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When I arrived at Sala Rossa the opening band, Hacienda, was just walking on stage. Excited to see this band from Texas again, (they opened for Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears last year at Il Motore), I was glad that I hadn’t missed anything. Sadly, my excitement quickly waned; it appeared that these three brothers and a cousin were not as into being there as I was. Perhaps it would have been different had I not been blown away the first time I saw them, but it was disappointing to see what looked like a great band mailing it in. After the fourth song, I decided that I would go outside for a cigarette.

When I came back in I was surprised to see that Hacienda had caught fire while I was outside and were now giving the show that I had been hoping for. It could simply be the fact that more people had arrived since I had gone outside, but, whatever the reason, I was glad to know that last year’s performance wasn’t a halucination. Their set ended with excellent versions of "You’re My Girl," "She’s Got A Hold On Me," and "Mama’s Cookin’," three songs that give a great overview of the blend of styles that make up Hacienda’s sound. My only wish is that I had not arrived until those last three songs or, better yet, that Hacienda had started the night with them. I would still recommend them to everyone, but it was just too bad that it took them so long to warm up on this night.

When The Greenhornes (Craig Fox guitar/vocals, Jack Lawrence bass, Patrick Keeler drums, and touring guitarist/keyboards Mark Watrous) finally hit the stage there was no fear of a slow build as they kicked off the show with "Underestimator," a great rockin’ bluesy number from their latest album. The first four songs were all heavy on the blues, including a great cover of The Gories "Goin’ to the River" and "Too Much Sorrow" off their 2002 album Dual Mono. Then the band shifted gears slightly by taking it in a more psychedelic tone (the 60’s British variety). Songs like "Cave Drawings" and "Song 13" off the newest album helped set this course, but they also threw in a few older tracks, including their first single "The End of the Night." The show ended with amazing covers of The Yardbirds’ "Lost Woman" and James Brown’s "I’ll Go Crazy." There is no doubting the talent of this band and I am very glad that I got to witness them live. The only thing I would have liked there to have been was a little bit of interaction with the audience. Aside from a few almost whispered thank you’s from Lawrence, there was no talking at all. Then again, when you sound as good as these guys do, you can let your music do the talking for you.

-Prince Palu co-hosts The Go-Go Radio Magic Show on Fridays from 6-8pm

A Concordia grad snapped up her second Pulitzer prize yesterday. Barbara Davidson won the feature news photography award for her photographs of LA gang violence.

Davidson works for the Los Angeles Times and was born in Montreal. She graduated from Concordia with a degree in photography and film studies. In the past, she covered events in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and more.

She won her first Pulitzer with other members of the LA Times in 2006 for photographs of Hurricane Katrina.

The New York Times and The Washington Post also received Pulitzers. The Times won awards in international reporting and commentary, while the Post won for breaking news photography.

The Winklevoss twins aren’t giving up without a fight.

They filed an appeal on Monday of a decision telling them to be happy with the sixty five million dollar payout they negotiated. This decision was made a week ago by the ninth U.S Circuit Court of Appeals concerning a two thousand and seven settlement.

The twins are asking for a full panel of judges from the ninth Circuit to revisit the ruling. They’re arguing that the three judge panel ignored federal precedent about fraudulent settlements.

More information has surfaced since the previous mediation. They say that Facebook used an outside auditor to determine the value of shares for setting the price of stock options for employees. If that was the case, the twins would have been entitled to more stocks than they previously thought. This information would allow them to reopen their two thousand and four lawsuit.

They would have the option of appealing their case to the Supreme Court if the ninth Circuit declines a rehearing by a full panel of judges.  

It was a quieter weekend on the campaign trail as leaders were reeling off their televised debate performances earlier in the week. 

NDP leader Jack Layton’s popularity has increased since the debates. He is taking advantage of this by campaigning in Liberal strongholds in the Atlantic and Quebec. Layton claims that the NDP and Liberals’ platforms are nearly identical. The main difference being that the Liberals have been in power and have broken promises to Canadians. 

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and Conservative leader Stephen Harper will both be in Yellowknife Monday. Harper was in Vancouver on Sunday urging Canadians to vote in a majority Conservative government. He said it would be the only way to stop the resurgence of separatists in Quebec.

Ignatieff campaigned with former prime minister Paul Martin. They focused on the Liberals’ reputation as pioneers of the Canadian health care system. 

Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe will be in Montreal Monday giving several speeches to members of the art and culture communities. 

Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois urged over 1,700 delegates to back the Bloc in the May 2 election at a PQ convention on Sunday. Marois received a 93 per cent confidence vote from Parti Quebecois members.