sing me a lullaby. Sing me the alphabet. Sing me a story I haven't heard yet. - The Weakerthans

The line-up for Reflections last night was much shorter than the Pavillion show. Alf and I got in with time to hit the washroom and grab some drinks and start making out way up front before Jon Epworth started. We met up with Kristen, Craig and Andrea. Epworth played a great set and tore it up on the last song even without the second guitar because of a blown up cabinet. After that set we worked our way to the front for the Constantines. The crowd was really entusiastic for them with lots of singing and fist pumping. TURN IT UP! Right after their set there was a flood of people trying to shove their way to the front. I worked with the people I ended up standing by to squeeze out anyone trying to elbow through. "I just need to get past you for a few seconds" Really, who are you fooling? I moved up here for this prime spot early on I'm not letting anyone push through now. When the Weakerthans hit the stage the crowd was just bouncing. It was definitely a sing-along fest up front. I like how with Left and Leaving John K. Sampson lets the crowd sing the high note that starts a line than comes in on the second syllable. Beautiful! Pamphleteer was performed so I was happy that song got played over these two shows. After they played a couple of songs for an encore they got the Cons on stage and did The Travelling Wilbury's End of the Line. It was great.
The coat check line was insanely long so we grabbed some drinks and hung out for a while and ended the night at Freemans for some early morning food.
Getting to see the Weakerthans two nights in a row was really a treat. Now to try a triple Rheostatics in April.

I want to call requests through heating-vents - The Weakerthans

I just got back from the Pavillion stop of the Rolling Tundra Revue. I got over there at 7 and there was a line-up out to Cogswell. I didn't get in until quarter to eight. By that time The Burdocks were halfway through their set. I moved up front and grabbed some wall. I figured I could be up close without standing in front of some shorter kid and ruining their view. Rachel Nevers came by and said hello and we watched the Constantines set. I wished the crowd was more rowdy and into the set. The Cons would probably played a little more intense. It sounded really good though. I appreciated them more this time now that I'm more familiar with them from listening to Shine A Light. The Weakerthans were up next and it appeared that was what most of the kids were there for. What can I say about how good the Weakerthans are? Well Left and Leaving was worth the price of admission alone. I expecting the Reflections show tomorrow night to be killer. Hung out with the B'docks afterwards and got in on the cover debate for their next album. They wouldn't let me know what its going to be called though. Bought a Weakerthans shirt with all kinds of yellow park signs on it. Reminds me of listening to Left and Leaving while driving home from camping in the Cape Breton highlands.

Tomorrow Part II

They say "One thing always leads to another" I open my mind I don't get it - Cowboy Junkies

Walking home from work I start thinking I would like some corn chips and salsa. So I decide to head to Great Ocean because they have Que Pasa organic chips that I like. So I get some chips, salsa, buttery spread and madras indian cooking sauce. While walking back down Quinpool I see the new book store Outside the Lines (which I somehow missed while walking up while wondering where it was located). Inside I browsed for a few minutes and found Investigations by Stuart Kauffman, $10.95 for a hard cover. It looked pretty interesting so I bought it. While walking further down Quinpool I decided to buy some wine at the liquor boutique in Quinpool center(Farnese from Italy is a good, yet inexpensive wine). After grabbing a bottle (well I still need a few more bottles for the homemade Merlot) I remembered my old corkscrew was broken so I needed to grab one from Canadian Tire. No sign of Alfred after a quick look around so I get my corkscrew and go home. Four purchases because I wanted salsa and chips.

And all we do is work to afford the cost of living So we can do the things that we want to do - Duotang

These last few days have been great. Thursday I went to the first show for North by North End (NXNE). Camoromance were pretty good. Pop Secret were poppy and fun. SS Cardiac were fantastic. Windom Earle were a blast as per usual. The video display was excellent. Definitely a enjoyable night.
Friday I went to the Pavillion. Dog Day were excellent. Really like this band and can't wait to get a copy of the cd when it comes out. Missed most of Gary Flanagin's set and not sure I really 'missed' all that much. A/V was fun set up in the middle of the floor with dancing and crowd participation.Sharp Like Knives are plain amazing. Haven't caught any of their recent shows so its good to finally catch them again. After their set Alf and I took off for Reflections. Got there to see most of Great Plains set. Really excellent band. Alf then challenged me to some awful pool. We are both really crappy at pool so its almost a challenge to see who's the worst. Alfred sunk the eight ball losing the first game, but it was a coin operated table so I suggested making one of my balls the new eight ball. I then sunk it several shots later and therefore we had both lost the game at this point. We decided to sink the rest of out balls for an ultimate loser. It was a long battle considering how few balls were left but Alfred did finish me off. So I am the champion of bad pool for now. Any other challengers? During the pool playing The Peter Pakers were playing. I'm not as fond of their sound these days. I remember at Gobblefest 8 they were incredibly good. Now I find there is too much aggravating noise to their sound. The Meligrove Band were on last. They were super good. Tambourines were handed to audience members including yours truly. Crowd participation can be an excellent addition to a show. So they finish and now its a little after 12 and the show is over so the Reflections dance crowd can start shaking their thing. What's a guy to do? Head to Stage Nine for Slowcoaster of course. So I get their and the boys haven't hit the stage yet. Talk to the assorted ex-pat Capers in the crowd. Slowco is definitely picking up a strong non Cape Breton following in Halifax. Seems there is less percentage of us there at each show lately. So I danced around up front, yelled "Airport" with Aaron "Airport" Corbett and generally had a good time. Ended up hanging out after hours with the guys and with Sheumas from the Barra MacNeils. Sheamus was talking about getting into differnt areas with your music like them in the States and how growing up they would get beat up for even taking a fiddle to school. It's intersting how they went through some tough crap like people today can find in the 'indie' scene of working really hard to make it against popular trends in culture. Darren, Devon and myself then went for some late night grup at the Apple Barrel and then went home and hit the hay.
Saturday (Day three) I'm going to Stage Nine again. Alf comes over and we soon head to Faulkland to Kim's for pre show hanging out. Walk in the door and Jared who I used to work with at the call centre is there. I hadn't seen him in some time so I didn't know whether he was still in Halifax. It was cool to see him again. After a bit we headed over to S9 for the show. Bahai Casette were nuts. Sparkly gloves, dancing, bubbles, skipping cd players and general madness. Definitely entertaining. SS Cardiac were on second, this time minus their bassist as he and the Meligrove band were in Sydney. Christian and Sean did some extra drumming with them. (I love two drumsets at once!) I wish I had picked up their cd before I left. The Burdocks finished off the night with a kickass set. These guys are an awesome group. Had a great time rocking out to them. Afterwards we headed over to North St for some partying. Had a raving discussion about Victoria and how fantastic Carolyn Mark is. Partook in some dancing and had some more cool conversations. Another good night on a fantastic weekend.

Hey hey, remember me? Yeah, we've met before - Carolyn Mark

I saw Carolyn Mark and Lederhosen Lucil at the Seahorse last night. What a fun show. Carolyn has such a great stage presence. Plus she can come up with some great lyrics. Don't be caught drinking white wine near her. She hosts a open mic seesion on Sundays in Victoria called the Hootenany. I used to go all the time when I lived in Victoria and saw some incredible performers there like Geoff Berner.

Lederhosen Lucil had a crazier performance. Her pirate/lederhosen get-up was hilarious. Jaaaarrrrrr! (combination of the German Ja! and the pirate Rrrrrrrrrrrrr!) She made people "walk the plank" to win a single (including a Kid Koala remix). You can't say there's much wrong with songs that make everyone dance and double over laughing at the same time.

I talked to Carolyn briefly after the show about Victoria. She said she thought I looked familiar (I was up front for her set). I always went to the bar(Logan's which was called Thursday's when I lived there) that she held the Hootenany at to see shows and she often hung out there so maybe she wasn't politely humouring me. Strangely I didn't bring up Frog Eyes (she sometimes contributes background vocals on their albums) considering how much I usually talk about Frog Eyes.

The Seahorse still smells like vomit/ass. I read on the halifaxlocals messageboard something about possible renovations. Hopefully they can get rid of the smell without ruining whats great about that ol' tavern.

Pretend you owe me nothing And all the world is green We can bring back the old days And all the world is green - Tom Waits

I'm now working at a temporary position for DRDC Atlantic. One of my tasks is to write an integrated pest management plan for them. One day when I was researching at Dalhousie I came upon this in a book: from a Roman agricultural text around 50 AD - protection from caterpillers - " a woman ungirded and with flying hair must run barefoot around the garden, or a crayfish must be nailed up in different places in the garden." Who says gardening is dull?

Can't get the stink off, he's been hanging round for days. - Radiohead

I love when spontaneous activities start up at parties. Hanging out and chatting can be good but sometimes you can stumble into doing something that is side splittingly fun. Last night a penciled portrait session started up at the pre-show party at "Club Cunard". Lots of hilarious attempts at capturing someone's look. My drawing of Dale looked a bit too much like Michael Jackson. Dave Ewenson did a better job of capturing Dale's bazooka-toting patriotic look and his manic version of Lyle was great even though Lyle didn't agree.
I then got the idea to open an art gallery of refrigerators. All the art would be magnetized to the doors of the fridges. Inside the freezers could be ice sculptures. Wine and cheese can be kept inside for opening receptions. Should I draw up a business plan?
We then busted down to the Seahorse to see Montgomery Moth, The Tragedies, and The KNA. All the sets were great. I had a fun time, despite the horrible smell that now inhabits the Seahorse. Same as Friday night. Is it because all the smoking is now relegated to its own room that the natural stink of that bar can now be experienced? I hope not because the Seahorse is one of my favourite bars in town for shows. Maybe a bunch of car fresheners would help?

Introducing happiness. Happy, yes! - Rheostatics

I have several things that are making me happy right now. I'm making wine with my friend Fudge and by my birthday (April 1st) we will have a batch of Merlot. I'm hoping we can make some crazy labels for the bottles.
Also this month I get to see the Weakerthans twice (with the Constantines). John K. Sampson is one of the best songwriters in this country. I know I'll have a blast. On a sadder note this makes me think of my friend Jeremy who passed away New Years day. One of my last memories of hanging out with him is riding in his car blasting Left and Leaving and singing at the top of our lungs. It would have been fantastic to get to see the Weakerthans with him. I'll be thinking of you buddy.
On April 7th, my favourite band Rheostatics will be playing at Reflections. I'm very excited to see these guys now. I've really grown to love their most recent album 2067 and it will be great to hear these songs live. Also Michael Phillip-Wojewoda, who now is their official drummer should be tighter on the skins than last time they played here.

So, what is exciting in your life?