John K Samson @ Biltmore -- 03/31/12

I honestly don't know why I am not a bigger fan of The Weakerthans. I do really like them -- I don't think there's a song written by John K Samson that I haven't liked -- but I've always seemed to be a bit more of a "passive fan" to the band. So when I heard John K Samson was coming through town for his solo tour, I knew I both shouldn't and couldn't miss it.

Opening the show was Shotgun Jimmie, who was a veritable one man band. It was just him and his guitar on stage, and not only was he using a suitcase as a kickdrum, but had a second kick drum going as well. At one point he was effectively playing two drums, the guitar and a shaker all simultaneously.
Admittedly I haven't heard too much of Jimmie's music, but I was definitely won over within only a couple songs. With a sound that reminded me of a cross between Joel Plaskett and Chad VanGaalen, and an effortless stage presence, he charmed his way through a collection of songs old and new; my favourite being one I didn't catch the name of that he introduced as about love and outer space.
After a solid set, he brought out a couple guests, including John K Samson, joking that their band was named "Welcome Wireless Internet Restaurant" and ending the set with a high energy, rocking song.

It wasn't long after that John K Samson hit the stage; at first coming out alone and leading the sold out crowd in sing along to "One Great City", before being joined by The Provincial Band, which included Shotgun Jimmie on guitar. The set consisted of not only his own solo material from his recent album Provincial, but a fair amount of Weakerthans songs, too. Ranging from the soft and beautiful "The Last And", to the more upbeat and rocking "When I Write My Master's Thesis", Samson had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the moment he hit the stage. With many sing alongs, and people shouting out random Manitoban references, John did a great job of engaging the crowd, even down to little things like leading a salute during the spoken word "Elegy for Gump Worsley" and asked people to support the petition his get Reggie Leach into the Hockey Hall of Fame, with a song whose title is also a link to the petition, "www.ipetitions.com/petition/rivertonrifle/". Other highlights of the set included older favourites "Pamphleteer" and "Tournament of Hearts" and his own "Longitudinal Centre" and "Cruise Night".
After "ending" the set with "Left and Leaving", he was back out for the encore with "Plea From A Cat Named Virtute", strapped on the bass for a Propagandhi song, "Gifts", and ended the night with yet another sing along, this time to "Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure" and John completely unplugged and standing at the very edge of the stage, guitar and voice unamplified.

And not only was Samson a great performer, but he was also looking out for his fans; during "Tournament of Hearts", he paused in the middle of the song when he noticed a girl had passed out, and made sure people gave her room, that she was okay, and even offered her some of his water and a spot to sit.

It was pretty fantastic set from one of Canada's finest songwriters and I am already looking forward to whatever is next from Samson and/or The Weakerthans.

setlist
One Great City, Heart of the Continent, Cruise Night, When I Write My Master's Thesis, Letter In Icelandic From The Ninette San, Tournament of Hearts, Night Windows, Elegy for Gump Worsley, Pamphleteer, www.ipetitions.com/petition/rivertonrifle/, Longitudinal Centre, The Boat Dreams From The Hill [Jawbreaker cover], The Last And, Highway 1 West, Left & Leaving.
(encore) Plea From A Cat Named Virtute, Gifts [Propagandhi cover], Reconstruction Site, Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure.

Vancouver Folk Music Festival: Day Three -- 07/17/11

Well, Sunday was the final day of the 34th Vancouver Folk Music Festival (see days one and two here).
Luckily the weather decided to be somewhat cooperative, and the rain held off for most of the day. I've heard it was the first VFMF in 15 years that it wasn't a scorching hot weekend, though to be honest I would prefer a little overcast and rain to that -- though I am sure I'm the only one.
But enough about the weather, and on to the music. Sunday was filled with workshops, which are bands/artists sharing the stage to jam together, and a few shows in the evening.

The day started with an 11am workshop called "Independently Minded", with Kathryn Calder, Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans Band and Imaginary Cities, which was without a doubt the best workshop I had seen all weekend. There was lots of jamming and collaboration between the musicians on stage, with the members of The Weakerthans basically playing backup for both Bryson (obviously) but also Imaginary Cities. Calder also jumped in often, at the very least on a tambourine.
Each band played three songs; Kathryn threw in a new song, Jim Bryson's "Decidedly" sounded great, and everyone pitched in to help Imaginary Cities end the workshop with "Hummingbird", which was spectacular.

The next workshop was also up there, in terms of collaboration and sheer fun. "All Fired Up" consisted of Danny Michel, The Burning Hell, Imaginary Cities (again) and Jason Wilson Band. I wasn't too hyped on Jason Wilson Band, they had a bit too much of a Dave Matthews vibe, but the others were pretty great, with members of The Burning Hell being really good about jumping in, much like yesterday. Again, "Hummingbird" was a highlight, and even though it was the fourth time I had heard it that weekend, it didn't get old. The Burning Hell ended their last song with a little bit of "In The Air Tonight" slipped in, and the group finished off the workshop with a pair of covers. First Jason Wilson Band with  "54-46 Was My Number" by Toots & the Maytals and then Danny Michel with Los Lobos' "Life Is Good". Both had near everyone on stage join in, and the ending of "Life Is Good" had the crowd join in on clapping and "Ooh la la", with everyone leaving the stage, resulting in the crowd keeping the song going strong for a couple minutes after they were done.

The third workshop of the day was a "secret" one, in that it wasn't listed in the program, but was on the online schedule. It featured Pokey LaFarge & The South City Three, Wendy McNeill and Elliott BROOD, and seemed a bit shorter than the others, with each band only playing a couple songs. LaFarge was pretty fun, with a crazy washboard player, and McNeill was good as well, but the best part of the set was everyone joining Elliott BROOD for "Miss You Now".

It wasn't long after that that the evening shows started, with Kathryn Calder kicking off the night on Stage 3. Even though I'd seen her a couple months ago (and that morning at a workshop, for that matter) I was still excited to see her play a full set with her band, and she did not disappoint. Even after she mentioned it not raining, only for a trickle to start, as if on cue.
But despite the sogginess, her set was really fun, especially with such energetic and upbeat songs as "A Day Long Past Its Prime" and "Follow Me Into The Hills", and one of my favourites of hers, "Castor and Pollux", which ended the set.
There were also a couple new songs, "Turn A Light On" and "City of Sounds", teasing a new album out in October, which I am eagerly anticipating.

setlist
All It Is, Down the River, Slip Away, A Day Long Past Its Prime, If You Only Knew, Turn A Light On, Follow Me Into the Hills, City of Sounds, Arrow, Castor and Pollux.

Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans Band was up next, staying on Stage 3. They had a bit of an awkward introduction, and at one point there was a holler for "Tournament of Hearts", so I don't think some people (including the emcee) really "got" the concept behind members of The Weakerthans as Jim Bryson's backing band, but that didn't diminish from being a fantastic set. As well as The Weakerthans, Rusty Matyas from Imaginary Cities was also playing with the band, on keys, guitar and trumpet.
I had seen hints of it during the workshops, but the full set proved what a great storyteller Bryson is, and what an engaging frontman he is, especially when backed by a group of musicians that talented.
A few of the highlights from the set were "Decidedly" and "Up All Night", both really fun songs, as well as "Freeways In The Front Yard", which had Jenny Whiteley out for vocals. The last song of the night, "Wild Love", was probably the most energetic of the set, (finally) getting people to their feet and ended with a bit of CCR's "Proud Mary", getting the crowd to sing along. As it came to a close, members of the band left the stage one by one, with Bryson "firing" them, leaving just him.

There were a few more acts after, on both Stage 3 and the main stage, but at this point everyone was pretty beat, and we figured there wouldn't be a better way to end both the day and the festival than with Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans Band.

So overall, I would say the weekend was an incredible success; I am so glad I got the chance to finally go to the Folk Fest, weather be damned. I wish it had been scheduled a little differently; there were times where three things I wanted to see happened at once and times where there was nothing I wanted to see for a couple hours... But I think there was only one person that I completely missed, everyone else I was able to catch in some form or another, either a full set, a workshop or a tweener.

Now, who's ready for next year?

The Weakerthans @ LiveCity Downtown -- 03/13/10 (More Paralympic Shenanigans)

Why am I not a bigger fan of The Weakerthans? That was one of my first thoughts after leaving their free show at Livecity Downtown last night. Not to say I don't like the band. I have their latest album, Reunion Tour. I hear them on CBCR3 all the time. I've even seen them live before. But for some reason I guess I've always been more of a casual fan than anything. But after a pretty damn good show at Livecity Downtown last night, that may have to change.

Starting off with "Night Windows" and, of course dedicated to the curlers, "Tournament of Hearts" they went on to play for a little over an hour. They played most of the songs I knew from them, including the catchy "Sun in an Empty Room" -- which features one of my favourite lyrics: "parallelograms of light" -- and toasting us with the spoken word "Elegy for Gump Worsley", which is, as you might guess, about old goaltender Gump Worsley. Half way through the set, most of the band left, leaving John K Samson alone for "One Great City", which saw just about the whole room singing along, especially to the chorus proclaiming their hatred of Winnipeg. They ended the set with "Civil Twilight" and another song, which I didn't catch, but was a pretty great way to end the set.
There was the usual short encore tease before Samson came out alone again. He admitted he felt bad about forgetting some of the words in the last couple songs (which I didn't even notice) and felt as if he owed us... so reached into his pocket and handed a $10 bill to one of the people in the front row! After dedicating the song to both the volunteers and protesters of the olympics, and relating his pride of the guitar solo in the upcoming song (which we would know when he started playing with the "guitar solo face"), he launched in to "Utility". The rest of the band joined him mid-song; in time for his solo, which was pretty awesome. They ended the night with a couple more songs, managing to not only keep up the high energy they had throughout the set, but amplify it.

Even though it's my third time seeing them live (first time I saw them open for Feist, second I won tickets to their Rolling Tundra Revue with The Constantines) I was still blown away by how great they are. It seems every time I see them live I like them more & more, to the point where I think I am going to have to rectify my woeful underappreciation for this band.