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!

NXNE Day 1: Karen Elson

Firstly, I feel like I should apologize for my lack of entries lately! Life has been crazy... and I'm planning on doing a redesign, so blogging wasn't really the first thing on my mind. Sorry 'bout that!

So, yesterday was the first day of the North by North East music festival here in Toronto. I decided not to get a wristband this year, but there's still a few shows that I wanted to check out. My friend Chrisy is in town from Ottawa for the week, and she happened to have an extra ticket to last night's show, Karen Elson at the El Mocambo. First thing to note... it was my first time taking my new Canon point-and-shoot camera for a spin on the concert scene - and it was returned today, if that's any indication on how it performed. I'm not at all pleased with these shots.

Anyway, back to Karen Elson. Before being invited to the show, I hadn't heard of her at all. However, she is well known as an internationally renowned supermodel, and as wife of Jack White, of the White Stripes. Thankfully, I had listened to a couple of her songs before I knew all of that information, because though I realize it may be a draw for some, for me, it would actually be a bit of a downer for me. I'm not a fan of piggybacking on other work.

But as it turns out, she is actually a really talented singer-songwriter. It came across in her recorded tracks that I had listened to, as well as in last night's show. She has a beautiful voice. She is stunning and captivating to watch. And her band is made up of incredibly talented musicians as well.

That being said, you can tell that it is a very polished act. Not like a typical singer-songwriter who is releasing her debut cd. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just something I was aware of. The band was all dressed really nice (3-piece suits, dresses). They were all playing super expensive gear. They had a roadie who was also dressed in a 3-piece suit! Hah. Maybe it's just me, but I think there's something to be said to get to that level of success.

In any case, she was very sweet and gracious. She didn't expect the applause after every song, and seemed very genuinely grateful. I definitely appreciate that. Also, at the end of the show, when we were walking back to the car, even though she was in a rush, she paused to take a photo with my friend Chrisy. Bonus points for her.

Also worth mentioning is the opening band, San Sebastian. The sound was COMPLETELY different to Karen's alt-country vibe. They were more straight ahead rock with a bit of pop infused... and very catchy hooks. I enjoyed it!

A couple more photos, including the bizarre note that was left on my car, over at my flickr page.

Tonight - the show I have been looking forward to most. It is my dream show, with some of my favourite musicians. The Outlaws & Gunslingers show at Lee's Palace. Featuring: Jim Cuddy (of Blue Rodeo), Danny Michel, Andy Kim (you guys know how many times I've blogged about all three of these guys! Honestly... I'm dying here!!) and other talented performers: Hawksley Workman, Joel Stewart (who I've actually worked with in the past!), The Beauties, Justin Rutledge, Royal Wood, Oh Susanna, Amelia Curran, and more! I can't wait.

May 2-4

So, how was everyone's long weekend? (Well, the Canadians, anyway?)

Mine was pretty busy... it included some quality time with friends, lots of cleaning/organizing and getting ready for my upcoming move... and yesterday, I spent the day at The Beach with my aunt. It was such a gorgeous day out, so I'm glad I got to spend it outside in one of the most beautiful areas of the city. Here are some pics.

I chose this one as my Project 365 photo of the day... 144 days in, and I'm still going strong! Woohoo!

(On a rather disappointing note - I can't believe how they've let the city just get overrun with weeds. It looks horrible. I get that they're supposedly going for the "natural" look, but it just looks unkempt, and dirty instead. And there were so many people sneezing/sniffling. I do wish they'd bring back pesticide use. Or at least find some kind of natural alternative to the ugly weed overkill)

(My aunt took that one of me) Hope everyone had a nice weekend, whether it was a "long" one or not :) More pics at my flickr.

A little bit of business

My apologies for the lack of entries lately... I was working on a new series called The Morning After Show which is an after show to the new series, The Dating Guy which will air on Teletoon in the fall! I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot more about it at that point in time.

In the meantime... I have two things to share with you:

1. If you enjoyed my EyeStudio posts (or even if you didn't...), Matchstick is asking for a few minutes of your time to fill out this survey. For every completed survey, Matchstick will donate $2 to The Redwood, a family support shelter that offers assistant to those less fortunate (www.theredwood.com). So if you have a couple of minutes, give that link a visit.

2. Matchstick, together with the Canadian Cancer Society, is holding a pretty great fundraising initiative. They're calling it the Girl's Night In, and the mission is to hold a party/get-together at your place, and whatever you would normally spend on a night out on the town, you instead donate to the cause. The timing doesn't really work out for me, with my big upcoming move and all, but if this is something you're interested in, check out the link for more details and to register as a host.

And since I'm doing the promotion thing... I would also invite you all to check out this site I found called Swagbucks. It's this pretty neat little application where all you do is use their search engine instead of Google (or whatever you use), and you get rewarded with "swagbucks," which can be exchanged for prizes and gift certificates. It's pretty easy, and it's free money! I just redeemed a $5 amazon gift certificate yesterday! (And if you love me, you can sign up using my referral link and help me win prizes too - the karma will be paid forward!)

Other than that... I have a pretty big announcement coming up soon that I'm pretty excited about. Standby for details!

Spring has Sprung: The High Park Cherry Blossoms!

One of the certain signs of spring in Toronto is the blooming cherry blossoms in High Park. The trees were a gift from Japan to Toronto in 1959, and were planted in appreciation of Toronto accepting re-located Japanese-Canadians following the Second World War.

Before this year, I had never seen them in person. The flowers only last for a very short time, before they blow away and turn into the summer leaves.

Last weekend, I packed up my camera gear, met up with a friend, and headed down to High Park to appreciate the blossoms first-hand, for the first time. (Unfortunately, I think 90% of the city had the same idea... it was packed!)

I am very pleased with the results! Here's a few of my favourite shots:

For more of my photos from that day, check out Cherry Blossoms on Flickr.
What are the signs of spring in your neck of the woods?