh and Martin don’t drive. They’re both totally way too smart to drive.”
Martin: “We care too much about the planet.”
Pointing to the keyboards: Dave: “That’s Ford Pier. We can’t decide if he looks like Kris Kristofferson, Kenny Loggins and… who’s the third person?”
Dave C: “I said he looks like Ronnie King from the Stampeders.”
Ford: “Who said Michael Phillip? That’s who I was going for.”
Next up is “P.I.N.” which sounds very pretty with the violin.
Then there’ a pretty, mournful, almost Slavic violin and guitar opening to a mellow song played for the first time, Dave B’s: “Here Come The Wolves” (7:11). Once the thundering drums kick in it’s got a kind of Jethro Tull quality. It’s long and compartmentalized and ends with chants and tom toms.
Once it ends, Dave says, “New songs are scary, which is a good thing.”
Audience Member: (It was great)
Dave B: “Oh geez… that’s not what I was fishing for, but thank you.”
Dave C: “I liked it because I noticed Tim is howling.”
Tim: “I’d like to say that old songs are terrifying too.”
Dave B: “When you’re on the accordion.”
Dave C: “I only recently learned the next song “Sickening Song” is about sex.
Martin: “With the lowering of sexual drive comes the perception of subtlety.”
There’s a whole bit about sex and cum and ever so much more. It’s quite funny.
Then Martin gets on a long rant about the movie Urgh: A Music War. He speaks of it lovingly as a good cross-section, of good and bad bands from the era. Bands were very diverse. There was no one style. The music was free. I love that. So does my brother, John.
Dave Clark: “As Annie Hall would say, ‘Well, La di dah.'”
DB: “I’m going to turn off the Martinator.”‘
Tim: “I liked stage-fright Martin a lot better.” [much laughter on that].
Martin can take the joke and informs us that “Tim’s gonna accompany me on the gentleman’s instrument” (the accordion) for “Sickening Song.” It’s great to hear this older, more unusual song.
Fave mentions that they have the new “Brave New Waves”–the first ever band on the show back in 1988 and “we sound very energetic and enthusiastic and it’s got Dave Clark rapping on it. It’s worth the $75. No it’s not $75.”
Next up is Tim’s new song, “Music Is The Message.” This is a really enjoyable version of this song, the other instruments come to the fore and Hugh Marsh’s violin is wonderful. It’s followed by a brand new Tim song (first time plated) “Rear View” (4:16). This one is a bit more upbeat and folkie-sounding. Martin even acknowledges: I like that one, Tim.”
Tim: “That was a first for that one live.”
[Dave puts down the guitar and sings into jut the mic]: “It’s about to become a Corky and the Juice Pigs gig, you realize.”
He continues: “There will be no spoken word tonight sir, we will express our thoughts in melody and song. When you go hand-held, the stand is your friend. This is a song about coming to a new land. “Mountains And The Sea” is a pretty song although it might be too much for Dave to sing by himself–there’s some notes that he strains with. I could see it more for Tim or Martin. But the melody is nice and the middle improv violin section is quite cool.
Martin is back for “California Dreamline” and he sounds great. And then comes “Claire.” For the first time in a long time, there’s no acoustic opening, it just starts and rocks on.”
Dave starts to talk about the Rock and Roll Journey Train that their management dreamed up. Take you up north on our journey train.
Clark: Loving, touching, hugging, squeezing.
Martin’s reaction is great: “What? What are you talking…?”
Dave: We’re about 4 an a half songs from the end. Did you randomly say nine more? Then we will break for…
Tim: “A day.”
Tim: “Be excited for the next song its like 5 in one.”
Dave: “It’s a value added composition…”
Tim: “A Groupon song.”
And then there’s this amusing discourse:
This next song features Hugh Marsh on the violin. It doesn’t, but still it seemed like a good time to mention it.
Dave Clark: The Satchel Page of the violin… Hugh Marsh.
Dave B: “He’s got a few years before he can we can all him that, Dave.”
DC: “Ok, The Ellen Page of the violin!
Martin: “The Ayn Rand of the violin!”
Ford: “That sounds like a shitty thing to be.”
DB: “Ford Pier, the Geraldine Page of the keyboard.”
Ford: “That’s equally shitty.”
DB: “Tim Vesley, The Stephen Page of the bass, see its just getting lower and lower isn’t it.”
Martin [clearly not getting the “page” part of the joke] “Dave Bidini, the Daryl Hannah of the rhythm guitar.”
[pause]
Martin: “I’m waiting, I want one.”
DC: “The Suzanne Somers of the guitar.”
Then they discuss how much good Suzanne Somers has done for people.
Dave B asks Dave C: “Remember The Alan Hamel Show Dave? Wasting away, thinking about ending it all?”
Martin doesn’t know it.
DB: “It’s peak Canadian afternoon television.”
Then Dave asks for a gin and tonic.
Martin explains that “The Albatross” is based on a poem by Baudelaire and then mentions a song by The Godfathers with the lyric, “I don’t read Baudelaire.”
Then there’s a discussion about The Beachcombers and the Bigfoot double episode–all shows about Bigfoot have to be double length. Martin says “a presented theory is that Bigfoot ritually bury their dead in Alaskan glaciers.”
Dave B: “I’m not getting my G&T am I? That was ten minutes of patter….”
It’s the most fun version of “The Albatross” yet.
It’s followed by “A song about hockey and sex and being gay…yeah. you;ll see.” Its a fun version of “Queer” with lots of backing vocals and the keyboards (or violin) doing all kinds of crazy sound effects. The song builds up into Dave B’s new song (first time played) ” AC/DC On My Radio” (4:03) which is a much more rocking but still simple song. Clark sings the middle verse.
After an encore, Dave sings “My First Rock Concert.” He mentions Meatloaf and says “he just wont go away…” Tim asks, “Did you see anybody else? Frank Sinatra?” Dave: “Sinatra wasn’t that big in the new wave scene.”
Martin plays a lovely version of “Stolen Car” which segues into a blistering “RDA” which they have to stop because it’s only a warm up. Then they do it again, even better.
Dave says good night, but they play the conclusion of ‘Queer’ as Dave Clark introduces everyone in a real DJ voice. Martin launches into the “Green Sprouts Theme” although with no fast part before it segues back into “Queer” to end the night.
The band sounds fantastic and rejuvenated. I really must try to get to see them next time they play The Horseshoe.
[READ: May 18, 2018] “Artifacts”
Geoffrey works at a history museum in the Yukon. There was a room dedicated to the gold rush of 1989 with rusty pans and pickaxes. But more interesting to him was the prehistory room next door: Beringia, it was called, that place where the ice wasn’t.
The room held replicas of giant sloth, giant short faced-bear and a mammoth. Animals that were familiar, yet not.
Geoffrey was dating a woman, Ida, who had moved to the Yukon because she was “into ice ages.” She had heard of Beringia even though he, who had studied anthropology. had not. She was somewhat cold and inflexible like a museum exhibit.
The crux of this story involves a meeting between scientists, environmentalists and Janice, Geoffrey’s boss. She is determined not to cave to the environmentalists who want an exhibit to address glob. Janice may have believed in global warming but “what belongs in my museum is another matter altogether.” (more…)
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