Scene and Heard with Will McGuirk

Dan Mangan - Nice!

Dan Mangan is a man questioning the very fact of his existence and his faith is wavering. A young singer/songwriter, who latest album Nice, Nice, Very Nice will be released in August, Mangan has the penmanship of the Weakerthans with the spirituality of Arcade Fire. The album named in tribute to Kurt Vonnegut is a dark, dark, very dark record, to the point where one worries for the safety of the writer.

Mangan's angst is writ large here... he sings of the need for love in all things, the crie de couer in the wilderness which goes unheeded, the inability to penetrate the corpulant cage which hinders us all, the  inevitable appointment we must all keep....  time and date unknown.
While surrounded by collaborators like John Critchley, Justin Rutledge, Veda Hille, Mark Berube and members of Elliott Brood, Said The Whale, Mother Mother, Major Maker and Durham Region's Small Sins, Mangan still feels and expresses an intense loneliness, not just minor chord sadness, but a real tangible sense of man's fate (and woman's).

Mangan eyes the Sisyphean task  before him and reconsiders. "Flirt with being satisfied" is the advice offered him yet I don't get the sense that settling is sufficient for this artist.

The lyrics of Vonnegut's poem include...

"Or the Chinese dentist Or the British Queen
They all fit together In the same machine
Nice, nice, very nice
Nice, nice, very nice
So many people in the same device"

But I think Arthur Lipsett's 1961 film Very Nice, Very Nice could also be source material for the sentiments expressed in Mangan's songs.

Luke Doucet at Mariposa

Sloan at Mosport July 18

Mark July 18 down on the calendar.... fans of Sloan get a treat when the four piece from Halifax, who have many classic albums under their collective belts, follow the yellow line to Mosport.
They will play the BMW Motorad Concert Stage as part of BMW's three day event aimed at the motorcycle enthusiast. On and Off Roadskill test, demo rides, riding clinics and of course racing. Toronto's Crash Parallel will open (I hope thats the only crash onsite)
Its been a long time since I've seen Sloan live so I'm looking forward to this, Actually its a cool few days in the D-Rock next week; SHWALTZ fundraiser at Isabella's downtown on Thursday July 16, Evening Hymns at the Foster Memorial in Uxbridge Friday July 17 and now Sloan on the Saturday.
For more information about Mosport ticket packages and camping, call the Mosport Hotline at 1-800-866-1072 (Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00  pm ET) or visit online at Mosport's site. Tickets are also available at Ticketmaster.

KISS Update

KISS have announced the opener for their tour of Ontario and Nova Scotia... Toronto's Frankie Whyte & The Dead Idols.... there's something ironic in that name. The band has been working with Our Lady Peace bassist Duncan Coutts on a new EP Hollywood Ending. It looks like the band, avid KISS fans, just got theirs.
RIght after hanging with Gene & Co. they will play here in our neck of the guitar.... Johnny Bs Aug 4 and the Groove Lounge Aug 7.

Here are the KISS dates:
July 10 — Sarnia @ Rogers Bayfest
July 13 — Montreal @ Bell Centre
July 15 — Ottawa @ Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest
July 18 — Halifax @ Halifax Rocks

Mariposa July 4

Joel Plaskett wasn't on the schedule at Mariposa but he was there nevertheless and played to a very appreciative audience. So this is a fave track of mine from the man's disc 3. And it just sums up everything I felt during that Saturday in Orillia... I wandered a lot, thought, and listened, drank rum in the early afternoon, coffee in the evening.... the sun stayed up late.... Proclaimers sang about broken hearts and Stephen Page joined them....Daniel Lanois...Skydiggers... children on skidoos and in canoes on the lake, the swell of humanity along the trail out enjoying the summer air....

and I wished you were here but you were not.... and I thought why is it the folks I care about don't care about what I care about... you were not here and I wonder why and I wonder if you are even interested in my why...well as the they everyone quotes says...thems the breaks. I hope whereever you were you experienced the bittersweet elation I found between the water and the stage at Leacock's fabled village of Mariposa.

btw video is not from the fest.

Mariposa July 3

 

 

Random notes from a site by the lake... or rather from the Brewery Bar downtown Orillia... nice place...wooden.
A park full of old hippies in Tilley hats and fold-up chairs...staunchly patriotic amidst the pop-up roofs of their VW vans. Eerie gathering of homogeneity, knee braces and Smiley faces making their way through the cropped grass like so many ungulates.... I rathered the raucous bar crowd, Bud buddies for life dancing up a dusty storm to some country blues band... noisey teens and heres a hint...not a twitter from them.... those kids do know how to dance to the rock and roll.... A park at night is still...too still...every breath of breeze is magnified, shadows form and fade.... its a act of faith to force oneself further into the sleeping bag.... still those ungulates could be heard on their soft parade after dark... I ramble among the rebellious rabble... I ramble now...I think the knots on the seatback opposite are conspiring to form a face...a bat...rather evil too.
Could be the lack of sleep...ah well who's complaining? Not me...not after last night's display of young stars.
I got in just beyond Royal Wood and the Skydiggers. I did catch the final three..
Jenn Grant.... a vision in rust,
Basia Bulat, an amber mermaid, a siren, swimming in sound surfacing, her voice lapping against the crowd like the pillowy whitecaps on Lake Couchiching.
Luke Doucet, the tuffest of the twang in the purple dusk.... that Gretsch...a flash of cameras in the distance like sparks of lightning.... and in the falling swrling mist and fog they roared we are here. WE ARE HERE. HEAR.
A word about the history lesson... Luke spoke about America, a style he has been tagged by. He resists...look at the roots, Ian & Sylvia, Gordon Lightfoot, Ron Sexsmith, The Band... the source of America is Canadiana...sure I've said the same myself on too many occasions.
Luke then kicked into The Day Rick Danko Died..."I was in Woodstock...", he was joined on stage by his wife Melissa McClelland...for the encore young Holly Doucet came on and together they sang Parton's Jolene and Springsteen's I'm On Fire.
They were....they all were.
Jadea Kelly was among the audience with the legendary Richard Flohil. She has been working on a record with her band and producer Dave Baxter (Blue Rodeo, Justin Rutledge). The young lady from Whitby is very excited about the results. Jadea of course sang with Protest The Hero but she has now taken a turn towards folk, country, alt-country...lets call it Canadiana...
Mariposa reserves its Friday nights for upcoming performers so in that spirit here is a link to Jadea's site. Tis her on the stool in green.

Tonight Daniel Lanois plays the mainstage....get up here.

Mariposa this weekend

Our own Evening Hymns is kicking off Mariposa tonight, opening for the fantastic Joel Plaskett at the Orrilia Opera House. I'm heading up myself for the weekend.... tough job...someones gotta do it...
Friday's line-up is so strong with some of the coolest young Canadian talent out there... the always dapper Royal Wood will start it all up on the main stage. I've seen him a few times now, love his track Acting Crazy (Its A Breakdown). Then its Basia Bulat and Jenn Grant, who both have terrific albums out... Grant's Echoes and Bulat's Oh My Darling.
Also on the main stage Friday...The Skydiggers...enough said as they say... and Luke Doucet & The White Falcon (pictured) who is just about my most favourite guitar player. His record Broken (And Other Rogue States) is one of the best of the last decade.
Thats just Friday...Saturday has Daniel Lanois, Steven Page, Proclaimers. Sunday its Valdy and Buffy St. Marie plus the Good Lovelies...
The weather forecast is for clear sunny skies, Weekend Pass is only $79, Friday Pass is $39. Saturday & Sunday Day Pass is $49 each, kids under 16 are free....what are you waiting for...Get out of the city and come hang by the lake Gordon Lightfoot, Glenn Gould and Stephen Leacock made famous.

Gigs This Week

Local Gigs
Fri Jul 3
BA Johnston, Baker Muck Rattlers, Doug Hell at the Atria; Dirt Squirrel All Stars at the WIng Shack
Sat Jul 4
GIbbran & Band at JP FItzpatricks

Nothing Down In Hogtown except for -
Sat Jul 4
HYFY, Caution Inc (pictured) at the Bovine Sex Club; Jacques & The Shakey Boys at the Dakota;
Tue Jul 7
Sunbear, Wayne Petti at Graffitis

The Montreal House in Peterborough

Sat July 4 The Dears w/ Amos The Transparent

Get your Grandma outta here... Here comes KI$$

14,500 folks voted to bring KI$$ to Oshawa...more than Winnipeg and the Soo...sooooo we WIN. Yay us. the GM Centre will host of course the band when the new tour kicks of in September. 14,500 votes...thats more than the Mayor and Coucillor Lutczyk, who backed this got combined, in the last election.

“I wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this effort, primarily the people of Oshawa, and Greater Oshawa, who stepped up to the plate and showed the entire world what we're made of. This is KISS City,” said City Councillor Robert Lutczyk, a retired military officer who first mobilized the KISS Army in Oshawa when he heard about the competition. “Originally, I hoped to get a concert here in Oshawa. At that time, it never entered my mind that we would take first place and beat out places like Denver, Calgary, Chicago, and everyone else for that matter.”

Of course I would imagine that places such as Denver, Calgary, Chicago and everyone else have already hosted KI$$ during its 35 year old career and therefore didn't enter with the same fervour as our concert deprived city.... but whatever.... its KI$$ in the MotorCity....the city that motor-vates (remember that one)....Prepare to be AMAZED!!!!!

Before KI$$ announces its Fall tour of Canada here are some dates for the summer tour. (Betcha these folks didn't work half as hard as we did to get their gigs, ha!)
July 10 - Sarnia, ON - Rogers Sarnia Bayfest
July 11 - Windsor, ON - Caesars Windsor
July 13 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
July 15 - Ottawa, ON - Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest
July 16 - Quebec, QC - Summer Festival (Festival d'été)
July 18 - Halifax, NS - Halifax Commons Park
July 20/21 - Orillia, ON - Casino Rama

Don Messer: The Man Behind The Music

I'm waiting for the launch of Whispering Pines by Jason Schneider. Its subtitle - The Northern Roots of American Music... From Hank Snow to The Band sums up its content and those familiar with this blog and my writings in-paper will be aware of my own thoughts on the subject. For those new readers let me say I think that what we call Americana is pretty well dominated by Canadians to such a degree that Americana is actually Canadiana.

While I'm waiting for that book to show up on the shelves I'm reading Don Messer: The Man Behind The Music. Johanna Bertin writes about the gifted fiddle player from New Brunswick in a direct and entertaining manner. Its a pleasant read with little analysis of the actions or thoughts of the man...just a straightforward narration of the facts. Its a style appropriate to someone of a Calvinist background and one as organised and disciplined as Mr. Messer. I recall reading somewhere thats music critic Carl Wilson considered the fiddle as the backbone of Canadian music. I disagreed with him at the time...I offer the pedal steel as an alternative... again with the Americana. However as with all things Canadian the jury is still out. (I'll try and get that link though.)

When I get the link I'll repost.