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My Morning Jacket @ Metropolis
Seeing My Morning Jacket live this summer is a tricky proposition. Equal parts folksy rock band and dirty hippie jam band, the Kentucky-based quintet is currently cutting a trail across the continent as part of the mad summer rush to play epic-length sets to dark, sweaty rooms. Watching a 3-hour set by the band isn't nearly a way to pass the evening; it's a huge time commitment, akin to a musical marathon. You must either be enamoured with this band, or starved to see a good show in order to fully commit to the idea. It is with this understanding that I descended upon a half-empty Metropolis on July 12th to witness one of my favourite American institutions deliver a splendid set, heavy on good ol' fashion frills-free roots rock.
The band, led by Monsters Of Folk member/"dude with a sweet cape collection" Jim James (alias Yim Yames) plowed through a 26-song set, touching heavily upon their last three albums in order to pull out a sequence of songs that ebbed and flowed with ease. The danger with such a set is that if the band tacks on one too many slow numbers then you start losing an audience. The band, however, seemed fully aware of this and made sure to space things out for maximum enjoyment, assuaging fears of a snoozefest by providing a clear mix.
The set started promptly at 9 p.m., with the band kicking into the first two tracks from the recently-released Circuital ("Victory Dance" and the title track), setting the tone for the evening. The entire band impressed me sonically; the sound mix was a perfect balance in-between their signature brand of dreamy rock and the folksy territory they sometimes inhabit, a perfect mix of Creedence Clearwater Revival and My Bloody Valentine.
The dirty white-boy funk of "Honest Man" gave way to Z's "Off The Record", arguably the band's most well-known number, turning the reggae track into an exploration of musical peaks and valleys, almost tripling the studio version's runtime into nine minutes. The band continued to run through their set, playing the title track from 2008's Evil Urges and then sinking into the ethereal "Outta My System", stretching out the song's length with extended solos from both James and guitarist Carl Broemel. Broemel also provided another highlight of the evening with a sweet saxophone solo during the coda to "Dondante", the closing track to 2005's Z. The multi-instrumentalist revealed himself to be the secret weapon of the band, seamlessly switching in-between his regular guitar set-up, the aforementioned sax as well as a steel lap guitar for some numbers, proving himself a vital part of the force of their live sound.
My Morning Jacket's stage presence has also grown remarkably. I had last seen MMJ in a live setting in 2003, when they opened for the Foo Fighters on the One By One tour just before It Still Moves. Back then they all wore their hair long, enjoyed a simple uniform of jeans and plaid as well as had an affinity for slow-moving numbers that crescendoed. The band in the intervening years had grown to understand the need to sometimes speed up, to dress smartly, to explore and to take more chances on their style.
"I Will Sing You Songs", the 19th song of the evening, wrapped up the regular portion of the concert before the band took a well-deserved break and returned to play "Wordless Chorus", the first cut from Z. The throbbing organ stab that served as an intro built up tension as the band exploded into the number. They continued with Circuital stand-out "Holdin On To Black Metal", moving into the nasty slab of dancy rock contained in Evil Urges' "Highly Suspicious" before finishing the night up with "One Big Holiday", crescendoing just before midnight, leaving the crowd full and satisfied, a surefire sign of a positive concert experience.
-Brian H hosts Countdown To Armageddon every Monday from 8-10pm
Investigation continues into Ottawa Bluesfest's grand finale
The cleanup for Ottawa’s Blues Festival is well underway, but the investigation into the stage collapse continues. Organizers are still scratching their heads as to why the main stage crumbled from a flash thunderstorm Sunday. Especially since the rest of the infrastructure remained in tact.
Winds travelling up to 90 km per hour caused the main stage to collapse during the set of rock band Cheap Trick. Executive Director of Bluesfest called the situation a “freak” accident at a press conference Monday. There he denied knowing that there was a severe tornado warning. Only three people were hurt with minor injuries. Monahan said that these people have been discharged from hospital.
All remaining shows were cancelled including highly anticipated sets from Death Cab for Cutie and John Butler Trio.
The Ministry of Labour will look over engineering documentation and videos of the collapse.
Those that attended the concert will receive a full refund upon presentation of their day pass.
July 18th, 2011
Read by Danny Aubry
Produced by Nikita Smith
Storied written by Chris Hanna, Nikita Smith, Sofia Gay, Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo
UN delivers aid to Somalia for first time in two years
The UN announced Sunday it has made its first delivery of aid to Somalia in over two years. Somalia has been the worst-affected by the most severe drought to hit the Horn of Africa in decades.
The UN made their delivery Wednesday to the town of Baidoa, in central Somalia. It was the first delivery of relief since 2009, when the Shebab rebels that control the area expelled foreign aid groups. The rebels suspected the groups of being spies or Christian missionaries.
UNICEF has called for increased aid to be brought to the area. The UN estimates 10 million people face starvation in the region.
Jolie Holland + Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside @ Cabaret Mile End
In the music world, consistency's a bitch. Sure, it helps you build a solid fan base and stack up a repertoire of tunes, but no one wants to write about how your ninth album is just as solid as the eight that preceded it. Such is the curse of many career singer-songwriters, including Jolie Holland, formerly of the Be Good Tanyas, who released her fifth solo album Pint of Blood just last week to unanimously polite reviews.
Speaking of polite receptions, 100 or so faithful gathered at the Cabaret Mile End, an odd venue with a flat, rectangular shape and loads of seating, to catch Holland and her band rather than opting for the 80,000-strong U2 cluster-happening somewhere out east. First up, though, were Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, a blues-folk group with a slightly cabaret-leaning stage presence thanks to the powerful, if somewhat mannered, lead vocal stylings of Ms. Ford. Their 40-minute set opened with a handful of more downcast tunes, occasionally making use of bowed stand-up bass, but never sunk to becoming actually depressing. Midway through, upon noticing the tenor of their set, they kicked it up a notch, upping the tempo and leaning harder on ace guitarist Jeff Munger's blues solos.
Holland kept Munger and Sound Outside drummer Ford Tennis for her own band, who opened the show with a rousing Michael Hurley cover before getting to Holland's own tunes, beginning with the Pint opener and Neil Young sound-alike, "All Those Girls." Holland's playing style relies heavily on stage banter, albeit of an unusually candid nature. A cover will usually be accompanied by a brief ramble on her feelings for the originator (Hurley, Neil Young, Los Lobos), but the rest of the time she's apt to reel off any stray thoughts as she pieces her set list together. Her use of the band was odd, too: she brought them on for the first few tunes, then discarded two players, then played the entire middle to end of her principal set solo. This unadorned portion worked especially well for lyric-driven tunes like The Living and the Dead's touching, sardonic "Palmyra." Luckily she had the good sense to bring the band back for a spirited take on Pint of Blood's African highlife inspired "Little Birds." ("I wrote this a while ago, but now that I live in Brooklyn...I have a band that can play this.") Munger also ably kept up with Marc Ribot's part on the tricky, ambling ballad "The Devil's Sake."
The encore was admirably loose, with Holland playing the last of her remembered originals before branching out into some more covers, including one last tune that, despite the intervention of her intrepid violinist, she could not properly recall the second half of, ending the show rather abruptly and letting the audience go to discover the horrors of the outside world's sudden, torrential downpour. It was the sort of set-ending the term "grace note" was invented for.
-Simon H hosts Sucker Blues on Wednesdays from 4-5pm
Heat wave to hit Montreal mid-week
Environment Canada is expecting a heat wave to hit Montreal by mid-week. Temperatures rose to 40 degrees factoring in the humidex on Sunday. High heat and humidity warnings were issued for Montreal and Laval.
Environment Canada suggests children under five, the elderly and people with respiratory problems stay indoors as much as possible. Meteorologist Andre Cantin at Environment Canada says it’s very important for everyone to stay hydrated. He also recommends staying in the shade or in air-conditioned places and cautions against intense physical activity.
Temperatures are set to rise to 31 degrees as of Wednesday, and remain that high throughout the weekend.
Photo by Erica Fisher.
Montreal Impact won’t open MLS season at home
The Montreal Impact won’t be opening their first Major League Soccer season at home. Instead, they will play at the Olympic Stadium.
The team hoped to play the first few games in the expanded Saputo Stadium. The government gave them twenty-three million dollars for the project, but the team wasn’t able to find a builder on time. The Montreal Impact president says this is because the cost was too high. He says they’re still trying to stay within budget.
The project is now set to complete in the summer of 2012.
July 15th 2011
News read by Joshua Nemeroff and produced by Erica Bridgeman.
Stories written by Michael Lemieux, Samah Fadil and Erica Fisher.
Super Hospital construction starts overnight
Residents living near the MUHC Super Hospital construction site are getting ready for more dust and dirt. The next phase will have construction continue overnight.
In order to improve access to the hospital, Decarie Boulevard will be widened to five lanes from three lanes. But that also means rebuilding a railway underpath. In order to not disrupt CP rail's services, the work must be done between seven p.m. and five a.m.
This leaves no relief for nearby residences. The Glen Yards area is already fed up with the disruptions the building has caused. However, this phase is expected to be completed by November.
Bob Rae on Champlain Bridge
Bob Rae and the federal Liberal party harshly criticized the government for what they say is inaction on the Champlain Bridge issue.
Liberal leader Bob Rae said the Harper government has wasted five years dithering instead of working towards a solution.
The criticism comes on the heels of a report that details the costs and feasibility of replacing the Champlain Bridge. The report includes a plan and budget for replacing the existing bridge with a new one, or with a tunnel.
The Champlain Bridge is Canada’s busiest bridge. With 160,000 crossings a day it is an extremely important part of the Montreal economy. Over the past few years’ commuters have been worried by reports warning of the aging structures need for repair or replacement.
Rae was most vocal on how he believed the federal government could waste no more time debating. Quebec MP Denis Coderre agrees noting that even if the government were to decide to replace the span today, numerous environmental studies would delay its construction by years.
Many reports point out the futility of attempting to repair the bridge. Estimates of basic maintenance range from $18 to $25 million a year over the next decade. The cost of a new bridge would be $1.3 billion, a tunnel $1.9 billion.
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