[...music...]

2010-03-06

[oops, been a little behind on my blogging...]

last week, blue skies turn black celebrated their 10-year anniversary with three nights at il motore. the gazette did a story on them.

i went to the third show, on saturday (february 27), with ryan. it was my first time at il motore. i liked the place; small and warm, it has a similar feel to the sala rossa.

there were four bands on the lineup, three of which were playing a reunion show that night. we got there early, as the doors were opening. during the wait time, they spinned mostly punk rock, stuff i used to listen to back in cegep (i recognized some propagandhi and fugazi). ah, memories.

unsurprisingly, the show started a half-hour later than listed. the first band to play were thundrah. it was a mix of indie/experimental/jazzy/electro rock. i liked it. i'd never seen anyone use a telephone like that before.

the second band to play was spengler. it was good, but more of the standard guitar-bass-drums kind of sound. after a while, i found it a bit boring...

the only reason i was there was to see north of america's reunion show. i first heard about them when they opened for ted leo back in 2005, where i had bought their last album, and ended up loving it. i hadn't listened to that album in a long time, until giving it a spin a few days before the show. ah, good memories.

i never use flash at shows because the flash on point-and-shoot cameras give a weird glow. but i happened to take this shot just as some guy's high-end flash went off, and the picture turned out good:

as expected, north of america gave an energetic performance. from the response, the crowd obviously loved them. stage banter was good; they made a joke about "the next one's from the new album!" and about being older. also, i found this youtube video where they mentioned that someone flew in from los angeles and from japan to see this show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDTlzqxtIF0

i only recognized a few songs, the ones from the last album. i was right in front of the stage, close enough to see the intended setlist:
wet to dance
cities and plans
let's get sick to our stomachs
now you've got your doctorate
fuck (repeating)
keep it on the download
font crimes
revolt on revolution
the fix is in
route of sorts
central port of...
speech is an...
rough draft korea
killed in the ratings

but after "the fix is in", they realized they only had 15 minutes left, so they cut out a couple of songs. out of those five last songs, they only played three, but i didn't recognize any of them, as they were all from the first album. still they ended up playing an hour-long set.

i would have liked for them to play a bit longer, but there was one last band on the lineup: rockets red glare. unfortunately, this show coincided with the nuit blanche events, so i had to miss the last band to meet up with friends downtown.

before leaving, i checked out the merch table. north of america had some cassette tapes on sale. i guess there's still a demand for tapes in the diy scene?

~~~

hearing damage: thundrah and spengler were loud. i had cheap foam earplugs that were not sufficient to block out the low bass vibrations. surprisingly, north of america's set was not as loud as i expected, so i was able to enjoy their set without earplugs.

~~~

Labels: il motore, north of america, shows

2005-10-02

ted leo/pharmacists @ la sala rossa

another one of those shows at la sala where people smoke too much, wearing tight shirts, tight jeans, and converse shoes. this one was part of the popmontreal festival.

first openers were geronimo. typical band where the guy tries to scream louder than the guitars. i couldn't really get into the music.

up next were north of america. damn, these guys were *loud*. (my ears... i went half-deaf during this set.) again, another band where the guys took turns trying to yell over the guitars. except that i enjoyed this one.

finally, ted leo & the pharmacists, the band i was there to see. i am so glad i went to this; it was much fun. even though i didn't know all the songs, i still danced (kind of) throughout most of the set. ted leo had some funny stage banter, and good interaction with the crowd. and they played some of my favourite songs, "where have all the rude boys gone?", "me and mia", and "the high party". i haven't seen many shows this year, but this was easily one of the best i've been to.

on my way out, i only saw north of america's merch table. i got a cd "brothers, sisters". i haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, my ears are still ringing from last night.

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, eal, geronimo, la sala rossa, north of america, popmontreal, shows, ted leo