Another one bites the dust

As the year winds to a close and I look back at 2010 musically, it will be remembered for 3 things. Firstly, the long overdo release of Forgiveness Rock Record; secondly it is the year I sadly fell out of love with Arcade Fire and lastly; I will remember it as the year I fell hopelessly in love with Mumford and Sons.

It's about time

These guys are AWESOME. I had heard 1 or 2 of their songs but then a friend dragged me to the show a few days ago and I fell immediately in love. In general, I do not play the whole "Oh my god, I'm at a concert, I better get up front and be all crazy ridiculous" game - I kind of hang in the back and just listen to the music. I happen to think that The Sound Academy is the shittiest venue in Toronto, however - last weekend I really didn't care at all. About 3 songs in I was front and centre - well, a little right of centre actually - awestruck, directly in front of one Winston Marshall. The man is a freaking banjo virtuoso. I am a fan for life and had I been able to figure out a way, I would have stowed away on their tour bus and never looked back. I have not been this blown away by a band in years - the only thing that I think even comes close in the past few years was seeing Stevie Wonder live. I was floored, it was embarrassing - I think I actually stopped breathing for a while there and I may have drooled. Definitely the best discovery of 2010, great - just what I needed - now I just have to get me a banjo. Their music is poetic, cerebral, powerful, beautiful, stripped back, just bloody unreal and life changing. Oh, and did I mention that they all play at least 4 different instruments? I cannot say enough wonderful things about them - go listen, they won't disappoint.

White Blank Page

Ho hum

So, this makes me feel like I should go back to bed and not bother to get up and do anything as I can never hope to do anything even a fraction as fabulous as this . . .. And with a beautiful backdrop provided by Mother Nature, how can anyone not be moved by this? How can something so simple be so magnificent?

Once in a lifetime

When I first heard about the BSS show in Central Park I played the 'Should I, Shouldn't I' game for a few days and then thought, how many times in my life will I want to kick my own ass if I don't go? The answer was well into the triple digits so we immediately formulated the most ridiculous plan ever to attend the not to be missed evening. I flew out of Toronto mid afternoon Saturday, we raced in the cab over to the Park and were met by about 3000 other people who also understood the importance of the event. All told, by the time the show started, I am quite sure attendance topped out at over 6000.

The setlist was phenomenal - my favourite addition being Romance To The Grave - if there is a track off of FRR that can explain to the world exactly who they are, it's that one. Older crowd faves like Ibi, Shorelines, Looks Just Like the Sun and Cause were all present and accounted for, with FRR heavily represented.

The set was longer than I expected and the whole night was surreal (we stayed up all night in NY and caught a 6:00 am flight back to Toronto), but there was 1 disappointment.

Their performance was beefed up with the addition of back up tracks - that cut fairly deep. For anyone who has ever seen them live, we recognize that a huge part of their whole 'mystique' is that any given performance will be different from the previous and the subsequent performance due to who shows up on stage each night. This is why I have 27 versions of Anthems. I am hoping that backing tracks are not now going to be a staple of their live gigs.

Anyway - all in all a pretty inspiring night, I can now say that BSS has brought me to tears in Central Park (thanks to Lover's Spit and Hotel). I feel a bit like I should do a Mastercard commercial . . . "concert ticket $31, return airfare to NYC with 16 hour turn around time $600, seeing your favourite band play Central Park - dreamy and priceless."

Oh, and an aside - if you don't know when to clap in Stars & Sons, just don't effing clap at all!

And thank you to Mother Nature for holding back the rain, although I don't even think that could have ruined our night.

Another year

How the hell do I forget every year what a shitstorm Back To School is?

To be Canadian . . .

There is no mistaking the beautiful sound of Dallas Green - add in Gord Downie and you've got a recipe for pretty damn near perfection.

One of the rare days when I hate my job and feel very envious . . .

Lesson learned

I grew up repeating the phrase "Van's the man" on demand. And as an adult I fully recognize that Van is indeed the man. Very few people write shit like this anymore.