Feb. 4: Gunn at the Bluescan Feb. 6: Don Felder with John Lefevbre at Jack Singer Concert Hall
On Friday I had the pleasure of visiting some old friends who were playing at The Bluescan and Sunday I joined another old friend and together we saw Don Felder at the Jack Singer Concert Hall. Both venues are located in Calgary, Alberta.
At the Bluescan, it was Gunn, a five-piece contemporary blues band comprised of some of the finest musicians in Calgary. The band plays a combination of original tunes and interesting arrangements of cover songs. Sort of a Steely Dan, Little Feat, Stevie Ray Vaughn mix replete with beaucoup guitar solos provided by Greg Gunhold and killer B-3 organ by the master, Brock Gillis. Aside from the band's only singer being mixed too low thereby rendering the vocals at times non-existent during the first set, the vocal problem was rectified and the band rocked. A well-rehearsed group, which is something virtually unheard of these days especially when local groups are concerned, they came across as tight and polished. Good songs too.
At the Jack Singer, former Eagles' guitarist Don Felder proved he was the guy that helped write "Hotel California," by opening with the song and setting the stage for what was to come. In essence, an Eagles greatest hits concert without Don Henley and Glenn Frey, Felder played all of the hits he helped write plus some that he didn't. "Tequila Sunrise," "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Life In the Fast Lane," "Witchy Woman," "One of These Nights," and a whole lot more, including a cover of Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Pride and Joy" that featured Felder's daughter on vocals, gave the crowd more than they bargained for.
An interminably long opening set was provided by Calgarian John Lefevbre. Despite having Bill Payne from Little Feat playing organ and piano, plus Bonnie Raitt's rhythm section, Tom Waits' keyboard player, and one of the hottest session guitarists, Lefebvre proved conclusively that good players do not a good song make. His songs are redundant, boring, self-indulgent, and generally not that good. Plus, his amateurism and lack of experience showed through enough that the audience began to leave after thirty minutes of musical bombast and bad jokes. Better luck next time John.
Still it was an enjoyable weekend. Live music always makes things better. It was refreshing to see a local band that is musically entertaining and technically competent. Gunn is worth checking out. And it was an enjoyable night at the Jack Singer where despite a weak opening act, Don Felder showed what a master guitarist he really is.
Canada Day. July 4th. Big celebrations at the start of the summer. Woodstock, Monterey Pop, and Altamont Speedway, big rock festivals that have become symbols of the counter-culture and hippiedom. This weekend marks the 30th anniversary of another big celebration and festival - Festival Express. While the other festivals cemented their place in popular music history, Festival Express quietly slipped into obscurity.
What's Festival Express you ask? Well, it was a cross-country concert train that travelled from Toronto to Calgary, Alberta and included some of the more famous groups and singers of the time. Imagine The Band (above right), Grateful Dead (right), Janis Joplin (below), Mashmakan, Tom Rush, Buddy Guy, Ian and Sylvia, Delaney and Bonnie, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Mountain, Traffic, and a host of others gathered together at the same time. All the musicians were sequestered on a Canadian National Railways train and they travelled across the Canadian Shield and the prairies. They jammed together, drank together, and hallucinated together all in the name of freedom, peace, and musical goodwill. Sounds fantastic I know, but it really happened.
Festival Express was supposed to begin in Montreal on June 24, but the date was cancelled; so instead FE began at the CNE (Canadian National Exposition) grandstand in Toronto on June 27 and 28. Riots occurred during the TO shows largely as a result of Woodstock, the famous festival at Max Yasgur's farm in New York state in 1969. There, over 300,000 people essentially stormed the gates and turned what was originally a ticketed event into a counter-culture love-in (see my previous post on the anniversary of Woodstock). Because Woodstock was ostensibly "free," thousands of concert-goers in TO thought FE should be free too. TO police quelled the uprising adding a black mark to the reputation of the show. The Grateful Dead ended up performing a free concert in Varsity Park to placate the protesters.
From Toronto the train rolled west to Winnipeg, Manitoba for a show on July 1, which was Dominion Day back then not Canada Day. The show went off without a hitch and the train chugged off to Calgary for the July 4 show, which was the last one on the bill. The final show was supposed to be in Vancouver but, like the Montreal show, it was cancelled leaving the McMahon Stadium show in Calgary the final one (video clip below the fold). An amusing event occurred after leaving Winnipeg when the train ran out of liquor. It made a pit stop in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and the musicians descended on the closest liquor store buying all of the Canadian Club rye, among other things, the store had. Restocked and happy, FE trundled on to Cowville.
Financial difficulties plagued the tour from the start and when it was all said and done, the organizers and sponsors, which included Maclean-Hunter and Thor Eaton (remember Eaton's department stores?), lost close to half a million dollars. In Calgary as well, controversy hit again as then-mayor Rod Sykes confronted the promoter Ken Walker demanding the show be free, like Woodstock. Walker, smarting from the financial debacle as it was, responded by punching the mayor in the face.
I remember when FE came to Calgary. I was a young, impressionable teenager that just started playing the guitar. As I recall, tickets were around $14.00 or $15.00, which was pricey for the time, and there was no way my parents would let me attend a festival that had The Band, Grateful Dead, and Janis Joplin. Horror of Horrors! So, despite the best laid plans of me and my best friend (his parents wouldn't let him go either), attending FE ended up being something we wished we could have attended.
Festival Express faded into oblivion until 2003, when the movie Festival Express premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Originally, the tour was filmed and the audio recorded for a concert movie and soundtrack album, again like Woodstock. But this was not to be as the film production company went bankrupt. The original film footage was lost and then discovered gathering dust in the garage of Gavin Poolman, son of Willem Poolman the producer of the 1970 footage. Anecdotal evidence reveals the film cans were used in a quintesstially Canadian way - as goalposts for road hockey games. Apropos? I think so.
Festival Express (the movie) is a valuable piece of popular music history. Mostly because of the performances and partly due to the fact the Calgary show was one of the last concerts that Janis Joplin would ever play. She died of a heroin overdose in October of 1970 a scant two months after FE (note: Joplin's last performance was August 12, 1970 with The Full Tilt Boogie Band at Harvard Stadium in Boston). Festival Express (the movie) is available on DVD and comes loaded with a host of extras such as concert performances not featured in the film along with commentaries by musicians, journalists, and academics. My Ph.D. supervisor Rob Bowman gives his usual astute analyses in the movie, for me this is worth the price of admission alone.
Festival Express (the DVD) is available at HMV, Chapters, and Amazon for less than twenty dollars. If you haven't added it to your collection, I highly recommend you do so. Festival Express (the DVD) is entertaining and enlightening, plus seeing and hearing these artists is a walk down memory lane you won't soon forget. And it's educational for the youngsters that have no idea about these artists or the movie.
Festival Express. Only in Canada, eh? Sweet.
Check out this performance of Janis Joplin doing "Tell Mama" in Calgary.
The second of my Winter Olympics concert series was Serena Ryder on Valentine's Day. Apropos? Not really. Killer concert? Absolutely. Serena writes great songs, sings incredibly well, has a captivating stage presence, is really funny, and she's damn cute too.
My favourite album of 2008 was Serena Ryder's Is It OK?. I played the thing to death, so having the opportunity to see her live for free was not to be passed up. Playing most of the songs from Is It OK? along with her cover of "Good Morning Starshine" and the poignant "Weak In the Knees" from her first album, she carried the show like a veteran, belying her sophomore status. Halfway through the concert an errant fire alarm provided some annoyance by disrupting the show. She cleverly and amusingly began vocalizing along with the incessant beeping of the alarm, turning what could have been an uncomfortable few minutes into a hugely entertaining vocal improv with the alarm providing weird counterpoint. And as quickly as it started, it was over. "I am psychic and feel it has stopped," she said. "But if it doesn't, fuck it." To which the adoring crowd went crazy.
In the days of vinyl LPs, a band or solo artist could release three albums before "the big one." Promotion would be ramped up with each album as the consumer field was tended for the big third album payoff. Sometimes the strategy worked, sometimes not. After all, not every artists' third album is a gem. Serena has released two albums, both containing excellent songs and production, yet there seems to be zero effort by Capitol Records Canada, her label, to promote her beyond what is the normal cursory "working" that does nothing more than help fulfill the label's part of the contract. Seriously. If Capitol were to push Serena the way they push Nickelback, she would be a bigger star than she is. Maybe they are saving themselves for her next album. One can hope.
Serena is one of those "under the radar" singer/songwriters. She isn't as quirky as Martha Wainwright or as ironic as Alanis Morrisette, but listen to "Sweeping the Ashes" and tell me if she's not skewering an ex- or soon-to-be-ex-lover. She has a knack for picking cover songs that suit her original style too. Both "Good Morning Starshine" from Hair and Leonard Cohen's "Sisters of Mercy" do not seem out of place when juxtaposed against her original material. In fact, if you didn't know better (and many out there don't) you would think she wrote them. She could be the next Sarah McLaughlin without all the weepiness and sick pets.
Previous to Serena, we were entertained by Jim Byrne and the Sojourners. Jim Byrne is a "that guy" actor and blues/gospel singer of some reknown. The Sojourners are four black gospel singers that could pass for The Blind Boys of Alabama without the seeing-eye dogs. Along with a smoking backup trio, Byrne delivered swampy, bluesy, rocking gospel music that featured some serious guitar playing by a guitarist whose name I couldn't hear when it was introduced. Boy could he play.
All in all, it was a great night with some great music. And for free. Gotta love that.
Wow. Has it been five months since my last post? It has and time does pass quickly when you're not paying attention. Since my last post, I have relocated. I have fled the snowy, frozen confines of Fort McMurray for much more hospitable climate in White Rock, B.C. Which brings me to the point of this post.
Unless you live under a rock, you know the Winter Olympics have begun in Vancouver. Along with the requisite sporting events, Vancouver and its surrounding boroughs are collectively celebrating with free concerts. Artists such as Wilco, Ridley Bent, Blue Rodeo, Serena Ryder, Headpins, Streetheart, Randy Bachman, et.al. are featured at various venues scattered between Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver, and North Vancouver.
Last night (Feb. 12) I attended Blue Rodeo's concert at Holland Park in Surrey. I went with Michele Raye, an old friend and fellow musician. Being February in Vancouver, it was raining and while walking to the site I naively asked if the show would be cancelled, given the wetness and all. "If things were cancelled because of rain," she said, "nothing would happen here." Nuff said.
The band was in great form. The sound was good, not too loud and an excellent mix. Jim Cuddy, Greg Keelor and the rest of the boys played well and were obviously enjoying themselves immensely. The show started with "Rose Coloured Glasses" and the band did not disappoint. Mixing in some new tunes from their latest album The Things We Left Behind they satisfied the crowd with the usual staples like "Bad Timing," "Five Days in May," and "Till I Am Myself Again." Jim was in fine voice and with the exception of what seemed to be some miscommunication between Jim and Greg, which was "blamed" on the kind of confusion created by smoking too many joints, the show went off without a hitch. The band did have an extra member though, in a young fellow playing acoustic rhythm guitar and singing harmony. We surmised he was the son of either Jim or Greg.
I have seen Blue Rodeo on more than one occasion. The band is remarkably consistent with their performances. They always manage to deliver a good show and last night was no exception. Last night's show was a milestone of sorts for the band as well. They were celebrating their 25th anniversary. 25 years of Blue Rodeo. They have been pretty good years too, I think.
There are other concerts that I will be attending during the Olympics. Stay tuned for further posts, not five months between this time, I promise.
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