K-Os

Last week I went to a special taping of MuchPresents K-OS, which was our Canadian answer to MTV Unplugged. He was indeed not plugged in, and joined on stage by Emily Haines of Metric and Lights for duets of his own hits, Ben from Billy Talent to cover Weezer's Say It Ain't So and the show stopper, in my opinion, Shad, who's performance included a nice freestyle battle. It was a pretty cool experience in the legendary Masonic Temple. The expected 90min set turned into well over 2.5 hours of hilarious charm as he kept stopping his band and forgetting his words...lets just say that Kos and I could be good friends because he clearly likes to hit the wine as much as I do.

The whole show is going to be packaged and released in a couple of months as a dvd and LP so watch for it.

Look forward to an acoustic version of 4 3 2 1, featuring Lights and one of these magnificent pianos.

Florence and the Machine

Did Florence round 2 last night. She had originally scheduled at the Phoenix (a mid sized venue, bigger than MOD club where she performed the first time around) but the tickets sold out so quickly, she upgraded to the Kool Haus. Its crazy the venue size jump she was able to sell out in only 5 months difference. I've seen a lot of bands have such a hard time performing in that space in regards to engaging the audience since its such a huge stand-only type venue, but I am still in awe with how she was able to be so captivating in it.

Florence, along with her machine, are definitely one of those must see live bands, because even though their cd is so amazing, the live show brings a whole new life to the music. Its as theatrical as it is musical, and it truly consumes you. All I have to say is if I had her voice, I don't think I would ever speak. All communications would be only in song. The fashion on her (and in the crowd) is a whole other experience in itself - Flo was sporting a black cape, black leather shorts and a black mesh longsleeve, with leather accents. The set list one upped itself song, after song, even though Swimming & the Bird Song where noticeable missing (and her cover of Cold War Kid's Hospital Beds which she performed @ Mod Club). I guess a girl can't ask for it all. For me, the show stealers were Dog Days Are Over, Between Two Lungs & the Drumming Song. On a scale of 1 - 5 I'd give this show an 'amazeballs'.






SET LIST
Howl
Kiss With a Fist
Hurricane Drunk
My Boy Builds Coffins
Between Two Lungs
Hardest of Hearts
Drumming Song
Cosmic Love
Blinding
I’m Not Calling You A Liar
Dog Days Are Over

ENCORE:
You’ve Got the Love
Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)

Brit Awards 2010

I'll give you one guess and one guess only. Who else, upon winning the Brit Award for Best Album in the Past 30 Years, would accept the award with thanking everyone in his band, except for the other co-lead and then proceed to throw the micophone AND the award in the audience?

I'll give you a hint. His band is currently disbanded and co-lead is also his brother.

Answer here: to that Jerk-Fest, yet classic move

Bonnaroo

Bonnaroo lineup announced today. Ya dig?

Jay-Z, DMB, Stevie Wonder, Kings of Leon, the xx, Phoenix, Weezer, Jeff Beck, Jeff Fogerty, OK go, the Dead Weather, LCD Soundsystem, The National, Black Keys, She & Him, Dan Deacon, Gaslight Anthem, Miike Snow, Blitzen Trapper, The Temper Trap, Local Natives, Mumford & Sons, Neon Indian, to name a few.
Full dets here

There is a crazy amount of crossover with Coachella this year:
Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, She & Him, the Dead Weather, Miike Snow, Local Natives, Temper Trap....

(they also have Vampire Weekend, Passion Pit, Florence, Gossip, Grizzly Bear, Band of Skulls, MGMT, Hot Chip, Owen Pallett, Glitch Mob)

Which would you rather?

Haiti

Its always so amazing to see how people can come together and use their resources toward the betterment of others. In support of the recent happenings in Haiti, there was a particularly special conference call that went down a few nights ago with Bono, Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz, who all wanted to get in on the helping-action. Bono came up with a phrase during the call, went back with The Edge, wrote, recorded a song and sent it back to the producers all within the 24 hour period. It will be played and released for the first time tonight during Hope for Haiti telethon and will be available for purchase, along with all the performances from the show with all proceeds going toward the relief fund. Other performers from tonight include Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Hudgson, Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews, Sting, to name a few. So keep your ears open and please give where and what you can.

To donate in Canada

Tegan and Sara

Crossed a few 'to-dos' off my list this week: seeing a band in back to back concerts. Check. Be able to tell identical twins apart. Check. Although, I crossed that off for the third time...well probably more like 2.5, but lets round that up. Tegan and Sara at Massey Hall, followed by *Drum roll please* (i bet you guessed who the band is because of my first 'to do', you genius, you...) Tegan and Sara at Kool Haus.

I think I would be happy going to sit in Massey Hall for an evening, just staring at the empty stage. It is pure magic. Add a little Tegan and Sara into the mix and it brings life to a whole other level. Its like the day I discovered the lint brush - a moment that once you know it, its hard to know how you did without. Despite that the front audience was a little lame-o and not as 'into it' as one should be at a rock show*, T&S were performing their guts out. If the music wasn't enough to keep you entertained (then imma smack you) the band chanter was certainly enough to keep you going all night. At one point, Tegan joked that “being a teenager is hard, but being an eight-year-old lesbian is even harder.”

Anywhoo, round two proved to be more of a rock show at the Kool Haus. At one point they stopped playing, asked the house lights to come up and pointed out the drunkest person in the crowd who was being a huge dick, and asked him to be escorted out. Oh Tom Foolery...what a guy. When he's around, its always a show.

*maybe thats because everyone always feels a tad more proper at Massey.

The show stealers for me:

Take Away Shows

As a disclaimer - I was severely hung over when I wrote this post. Its quite obvious because my sentences don't seem to make much sense. I was going to edit it, but then got too lazy. Incomplete thoughts build character, right? eeeee

Take-away shows. What a clever concept. Clever, but unoriginal – in a good way. They were inspired by the earliest version of the music video: soundies which were 3 min long musical films produced in the 40s that were used in jukeboxes in clubs and restaurants. I love getting back to roots and originals. So, heres some modern day versions of those that Blogoteque does a fantastic job of creating. They break them out into Van session (Similar to the Black Cab Sessions) and City Sessions and do great blurbs about the band and to set up a bit of a story about the taping. The sessions are also all available for download from their site. Super sweet.
Here are some highlights of the ones I’ve checked out so far:

Pheonix in Paris

Phoenix - 1901 - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Sigur Ros

Sigur Ros - Við spilum endalaust - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Vampire Weekend

#80.1 - VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Mansard Roof
by lablogotheque

Beirut in Paris

#64.1 - Beirut - Nantes
by lablogotheque

The XX

Why am I sitting on my ass tonight and not out at the Phoenix at this concert? Ugh, long day. Instead, I will sit behind my computer, feet up and blasting the XX all whilst watching a satisfying game of Jeopardy. (what, so I am a senior citizen, what are you looking at?)

AMAs

American Music Award performances. Meh.

Maybe its because that guilty pleasure of mine really just has set the level so high for performances. I mean, she made Rihanna look boring.



Janet – although the lip synching seemed to be in full effect, I really enjoyed seeing her classics on stage . I do love a good awards show medley…and wait…who are those dancers in the background? Oh its little Nico and Natalie from SYTYCD Canada Season 1. Must have been a dream come true for them….oh wait when they panned to Fergie during “If I were your girl” was she wearing the same dress that Shakira AND Pink showed up wearing at the VMAs? So passé..

Jay-Z & Alicia – fantabulous. Legendary. All that jazz and a bag of chips. Make that a gazillion bags. They just keep bringing it, don’t they? Nice touch with the New York, New York entrance.

Carrie Underwood – She did her thing well but it wasn’t awards-show special.

Adam Lambert – In other American Idol news - Too much. Too obviously choreographed. That is all I have to say about that.

Jennifer Lopez – good thing she has that ass of hers insured. Is it funny that she’s not even wearing Louboutins and that’s the name of her song? She has sneakers on and still cant stay on her feet.

Eminem – I still cant get over how different his face looks.


Shakira – the crowd dancing didn’t lend itself well to cameras.


Mary J Blige – oh there she is! I thought she had disappeared, maybe out on a jungle safari? Maybe off to a secluded island? Who knew she was still around? Is it just me or does the chorus to this song sound like the PCD “Stick WitChu”? Mad respect for her though. Come’on you cant say this song wasn’t on your playlist all through 2001

Glastonbury

In NME news today, U2 was just named the headliner for Glastonbury 2010. Must. Get. Tickets.

Florence and the Machine

I just put my achy feet up to rest from the Florence and the Machine concert at the MOD Club. She's my idol. That pretty much sums it up.

I can't even begin to explain how amazing she is live - her voice is flawless and she is pumped full of energy and grace. They sang through most songs on their debut album, Lungs, hitting on all the singles, one of their B-Sides (that I didn't catch the name) as well as their cover of Cold War Kid's - Hospital Beds. [Which she explained was the song where most North American's discovered their music.] Since I JUST posted a video for Flo, I'll stick with the original Hospital Beds. Such a goodie.

The Gossip

My voice is gone, but my hang over is still looming from the Gossip concert last night...but the best way to cure it is with another beer, right? So cheers to more Gossip. Coincidentally, this is also a mashup trailer for one of my favorite shows, Skins. If you haven't seen it yet, we may have to end our friendship.

Skins Party trailer full
by adi3110

Can I also just say that ladies, we all need to learn one in the confidence lessons from Beth Ditto.

TLC

Reunion time!! The girls of TLC are taking the stage again – for the second time since the untimely death of Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes in 2002. They’ll be joining in on ‘Justin Timberlake and Friends’ for an annual benefit concert on October 17th in Las Vegas in support of Shiner’s Hospital. Adding to this pop orgy, other performers include Taylor Swift, Ciara and Alicia Keys.

TLC’s CrazySexyCool was my life back in 94-95. How could it not have been when it had 4 tracks that topped the MTV Hit List (ah remember that?) in the 90s – Creep, Red Light Special, Diggin’ On You and my personal fav - Waterfalls. You can’t tell me that when they transformed into those water figures in the video you weren’t in awe – that was top technology, right there. Hilarious that I was so young [code for ‘simple’] when this came out I had a hard time deciphering what the “three letters” were that took him to his final resting place…oh to be naïve.

And talk about girl power back in 98 -TLC released their third album, FanMail with hit single No Scrubs – not to mention the Spice Girls were in full force….and in case you weren’t in the know with what a ‘scrub’ was: they were talking to the son’s who don’t have a car and were walking, living at home wit’ your momma, who have a shorty but don’t show love…oh yes sir, I’m talkin’ to you.

Re-live the glory:

Rolling Stones

Oh, to be a Rolling Stone...

Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam stopped by the Molson Amphitheater last Friday for the opening night of their North American show and it threw a twist to their set when their warm up band didn't show up. Lead singer Ted Leo, of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, didn't make it out of New York due to a weather delay. He must have been uber peeved. I'd be kicking myself if I were stuck in New York as my time slot for opening for one of the biggest rock bands was slowly ticking away... (hopefully they have better luck with the remaining tour dates)

Eddie Vedder didn't let the fans go disappointed, and actually upped the ante quite a bit, when he staggered on stage with his guitar to open for his own band with an acoustic set. Now lets just pause and ponder the wonder that is Eddie Vedder.....[and end silence] He played two songs as a tribute to Neil Young - Sugar Mountain and the Needle and the Damage is Done - then was joined on stage by his fellow Pearl Jammers Mike McCready and Stone Gossard for their respective solos. To polish it off the present members of the Pharmacists joined the guys on stage for a few songs.

How's that for an opening?

Friendly Fires

So I went for round 2 of my Friendly Fires fix at Lee’s Palace earlier this week, where they headlined the gig (last time they were opening for White Lies) It was a sweaty, dancy, rock n’ roll-y, hell of a show. Its crazy to see the difference in their crowd response from April until now, and its safe to say these guys are on the rise – and fast. From the moment lead singer, Ed Macfarlane took the stage with his signature dancing and belted the first words of ‘Lovesick’ , they had the crowd dancing, hands flailing and having a kick ass time. Seriously, check out this guy’s moves



The guys sound great live and their passion on stage is surely contagious. They hit all of my favs: Jump In the Pool, On Board, Skeleton Boy, Photobooth and their latest, Kiss of Life. (the video, btw, is visually stunning. Check it out in HQ below) The guys are high-energy and all around very entertaining.

Aerosmith

Steve Tyler fell offstage? I totally thought this was a Keith Richards type of thing (but I guess he just sticks to coconut trees) Seriously though, midway through the Aerosmith concert in South Dakota the band’s sound cut out and Tyler was dancing, trying to entertain the crowd while they fixed it (kudos to him, most artists would leave) and that’s when it all went down…literally. Hopefully he didn’t hurt any of the teeth in that trademark mouth of his.

Opening Bands

I’ve always been one that’s big on warm up bands. I love seeing who the person I am paying to see is supporting/allowing to play their bill. If I don’t recognize them, I always try to check out at least their myspace before the concert, and if I like what I see, then naturally I’ll look into them a bit more.

What’s also very interesting to me is when the band that is opening doesn’t seem to be a natural fit for the genre of the band you’re paying to see. So, here’s my point to my post…I was listening to my iTunes at work and Santigold (Santagold sp? I can never keep up with her!) came on and I remembered how odd of a match she was to be the opener for the latest Coldplay tour. So, I was curious as to who is opening for them at the Rogers Centre this fall. Answer: Elbow and Kitty Daisy and Lewis.

Elbow are UK rock band veterans, with their forth album under their belt and support from bands such as Radiohead, U2 and of course, Colplay

Kitty Daisy and Lewis you may recognize as the street buskers in the movie ‘Last Chance Harvey’. These siblings are very talent multi-instrument musicians with a bluesy-rock n roll vibes. They are musically mature beyond their years – can you believe they are only 16, 21 and 19, respectively (yes that’s the same age as those Disney Princes, aka the Jonas Brothers)

What do you think?

Elbow



Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

Asher Roth loves College (and Spadina)

First things first, I stole this post name from my friend Will - it was too good to pass up. Now that's of my chest.....

Okay so if you're yet to become and Asher Roth fan, I'm not going to mention the three words that would immediately make most people stop reading until I've reached the end of the post because I think everyone needs a littler Asher in their life and this is why...

1. He puts on a great show. The first thing he did when he stepped on stage was....well.....this -
2. He loves college and go-karts. Not to mention I get a warm, fuzzy, nostalgic feeling when I listen to the lyrics of 'I Love College' because - yeah - that party WAS totally crazy, why didn't we tape it?
3.  His DJ Wreckineyez is wicked and has the thickest goggles I've ever seen. He honestly reminds me of a cartoon mole.
4. He did a 180 in the middle of the show to forget about weed for awhile and free style about the corrupted food industry
5. He's so shameless - to the point that he and his band choreographed a boy-band-esque little ditty that they performed in one of his song interludes. Hilarious.

6. He's from middle class suburbia - but raps about what he knows and he's having a damn good time doing it. 

7. He does an awesome cover in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge of that song who's name I can't mention because I only know 3 words in the song (the ones in the title) and as soon as I think of them it infects my brain and doesn't leave all day. Damn it, the damage is already done and since sharing is caring, might as well infect you too.... 

7. Did I mention he's uber cute?

White guy rapper. There, I said it.  

That is all.

Brett Dennen

So there's this singer and I'm totally a fan.
Since I've moved to Toronto just about two years ago, I have had the chance to see him 3 times live in concert - twice at the MOD club, once opening for John Mayer.


The latest show at the MOD club, touring with his latest album "Hope For the Hopeless" was the concert that stuck out for him in my mind. He opened his set, surrounded by the smoke of burning incense and kicked off the mood right. When Brett takes the stage you instantly want to run up and give him a hug - that feeling only amplifies when he starts the infamous knee dance (if you've seen him, you know what I'm talking about)


Emotional music is definitely my guilty pleasure, and Brett, you play with my heartstrings. The man is a poet. Brett's lyrics are something I can relate to, and get me thinking, which is refreshing to have in this world.
"With slavery stitched to the fabric of my clothes, chaos and commotion wherever I go, but love I try to follow, love will come set me free..."

"people walking around pushing around their debts, wearing pay cheques like necklaces and bracelets"

"I wondered how so many cou
ld be in so much pain, while others don't seem
to feel a thing? Then I cursed my whiteness and I get so damned depressed. In a world of suffering why should I be so blessed?"


Oh Brett, you have my heart.


Myspace: www.myspace.com/brettdennen
www.brettdennen.net