best of series part I

so, in my infinite boredom at the ol' moonbean café in kensington market this afternoon, i scrawled down some of my "best of" moments in live music. so here's the beginning of a series that i'll find another subject to muse upon, if and when i'm ever inspired to do so.

TOP 5 CONCERTS, EVER (according to me).

5. The Living End @ the Mod Club Theatre, Toronto. Aug 2006.
as outlined in a previous blog, this show blew my mind. on the hottest night of the year these guys put away the blazers and brought out the punk, rocking it harder than any dripping-with-sweat fan could have possibly hoped for. for a video taste, if you're interested, check it out as cheney kills a cover of mr.sandman from this gig.

4. The Beastie Boys with the Avalanches @ the Entertainment Centre, Newcastle Australia. May 1999.
due to a mis-bill or last-minute re-scheduling, i spent the entire night thinking that some band called "bif-tek" were the wildest six-piece ever [i'm sure i'm not wrong, here, either --one member of the avalanches has broken his leg onstage twice !!]. still, even after the support band raised the bar to new heights, the beastie boys came out and topped it. the three MCs are awesome, sure. but the one DJ was fucking outstanding. i've seen the beasties 4 times on 3 continents, but this was definitely the best complete experience by a longshot.

3. The Rheostatics with Bobby Wiseman @ the Vancouver Art Gallery. August 1996.
in the midst of my six-year obsession with the über-canadian band, the rheostatics wrote an album inspired by the paintings of the group of seven. though i'd seen the band live numerous times, i knew when i walked into this show that i was bearing witness to something undenyably special. along with the regular lineup of five players (yes yes, there are only four... but tielli gets double billed for his voice and guitar), bobby wiseman played keys, and there was a percussionist and i think maybe one or two others making noise, the paintings were projected slide-show style in the back and the stage was lit just enough to see the band. the sound was huge and chilling. the sum up: wow.

2. The Tibetan Freedom Concert @ Homebush Bay, Sydney Australia. June 1999.
in addition to supporting adam yauch's milarepa fund, and a hella good cause, the lineup alone for this show places it in my top 5. the living end, jebediah & the avalanches (three of my favorite bands) PLUS neil finn, regurgitator, you am i & eskimo joe, to name but a few. it was also the idea of being a part of something global --in chicago, tokyo & amsterdam, people were sharing love and hope with joe strummer, thom yorke, rage against the machine, blur, garbage, and (of course) the beastie boys.

1. INXS with the Soup Dragons @ the Olympic Saddledome, Calgary. 1990.
k, so, musically this probably wasn't the best live show ever, but i don't think i've ever been as into a band as i was with inxs, and i don't think i've ever been as excited about a show. i was 15 years old and i took the c-train to the 'dome with my friend susan, my brother and his friend hiroshi. our tickets were about 17th row but i ended up front and centre. i touched michael hutchence. i caught a guitar pick. and the "peace" sign fingers i was flashin' were returned to me with a wink by kirk pengilly, midway through a sax solo. i was superstoked. i think i buzzed off of that show for months...

so there you go.
other mentionables:

Most Impressive Opening Band: Franz Ferdinand @ London Astoria, 2003.
with the exception of the avalanches, as mentioned above, hot hot heat's support band broke it big the following year.

Best Cover Song: Jonestown Punch @ MacEwan Hall Ballroom, appx 1989.
this local indie band played a hugely funked-out version of "purple haze" to the delight of the crowd. except for one dude who approached the stage to let them know they played it wrong.

Best Concert Venue: Ancienne Belgique, Brussels
i caught interpol with the secret machines here in 2004 and was blown away by the setup: a perfectly shaped room with a slightly raked floor and theatre-style seating at the back. the only thing that sucked was that you needed to get tickets for drinks. :(

Best Onstage Acrobatics: Jesse Johnson (Motion City Soundtrack) @ London Astoria 2003.
yeah, jesse. you win this one. cause the only reason i wanted to see your band a second time was cause your big-air-off-the-keyboards were so entertaining the first time. kudos, my friend.

Best One-Liner; Between-Song Banter: Chixdiggit @ Bermuda Shorts Day, U of Calgary 2002.
in classic shout-out chixdiggit style, kj calls it like he sees it: "LET'S HEAR IT FOR SNOW !!"

Most People Onstage: BranVan 3000 @ St. Andrews Hall, Detroit. 1998(ish).
dude. it was so packed up there i still can't believe they were able to make any music.

and FINALLY

Biggest Onstage Injury: Jason Whalley (Frenzal Rhomb) @ Night Gallery, Calgary. 1999.
in the middle of my favorite track, the music cuts out. why ? bad finish to a good stagedive: jay had snapped his arm in half at the elbow. tough punk rockers don't go down easy, though, and the singer had the sense to politely ask "can someone call an ambulance as soon as humanely possible ?" before passing out from the shock.

the end.
congrats to the winners.

the walk invisible

[this post is so far past due, i'll probably get charged for it...]


in january 2001, i found myself daily wandering the streets of sydney, and i can't describe the immense boredom that went along with it. don't get me wrong, the nights were fun --i was stayng with my bestie, em, and her sister & we'd make dinner or have drinks, or i'd kick it in newtown with the doctor or tobe (RIP, bud...miss u). weekends were spent in love on the beach in avalon. but the days ? well, they kinda sucked...

in the first week i'd exhausted my memory lane. i'd found my way to my old job through the back alleys and shortcuts. i'd taken oxford street by storm. i'd sat in a park on glebe point road and reminisced about sharing a pizza, hopes, and dreams. i'd sought and found the relocated post-olympic homeless characters i'd adored the first time around... and damn, did i need a hobby !!

so i started walking, listening to my discman & hitting parts of the city i'd never bothered to hit. the financial district & upper george street to the rocks and circular quay. and what i found was that in my street attire, i could pass unnoticed by thousands of upscale business-folk with nary a sideways glance... and i LOVED it.

one afternoon i walked through the QVB at lunchhour. i'm sure i was surrounded by a dull hum of chattering suits, the click-clack of high heels and the varied ringtones of a few hundred mobiles. i took no notice. my bubble was filled with the tunes that suited my mood; from frantic double kicks to mellow picked acoustic. in a room full of people, i had never felt as alone. i would go without speaking for so long that by the time i opened my mouth, words felt foreign.

there have been days, in the several years since, where the last thing i want to do is be noticed. these introspective days are often spent wandering back streets & alleyways, parks & malls --anywhere i've never been. and i walk and listen and feel and think and laugh and sob and remember... and by feeling removed from the world, somehow i feel closer to myself...

the walk invisible.

the end.

the decoy

Firstly, unrelated items:

1. My computer just crashed in a way too scary to talk about. I am actually a little surprised it appears to be working just fine now, mere minutes later. seriously. i have never seen anything like that on a mac...
2. I just found this out: when you open MS word and accidentally pick the “new blank notebook” option, it gives you a sheet of paper like highschool looseleaf. Three-hole punched with blue lines, and extra white space at the top for your composition title (and your name). me likey.


What I was yappin’ about, before I was so rudely interrupted by modern technology, was how I went to Ottawa this spring for an extended-family gathering. I think I wrote a bunch of words to elaborate on it but realistically, all you need to know is the following:
Ottawa, Family. Me.
‘Nuff Said.

So I land at the Ottawa International Airport at about, say, 5pm and was actually a little surprised that it felt like a bus station. Like a bus station in Anywheresville, USA [also comparable to the weird little twin-prop airport that you take a bus to from gate 37A at San Francisco International Airport, if you’ve ever had the good fortune to experience THAT]. Über-modern, sure. But small and oh-so quiet. No matter, really. Just settin’ the scene… Let’s move on.

I’m met by my cousin Jeremy, who lives and works in the nation’s capital, and am whisked away to some Korean food joint in the city where a bunch of his diplomat buddies are celebrating someone-or-other's birthday. We stay for a drink and head back to the airport to retrieve Jer’s girlfirend, who’s flying in from NYC. It’s around this time that the airport games begin…

Because it had been some months since I’d last seen Alisha, when a girl fitting her description (caucasian, brunette, cute) came through the doors, I ask my cuz “is that her ?” Jeremy laughs at my ignorance and bluntly retorts “uhhh, no.” Moments later, an elderly woman [in a FANTASTIC purple tracksuit] walks through the doors. “THEERRE she is…” says Jer, laughing.

After retrieving Alisha, we had one more flight to meet –my cousin Ethan’s. This time, as we waited, the game was in full swing. “THEERRE he is” became more and more amusing with the stranger the stranger that emerged into the main concourse. Everyone was fair game; people of different shapes and sizes, colours, ages and (most interestingly) outfits and haircuts. In retrospect, we must have been SO bored for this little episode to be even vaguely amusing, but I remember laughing myself to tears…

So, why write about it today ? Well, twice in the past week i've been waiting for people, and twice found myself smirking as my playful mind took over. Once was waiting for a friend of mine to descend the escalator at the Calgary Airport, and once was waiting for another friend to turn up at a local greasy spoon. Both times, after only about 5 minutes of time-wasting, I found myself thinking “THEEEERE he is.” And I’ll leave to your imagination how dirty/greasy/cheaply-suited/poorly-hairstyled/gold-chain wearing the decoys were…

No point.
Clearly.
:)