NXNE Day 2: Outlaws & Gunslingers - Part 2

So, continuing from where I left off..., the next set was delivered by Royal Wood, Andy Maize and Amelia Curran. To be honest, this was probably the weakest set in the bunch for me (though I wouldn't consider it to actually be WEAK by any stretch), it seemed less cohesive, like they were much more comfortable playing their own songs than gelling as a "trio" (of sorts) and playing each others'. It could also be that I didn't know two of the performers in this set at all (Andy & Amelia)... but I digress.

I found myself anxiously waiting for Royal Wood's (who has this super sexy Don Draper look going on... rowr!) turn to come around. His songs definitely grab me. I was thrilled to hear the set end with his new single, On Top Of Your Love (check out the video linked. It's beautiful).

Amelia Curran was okay. She admitted to being a little bit nervous, due to only having a few rehearsals with the boys, and I think it came across a little. Still, I did enjoy her songs, and I would like to go see her in a solo show of her own.

Andy Maize, I'm sure, is the most popular among the rest of the crowd, as he is the singer of The Skydiggers... but somehow, they were a band that kind of flew under the radar for me, and I never really got into them. I did enjoy him though - especially the song "Where's My Baby Tonight" (which, I apologize, I don't know if it's a solo song, or a Skydiggers song). Beautiful song.

The next set was probably the most anticipated set amongst the crowd - Jim Cuddy, Hawksley Workman and Colleen Brown. So anticipated, in fact, that I ended up smushed right up against the front of the stage, so I didn't really have the best angle for photos during this set. I had never really heard of Colleen Brown before, but she was great.

I used to be a big Hawksley fan, but I think I somehow fell out of touch with his music after the release of Lover/Fighter in 2003... but I really love everything that he played! Especially his most recent single - "Warhol's Portrait Of Gretzky" ... but I think I liked that the most, because I got to hear Jim Cuddy sing the words "Pretty F***ing Sexy" ... which was pretty sexy in itself! Jim Cuddy is probably one of my favourite musicians ever, and he's got such a squeaky clean image and such romantic lyrics... it definitely made me smile to hear him sing this song with Hawksley.

This set is probably tied with the Danny Michel set as my favourites of the evening.

The midnight set was brought to us by Dakota Tavern favourites, The Beauties. Always a highly entertaining band to see live, they brought it out in full form for NXNE yet again. Some hilarious mishaps with a broken bass drum petal brought some fun improvisational and sing-along moments with the crowd... but my absolute favourite part of this set was when the ONE person who I thought was missing from this lineup came out to join on a song.

Serena Ryder snuck out from the wings of the Lee's Palace stage to sing backup on my favourite song by The Beauties - Hearts Are Down. It totally made my night to see her up there, and she looked like she was having so much fun, too!

Finally, the end of the evening in the 1am timeslot, brought out my friend Joel Stewart and his band, The Future Hall Of Famers (who seemingly have no web presence whatsoever to link to...). I worked with Joel back on the CCMA's in 2007 - and at that time, I got to see him perform live at one of many parties we attended, and thought he was brilliant. Also, at that same time, he introduced me to what would soon become one of my favourite bands - The Hold Steady. So it was pretty awesome for me when he closed the set, joined by Andy Maize and Shawn Creamer of the Beauties, singing an AMAZING rendition of Almost Killed Me. It was the perfect end to an all around perfect night of music! A night that I won't forget for a very long time, for sure.

Lots more pictures are right this way... and if you're interested in hearing/reading more about this night, check out THIS blog entry by a newfound friend! It's pretty awesome!

NXNE Day 2: Outlaws & Gunslingers - Part 1

Thursday night brought the show that I was looking forward to most of all - Outlaws & Gunslingers at Lee's Palace. I swear, this show was as if some divine being had rummaged through my head and said, "Who are the bands that Katie would die to see all together on one night?" and then put them all on one bill for me.

I took so many photos that I'm going to end up having to split this review into two, or maybe even three, parts.

First up, Mr. Andy Kim.

Andy and his band are always super tight and put on a very entertaining show, and this was no exception. I never get tired of seeing him live, because he always delivers. Andy has a new cd out, and played a lot of new songs (many of which I'd heard at his previous shows). He also played old favourites - Be My Baby, Baby How'd We Ever Get This Way (Ron Sexsmith, who introduced the band, came out and joined Andy for this song, too!), and if memory serves me well, they closed the set with back-to-back Sugar Sugar and Rock Me Gently. Pretty awesome!!

Next up, the set containing my favourite musician ever - Mr. Danny Michel - along with Justin Rutledge and Oh Susanna. In my opinion, this was the best of the singer-songwriter triple acts of the night. Danny has a new cd out on July 1 (but, as he announced to the crowd, he had just picked them up from being pressed, and they were available for that night only, before the actual release date... so, naturally, I have my new cd in hand - thanks for lending me the $20, Chrisy!!) So, each act did three songs each, one at a time, and Danny's were all songs from the new album. He played Maybe You Can Find It In Your Heart, Wish Willy, and Who's Gonna Miss You? ... and I loved each song more than the next! Fantastic cd. I definitely recommend it.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite as familiar with Justin or Oh Susanna's music, though I have seen them live a few times before. I did recognize Justin's song "Be A Man", which was absolutely beautiful performed live.

The reason this set stuck out from the others for me was that it seemed like they really enjoyed playing each other's songs. It didn't seem like they had barely had any rehearsals, which I'm sure was the case! Also, their stellar back-up band included Bazil Donovan and Glenn Milchem from Blue Rodeo, so how could you go wrong with that!?

More photos HERE, and the rest of the review & photos from this show to follow!

Blue Rodeo @ Massey Hall

Yesterday, we headed down to Massey Hall in Downtown Toronto to catch the ever-so-brilliant Blue Rodeo in the last of three sold out gigs, and coincidentally the last show of their winter tour.

Luke Doucet was the opener - which actually caught me by surprise. He took the stage with his band, the White Falcon, going straight into two songs, without even an introduction. I'm only vaguely familiar with a few of Luke's songs, so as I was sitting there listening to the music, trying to figure out if I liked the band or not... he introduced himself and the band, and a smile crept across my face. It was great to see him in this type of venue - I had only before seen him at small club gigs, where people were mostly talking and not paying attention, which this gig was definitely not (in fact, I sheepishly got in "trouble" for talking to my sister through part of the first song - the lady in front of us turned around and basically told us to shut up. Not cool, considering we were excited, and we were actually talking ABOUT the gig... that actually kind of annoyed me... but whatever)
Anyway... his set was really good. At the end of the set, he announced that if anyone wanted to buy his cd downstairs at the merch table, he would sell them personally. So, I headed downstairs, picked up a copy of his old cd that I've been meaning to buy for a while, and got him to sign it. Super nice guy too.

My sister and I had a laugh afterwards, though, because we were reading the credits of the cd, and it completely hit me that he actually recorded part of the cd at the studio that I interned at... While I was interning! I realized that I had totally met him before, but it didn't register until I read the credits! (LOL.) Silly me.


Blue Rodeo took the stage at around 9pm. They started the set with 5 Days in May, and continued to play a mix of old songs and new, singles and not. The sound was amazing (as always at Massey Hall). The crowd was a little tamer than I was expecting, but still good. They started the show off in a smaller, more intimate setting. A street lamp and record booth were set up. One snare drum, and acoustic guitars. They played probably around half of the show, including the hit singles Try & Bad Timing - both were incredible - in this setting. It was followed by To Love Somebody, a cover that they released on their Greatest Hits album. They also brought out Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet at various points.

Mid-way through the show, the curtain came down to reveal a full drum kit, and a more "electric" setting. The energy definitely peaked at that point. I believe it was during the single Til I Am Myself Again. The funniest moment in the show, between my sister and I was when they played "Heart Like Mine" ... Now a little backstory here - I actually used to HATE Blue Rodeo for the longest time, and my sister always loved them. So I knew the songs, but I was not a fan (except for the songs Try and Rose Coloured Glasses, always liked those). I basically started liking them within the last couple of years, after having worked with Jim Cuddy on a couple of shows, and realizing how incredible he, and then the band, actually were. So anyway, they played that song, and it dawned on me that I actually knew all the lyrics, and I hadn't heard the song until I was probably around 8 years old! LOL. Towards the last moments of the set, they said that anyone who felt like coming up and dancing were welcome to stand in the aisles at the front of the stage. So cool!

The encore was really incredible. As soon as I saw the stage with the streetlight... and then there was "snow" on the video wall... which was followed by falling snow as soon as the band came out. I knew right away that they were going to play Hasn't Hit Me Yet (lyrics "I stand here transfixed before the streetlight, watching the snow fall on this cold December night") ... it was so AMAZING. They started the song with just Greg Keelor on guitar, and the crowd completely singing the first verse & chorus. INCREDIBLE. It was such a unifying moment. The last song they played was Lost Together, and they brought out both of the opening bands from their tour - Luke Doucet & White Falcon, and Cuff The Duke. It was so awesome.

The one song that they didn't play that I really wanted to hear was Rose Coloured Glasses - but they played so many songs that I really love that I shouldn't complain.

Here's the pics: