Archive for ‘Music Writing’

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July 5, 2011

NATASHA SUTTON REPORTS: Blue Rodeo, Mike Myers wow at Canada Day in London

Mike Myers in Trafalgar Square

Mike Myers made a surprise appearance in Trafalgar Square on Friday. (Natasha Sutton photo)

[We’ve got Will and Kate over here, so what do we give England in return? Blue Rodeo! Pretty fair deal, no? Plus, there was a surprise appearance from the world’s most insatiable spy — an added treated at the hugely successful Canada Day celebration in London. Here’s Street Party Correspondent Natasha Sutton’s report, with some exclusive pics.]

LONDON — An estimated 60,000 people stopped in their tracks at Trafalgar Square in the mid-heat of London to be part of Canada Day. Yes, London celebrated Canada Day.

Natasha Sutton

Natasha Sutton

And did it rambunctiously too, with such gusto the nearby Tim Horton’s sold out of coffee and doughnuts by late afternoon on Friday.

While that shortage may have disappointed many of the revelers, bars kept spirits up with Canadian beer on tap and the organizers lined up a long roster of bands to keep the Canadians in London — or those who wanted to be Canadian for the day — thrilled with a taste of home.

Headliners Blue Rodeo stole the show as the crowd sang their hearts out to the band’s classics like “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet” and “Lost Together.” The loudest ovation, though, was prompted by the appearance of a surprise guest.

This reporter had refrain herself from saying in my Austin Powers’ accent, “You rock my world baby, yer, baby yer” when Mike Myers showed up. Instead, I got a quick snap of the Torontonian backstage before he swiftly exited to the VIP lounge.

Blue Rodeo in Trafalgar Square for Canada Day 2011

The boys from Blue Rodeo got lost together in London. (Natasha Sutton photo)

“The success of this event illustrates how strongly Canadian culture and the business community are embraced in London. Rainmaker is proud to produce such a high calibre event,” said Chad Molleken, UK Managing Director, Rainmaker Global Business Development.

Other musical acts during the fifth annual Canada Day in London celebrations included Karkwa, the charismatic Alex Cuba, Lennie Gallant, Devon Sproule, the energetic Oh My Darling, the Mahones, Justin Hines, and the sensational Tammy Weis with James Bryan.

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July 3, 2011

Canada Day weekend explodes with sunshine and celebrations

Canada Day fireworks

Canada Day fireworks over Ontario Place. (Julia Pelish photo)

The only people who may have had a better time than Torontonians during the Canada Day weekend were the many dozens of visitors from Philadelphia who arrived to see their hometown heroes: the Phillies and the Roots.

The Roots raised the roof at the 2011 Toronto Jazz Fest, thrilling about 5,000 fans who congregated under the tent at Metro Square and spread out on the lawn on a cloudless Canada Day night on Friday. Black Thought (Tariq Trotter), ?uestlove (Ahmir Thompson) and crew scorched through their set that began a few hours after the Phillies rallied to beat the Blue Jays 7-6 at the ’Dome. Roy Halladay won on Saturday, of course, and the Phillies took the first two games of the series.

Along with the Philly flavour, lots of other Americans arrived in town to take in the activities, which included the Pride events and the big show at Downsview Park, where L.A. band Weezer was one of four acts that opened things up for the Tragically Hip. Broken Social Scene, Hey Rosetta! and Buck 65 also played in front of 25,000.

Canada Day festivities ended, as usual, with fireworks from Ontario Place, with hundreds of boats surrounding the barge as the lights shot to the sky. Rooftops and balconies on Queens Quay were filled with spectators who also got to glimpse the fireworks taking place in Port Credit and Hamilton.

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June 29, 2011

Los Lonely Boys bring a Texas flood of sound to 2011 Toronto Jazz Fest

Los Lobos at 2011 Toronto Jazz Fest

Los Lobos played a bluesy show at the 2011 Toronto Jazz Fest. (Julia Pelish photo)

By the time the Brothers Garza were through with their blistering 70 minutes of hard-driving, loud-hollering, ferociously raucous set on Tuesday night, they could’ve owned Toronto. Or at least Metro Square, and they certainly could leave town knowing they’ll command a higher price next time they roll into the Phoenix or the Sound Academy.

The Garzas, aka Los Lonely Boys, tore up the 2011 Toronto Jazz Fest with the sort of tunes that make traditional jazz fans cringe and critics ask, “Why are they here?” Good music is good music, though, and downtown Toronto could do with even more nights similar to the ones provided by this year’s edition of the festival.

No one outside Metro Hall was asking what genre of music Los Lonely Boys were categorized under. They just wanted more of it.

The thousand or so paying fans jammed under the tent and the hundred-plus outside on the lawn gave them a standing ovation — not their first of the night — as they walked off the stage.

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June 26, 2011

Eddie Floyd and Stax! heat up 2011 Toronto Jazz Fest

Eddie Floyd and Stax!

For his birthday, Eddie Floyd gets a dance and Jazz Fest fans get a treat from the Stax! band.

Eddie Floyd celebrated his 74thbirthday on Saturday night. Toronto received the gift.

The long-time bluesman came on stage with the Stax! band midway through their set and absolutely, positively, undisputedly wowed us all. He pulled young ladies out of the audience to dance, played matchmaker by calling up an eager guy to join one of them, displayed a level of showmanship you usually have to pay big bucks to see at the ACC and delivered each classic blues song with a set of lungs that had to have been half as old as the rest of him.

If all is right in the universe, Floyd’s performance outside Metro Hall should guarantee the 2011 Toronto Jazz Fest will have a huge week and go down as the most successful edition yet. Anyone watching Floyd and the outstanding Stax! band, which included guitarist Steve Cropper (an original member of Booker T & the MGs and Floyd’s songwriting partner), drummer Anton Fig (from David Letterman’s band) and bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn (an original member — with Cropper — of the Blues Brothers Band), will be tempted to return for the remainder of the Mainstage’s stellar lineup — which includes Robert Cray (Monday), a terrific double bill of Los Lonely Boys and Los Lobos (Tuesday), and an “are you kidding me?” Canada Day treat: The Roots (Friday).

If you haven’t been downtown the last couple of nights, you may not be aware the tunes are floating out from the big tent that’s been set up at Metro Square between King and Wellington Streets. So even if you haven’t paid the $40 or so for a seat, you can grab a spot by the rail or lounge on the lawn or dance it up for free.

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June 20, 2011

Clarence Clemons – thanks for the memories

clarence-clemons-and-springsteen-are-born-to-run

The original Born to Run cover

When a publisher asked me a few years ago to list my favourite albums of all time for a collection of essays from rock critics, the easiest decision was what to put at No. 1. “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle” was fun, funky and fantastically listenable. It’s also timeless. I didn’t discover early Bruce Springsteen until the late-80s, when I was a teenager, nearly two decades after the release of “Greetings from Asbury Park”. While that first album gets acclaim for putting Springsteen on a map larger than the Jersey shore and while the third album, “Born to Run,” is what produced his signature tune, it’s the second album that has the most soulfulness, I think. It’s not perfect, meandering at times, and not preciously produced like “Darkness on the Edge of Town”. What “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle” has, though, is the exuberance that captures the live E Street Band experience that so many of us not only love, but cherish as some of the best memories of our lives.

Going to see an E Street Band concert is going to church for a lot of us. When I heard “Rosalita” live for the first time in Vancouver four years ago, it was rapturous. Every note swimming through me, uplifting me, making me jump a little lighter. A lot of us are tearful because the passing of Clarence Clemons means we’ll never have such a moment again.

The Big Man’s star turns are on “Born to Run,” with the solo on “Jungleland” and the shout-out from Bruce on “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out”. But it’s on “Rosalita” and “Incident on 57th Street” from “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle” that we hear it all coming together: The E Street Band before they were officially called so melding into the great outfit they became, and doing so in large part because of Springsteen’s insistence on having a saxophonist at a time when no one else did.

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June 5, 2011

Sam Roberts collides with success at Massey Hall

At one moment Saturday night, Sam Roberts paused to tell his audience he wasn’t quite sure how he ended up headlining at Massey Hall. For those who’ve followed his career, the answer’s easy. Oftentimes, hard work is what separates musicians who make it to prominence and those who miss out. Roberts earned his milestone two-show stint with lots of effort along the way and hard work is going to get him more big nights ahead.

To see how far the rocker from Montreal has come since the independently released “The Inhuman Condition” in 2001, you just have to attend one of his concerts. From “Brother Down” to “Them Kids,” Roberts in the past decade has churned out memorable song after memorable song, and the casual fan may not quite realize how prodigious he’s been until he pulls out his hits one by one, enough to fill a setlist (or playlist at 102.7 FM).

His delivery is likewise relentless. Roberts rarely took a breather on stage and looked fresh enough at the end of the show to go another hour or two. While his voice may sound a bit like Tom Cochrane and he and his band have a touch of The Police and The Kinks in them, Roberts is clearly cut from the Bruce Springsteen school of workyourbuttofftilyoudrop.

Highlights included “Brother Down,” of course, and a slow, bluesy version of “Hard Road.” Best of all for Roberts is how seamlessly the songs from the newly released “Collider” fit in with the rest of set. Opener “Streets Of Heaven (Promises, Promises),” the danceable “Graveyard Shift” and the first single “I Feel You” all pleased the fans, many of whom were shaking and singing from start to finish.

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June 3, 2011

Tom Wilson talks travel, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings and life

Tom Wilson at Union Station in TorontoTom Wilson may look exactly what you would think a rock star would look like. His personality, though, is blue collar and down to earth. I found Wilson early Sunday afternoon lounging on a metal seat at Union Station as he waited to catch a GO Bus back to Hamilton. We were meeting to discuss his travels for an upcoming article for the “On the Road” series in the Star.

He impressed me for a number of reasons, not least of which was his genuine interest in Julia and me. He asked where we were from and had great things to say — and terrific, albeit unmentionable stories to share — about her hometown (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and mine (Kitchener). Once he was on his bus, he emailed to thank us for making him feel comfortable.

Musicians don’t do that. Actually, few people in any walk of life do that.

As well as being gracious, Wilson also spoke thoughtfully about a variety of issues and shared photos of a trip he took to Versailles with his kids on his 50th birthday a couple of years ago, where he had a bit of fun with narcotics at Marie Antoinette’s estate. (He’d just come back from Amsterdam – what do you expect?)

Most importantly, though, is the excitement building toward the release of the seventh Blackie & the Rodeo Kings album, “Kings and Queens,” due out Tuesday, June 14. You may not have heard a lot of music from the band, but I think they’re going to get plenty of critical praise in coming months. Tom teams with Colin Linden and Stephen Fearing in BARK and “Kings and Queens” features vocals from a host of big names: Roseanne Cash, Patti Scialfa, Holy Cole, Emmylou Harris, Sam Phillips, Serena Ryder and Lucinda Williams among them.

“You had to write for those voices and hopefully they would like those songs,” Wilson says about the challenge of penning tunes for the album’s stellar roster of guest vocalists. “We had to jump through fiery hoops to write those songs and Colin Linden had to jump through fiery hoops to knit all together.”

As for the highlight of the process, Wilson singled out the finished product.

“What was a kick was getting some of the mixes back. Getting a track with my voice and Lucinda Williams singing together is pretty cool, you know,” he says of the album’s first song “If I Can’t Have You.”

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May 19, 2011

Death Cab livens up the Phoenix


On the day Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber topped Forbes’ list of the richest and most powerful celebrities, Death Cab for Cutie showed Toronto you can still thrive in the music biz without big money or gimmicks. The Seattle-area quartet put on a no-nonsense, no-frills, no-BS performance at the Phoenix on Wednesday that showcased their stellar musicianship and Ben Gibbard’s flawless vocals.

Kicking off with a lengthy intro to “I Will Possess Your Heart,” Death Cab rolled through a two-hour set that featured several songs from the upcoming “Codes and Keys” album, the band’s seventh and first since the 2008 monster “Narrow Stairs.”

Highlights included Gibbard’s acoustic rendition of “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” which turned into a singalong (“You and me have seen everything to see/From Bangkok to Calgary”) and “Soul Meets Body,” which, well, really soared into the atmosphere. Gibbard is one of the rock world’s best male vocalists at the moment, sounding the way you might imagine Morrissey sounding if he were heterosexual.

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