SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS–Fall Nationals The Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, ON. Night 1 of 13 (November 10, 2003).
This was the 1st night of their 13 night Fall Nationals run at the Horseshoe. Rheostatics Live has recordings of nights 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7.
The sound quality of this show is great, although it’s quite disconcerting how quiet it is between songs—must be soundboard with no audience pick up at all.
Dave chats with the crowd of course: “Always exciting on opening night—a tingle in the air. We’re basking in the glow of David Miller’s victory tonight even if he doesn’t know the words to “Born to Run.”
David Raymond Miller is the president and CEO of WWF-Canada, the Canadian division of the international World Wildlife Fund. A former politician, Miller was the 63rd Mayor of Toronto from 2003 to 2010. He entered politics as a member of the New Democratic Party, although his mayoral campaign and terms in office were without any formal party affiliation. He did not renew his party membership in 2007. After declining poll numbers, Miller announced on September 25, 2009, that he would not seek a third term as mayor in the 2010 election, citing family reasons. He was replaced by Rob frickin Ford.
They play a lot of songs from their not yet released album (not until 2004, in fact) 2067.
They open with “The Tarleks” which is follows by 2001’s “Song of the Garden” and then back to 2067 with “I Dig Music.” The new songs sound similar to the release but perhaps the words might not be solidified yet—there’s also no “too fucking bad” in “I Dig Music.”
Tim’s “In It Now” comes next with that cool opening riff. It segues into one of my favorite Tim-sung songs “Marginalized” also from 2067. I love the drums, the guitar riff, everything about it—although they are off-key as they start.
Dave says, “We’re surprising ourselves a little by playing new stuff. But when Martin asks for requests and people say “Saskatchewan” Martin starts playing it (see, the squeaky wheel…).
“Fan letter for Ozzy Osbourne” (also from 2067) it sounds a bit more spare and sad (with no wailing vocal at the end). It’s followed by “a very old song we wrote in 1989, I think, but it still applies on this special occasion.” He says it’s called “You can’t go back to Woodstock baby you were just 2 years old you, you weren’t even born.”
There’s a quiet “In This Town” that’s followed by a lengthy “When Winter Comes.” This song features a remarkably pedestrian guitar solo (sloppy and very un-Martin like).
Dave says they were recording audio commentary from a show two years ago (for what? is this available somewhere?). He says that night wasn’t a very good patter night. Good music night, though.
Tim says, “So we overdubbed good stage banter. … Till I sparked up a fattie and giggled like a moron.”
Martin: “till you sparked up a fattie and the ridiculousness of the situation became glaringly apparent.”
Dave: “Martin I can’t believe you just said ‘sparked up a fattie.'”
Martin: “The times they are a-changing.”
Martin introduces “Aliens” by saying “This would be a b-minor chord. The whole thing seems a little weird–Martin does some odd voices and weird guitar noises—it almost sounds out of tune or like it’s just the wrong guitar.
Back to a new song with “Polar Bears and Trees” and they have fun chanting the “hey hey ho ho” section.
Dave calms things down with some details: We got some stuff planned over the next 13 days. Lucky 13. Thursday there’s going to be 25 guest vocalists. We’re gonna mail it in, basically. And then on Saturday we have “Tim Vebron and the Rheostars.” According to a review, this “band” is a goof: “Martin was wearing a lei and suspenders, MPW looked like an extra from THX1138.” You can also get a pass to all 13 shows for $75. For some good old live live Canadian shield rock.
Dave asks, “Tim did you get a contact high during aliens? Some wise acre lit a marijuana cigarette.” Tim: “It’s just kicking in now. I’m hungry.”
“PIN” sound great although in “Legal Age Life,” the sound drops out at 58 seconds and comes back on at 1:35. During the song, Dave shouts G and they shift to “Crocodile Rock.” It kind of clunkily falls back in to “LAL,” but it’s fun to see them jamming and exploring a bit.
Dave says “Crocodile Rock” was a very complicate dance, but it didn’t catch on. I think the dance involved implements didn’t it. Tongs?”
“Stolen Car” starts quietly but builds and builds to a noisy climactic guitar solo. Its pretty exciting.
During the encore break there’s repeated chants for “Horses. Horses.”
You can hear Dave say, “‘Soul Glue?’ We’re not going to do that tonight, we’re going to say it for a special occasion.” The audience member shouts, “the hell with you.” Dave: “Ok, bye. Yes I am going to hell.”
What song do you think cleans the palate for the song to come after it—A sherbet?
There’s some amusing commentary between Dace and the audience. And then a little more local politics: “Did you think that was good speech by David Miller? I didn’t. I don’t want to be a bad guy coz it’s his night but…” Then Dave imagines a “David Miller ascension-to-power film starring Ed Begley Jr.”
The encore includes a rollicking “Satan is the Whistler” followed by a solid cover of The Clash’s “London Calling.” Tim’s a little sloppy on the bass, but the guitar sound is perfect and Dave’s got the vocal sound just right. As they leave you can still here that guy calling for “Horses.”
[READ: July 1, 2016] What If We’re Wrong?
I have enjoyed a lot of the essays I’ve read by Klosterman. But I’ve never read one of his books before. I saw him on Seth Meyers one night and this book sounded cool. And then I saw it at work, so I grabbed it .
Klosterman is clever and funny and this book is clever and funny. Although I found it a little long–every section of the book felt like it could have been shorter and it wouldn’t have lost any impact. However, I loved the premise and I loved all of the examples. I just got a little tired of each section before it ended.
So what is this book (with the upside down cover) about? Well, as the blurb says, our cultural is pretty causally certain about things. No matter how many times we are wrong, we know exactly how things are going to go. Until they do not go that way any more. “What once seemed inevitable eventually becomes absurd.” So what will people think of 2015/16 in 100 years? And while some things seem like they may be obvious about how tastes change, he also wonders if our ideas about gravity will change.
This came out before the horrors of the 2016 election and I read it before them, so the whole premise of the book is even more magnified. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 