So this.....is.....continuous happiness.....

The new City And Colour live CD/DVD was officially released today. They also advertised a limited edition version which includes a bonus-filled USB drive.....though no one seemed to know anything about it.

Best Buy didn't have a clue. A&B Sound thought it was made up. I always have the most entertaining conversations with the folks at Future Shop.

Me: Do you have any copies of the City And Colour limited edition live album?...It comes with a bonus USB drive.

Future Shop music guy: Don't know what that is.

Me: The album was scheduled to be released today.

Future Shop music guy: Where did you hear about it?

Me: It's advertised in your flyer (shows flyer).

Future Shop music guy: (looks briefly) No...I don't see it. Oh...it's a USB drive. I'm guessing it's in our 'Computers' section.

Me: Yeah...probably not. Do you mind checking if another Future Shop store has it in stock?

Future Shop music guy: No...we can't do that.

Me: Oh...you're not able to call them? (phone is less than 5 feet away).

Future Shop music guy: No...I don't know how to use the phone.

Me: That's awesome.

en fin


Anyways, I found out from someone at HMV that the limited edition version comes out in 2 weeks.....looks like it's been delayed during the production/shipment process.

There's really no way to reach me...

Went to see The Fray perform a sold out show at the Orpheum Wednesday night. Kyle Riabko was the support act. The 19yr old Regina native had a strong voice....kinda reminded me of Shaun Verreault and Adam Levine with his tone and the fact that he really likes to hit those high notes.

The Fray came onstage and opened with Little House, backed by some glaring beams of light. I completely adore their album and it's been in heavy rotation over the last while. I felt the pacing and energy of the first few songs could have been stronger, as they slowed down the tempo a bit for their early upbeat numbers such as She Is and All At Once. The guys have just got back on the road after a one month break, so they were still starting to get back in the shape of things.

Once they hit their stride in the set, the songs sounded great. I was quite impressed with Look After You and the nicely extended outro that accompanied it. Vienna also had a really intense intro that built up for about 3 minutes before the lyrics kicked in.

I felt the lighting tech made some questionable decisions at times by turning on the houselights halfway and leaving them on during parts of songs....which kinda took away from the intimacy and setting of the atmosphere and music.

Singer Isaac Slade came out for the encore and did something unique as he decided to play a song solo with no mic and his acoustic unplugged. I've seen this done before at smaller venues such as Richard's, The Stanley, and the Commodore....but this was my first time seeing it attempted at a larger venue size that seats around 2800. It was quite well received, apart from some drunken and inavoidable screams and cheers inbetween....still, a pretty special moment.

Some other highlights for me from their 1hr 15min set included Over My Head (Cable Car), Trust Me, and How To Save A Life.



Note: Hundred on the setlist was not played. It was substituted for Isaac's untitled solo acoustic song.

This Modern Love Breaks Me

Bloc Party, Final Fantasy, and Smoosh played a fantastic sold out show at the Orpheum on Monday night.

When Smoosh took the stage, the Orpheum was still pretty empty at the time...only about 1/4 full. The two sisters from Seattle, consisting of singer/keyboardist Asya and drummer Chloe are only ages 15 and 13 respectively. Still, they've already previously opened for the likes of Pearl Jam, Death Cab For Cutie, Sleater-Kinney, and Cat Power. It also helps that Death Cab drummer Jason McGerr produced their album and is Chloe's drum teacher.

The two of them are talented for their age and have the ability to craft some catchy pop-rock songs such as Find A Way and Gold. During the set, their 10 year-old sister Maia also made an appearance and helped out on bass for a few songs.

Final Fantasy came on next. Owen Pallett played a wonderful set that was both unique and innovative. Armed with his violin and looping pedals, last year's Polaris Music Prize Winner won over the audience with his nicely structured pieces. Owen also had his friend Steph utilizing an overhead projector to change and add slides, offering a visual representation to the stories in his songs. I really enjoyed This Lamb Sells Condos. Pallett only played a brief 35 minute set, but it sure was impressive!

Bloc Party took the stage and opened their performance with Song For Clay, the lead off track from their newest release. Frontman Kele Okereke had great energy onstage and did a good job getting the crowd involved during the show with all the clapping, cheering, and sing-alongs.

Some of the folks from ICM Security were quite strict in making sure people weren't filming any videos to upload online....this was contrasted with a security guard in front of the stage who had his back to the audience and was watching the show throughout the entire Bloc Party performance....he must of been mesmerized by Kele's heartfelt lyrics.

The highlight of the evening for me was when bassist Gordon Moakes hopped on a second drumset for the encore opening song Sunday, and he and Matt Tong pounded away on their kits. Guitarist Russell Lissack's climax in the song along with Kele's powerful statement just does it for me.

Other highlights from the 1hr 20min set included I Still Remember, Blue Light, Waiting For The 7.18, Banquet, and This Modern Love. Closing their show off with Helicopter, Kele decided to encourage some kids in the front to hop onstage. This was met with a surge in the crowd eagerly trying to get on. Meanwhile, there were a few security guards standing at the edge of the stage pushing some kids off as they attempted to jump on....wow, that was dangerous!

Anyways, it was an excellent show from start to finish with three great artists, and a great way to spend a Monday night in the city.



***

Working on some upcoming all-ages shows and putting together some Cross-Canada tours for a few artists. Should be an exciting next few months.

Okay...time for swing dancing...

All The Time In The World

Good work Febs. The extended jam for The New Nightmare Sound was awesome. Invisibility As A Disability is still catchy as hell after many listens.



The Ingredients also played an impressive set with some nice dance-rock numbers that had the crowd moving.

We'll do it again soon.

sunup > running for home

Arrived home today to this waiting for me...



It'll fit nicely in my collection.

Really looking forward to hearing the new album.....Hospital Music.

Mission Accomplished

The only sensible way to come to a conclusion was to have a Cheezy Taste Test.

The Fighters:

Hawkins Cheezies



vs.

Old Dutch Cheese Pleesers.



It was a battle between two heavyweights.....two Goliaths of the ring. The crunchy taste of Hawkins vs. the fluffy taste of the Pleesers.....definitely not a technical masterpiece of sorts, but a delicious event nonetheless.

In the end, the intense and bold flavour of Hawkins Cheezies prevailed. Their special method of extracting cornmeal and frying it resulted in a cheezy taste per-bite-ratio that was just too strong to overcome.



Mmmmm.....that should last me for the next little while.

***

In some non-artery clogging happenings...

HOB and TM should space out their on-sale dates and times better. Having tickets for Damien Rice, Feist, Regina Spektor, and David Usher go on-sale at the same time probably wasn't the best idea.....though I'm probably in the minority in going to all of them.

Supersetting pull-ups with squats was fun.

Starting some new classes over the next week so that should be good times.