Live Blogging Olympic Music : Karkwa, Jill Barber & Hawksley Workman

At this point, Canada was 4th place in terms of medal count. 90+% of Canadians had watched at least part of an Olympic sporting event on TV. And by Wednesday, February 17, 2010, the cultural component of the Olympics brought out the big guns with one of Canadian indie's hottest exports Feist and Chilly Gonzales playing a paid show at the Orpheum, and hurtin' Albertan Corb Lund playing LiveCity Yaletown. And of course, the shows below.

It's fair to say that I had no expectations whatsoever of Karkwa when I entered the Air Canada Stage at la Place de la Francophonie at an early 6pm. I had heard raving reviews of them from good friend Kirk at 3amrevelations and decided to venture out to Granville Island, on a sort of blind musical date. It's more than fair to say that Karkwa got a second date; they were a shock and a delight. Like fellow Francophone rockers Malajube, the members of Karkwa have a knack for knitting together elaborate, dazzling rock compositions that astound you with their beauty but knock you backwards with their force. And what a force! They had both percussionist Julien Sagot and drummer Stéphane Bergeron pounding on floor toms for many of the songs. Lead guitarist and vocalist Louis-Jean Cormier complemented the complex musical backdrop not by an overpowering voice, but by using his voice as another layer.

Next up, we have the lovely Jill Barber at the Richmond O Zone. After Karkwa, my company and I rushed from Granville Island to the nearby Vancouver suburb to catch Barber as she wraps up the first song in her set. With only a keyboardist and guitarist accompanying her, Jill Barber put on a stripped down show consisting equally of songs from older albums, as well as from her jazz-infused latest Chances. Her sultry presence and set full of romantic songs about love and loves lost had couples slow dancing in the audience, and the rest of us feeling kind of nostalgic.

After Jill left the stage, the crew hands set up the stage for the last anticipated act-- Hawksley Workman. Fronted by Ryan Corrigan (aka. Hawksley Workman) and backed by his companion Todd Lumley, aka. Mr. Lonely and full backing band, Hawksley put on not only a musically entertaining show, but showed his prowess as a performer with a hilarious and banterful stage presence. Always engaging, with stories that range from sexual dreams to moving to Amsterdam for a lover and so much more, Hawksley engaged us for the full hour and a bit that he was on stage. The set was heavy on new material off his newest Meat and Milk, with only the last three songs being older favourites-- "Smoke Baby," "Your Beauty Must Be Rubbing Off On Me," and "The City Is A Drag."

For live tweets from more Olympic shows, check out my Twitter.

Concert Review : Rose Cousins & Royal Wood at the Media Club

Rose Cousins and headliner Royal Wood put on a fantastic show on November 17, 2009 at the Media Club in Vancouver-- one full of switching roles, great laughs and even greater appreciation of your loved ones.

Halifax-based Rose Cousins, touring her new album The Send Off, began her opening set by the strumming of her guitar and the clear, warm tone of her voice. Well, not completely accurate. She opened her set by commenting on the amount of people surrounded the stage and how it made her feel "popular." And indeed there was a unusually large crowd for an opening set, which consisted of a dedicated base of "Rosebuds," which included Vancouver artists such as Jill Barber, Nat Jay and T Nile. She also thanked Grant Lawrence of CBC Radio 3, who was in the audience, for interviewing her earlier on during the day and heaped praise on the CBCs across Canada.

It wasn't long into her set that the rest of the people in the room were equally captivated by her honest lyrics, perfect (can I say that?) voice and gut-busting banter, which ranged from touchingly personal to hilariously inappropriate. She also accompanied herself for the entire set on keyboards, guitar and mandolin, save the beautiful "All the Time It Takes to Wait" which was accompanied by the "talented and handsome" Royal Wood.

Rose had the attention of the entire crowd in the usually chatty Media Club. Mid-set, she put the audience on the spot by asking for things in a den-- with the crowd yelling things like "chesterfield!" and "Jenga!" and her constructing a vivid image of that idyllic childhood den with her descriptive imagination. She then transitioned into her song "The Dancers" which imagined an elderly ballroom aficionado couple waltzing around this constructed den.

This was not the only time she called out for audience participation, of course. In another great switching of roles, she called out for an audience member "who's good at keeping rhythm" before playing the last song in her set, "Sadie in the Kitchen." I volunteered hesitantly, and soon found myself sharing the stage with Rose accompanying her on the shaker egg. She gladly regaled myself, an audience member, with the spotlight (and microphone!) while she led the rest of the audience in a sing-along, complete with "random vocal projections." The adorable refrain "before bed, before bed, B for bed, B for bed..." was written with her friends' young daughter in mind, and meant to be an "adult children's song" that she composed for said friends' wedding. Her willingness to share the stage and completely engage the crowd in participation recalls the show by her good friend, Joel Plaskett, whom she supported in a Vancouver show in May.

So yes, I'm going to include that in my resume and CV from now on.

Royal Wood took to the stage with guitarist Dean Drouillard inconspicuously, launching into their first of many songs. Playing many songs from his latest The Lost and Found EP as well as his 2005 A Good Enough Day, Royal filled the Media Club with his romantic, melancholy ballads without his usual backing band. And was the show romantic! Couples lined the perimeter of the stage, as well as filling the rest of the venue, while Royal told of the songs inspired by his brother's wedding, his parents' love, his own love and that of his friend's grandparents. In one of the more poignant moments, he told the audience to never settle for less than the reverberating, lifelong love that they deserve, and for which he sings. These touching anecdotes were nicely interspersed in the song-heavy, banter-light set, which included hits "Juliet" and "Don't Fall Apart."

Royal invited Rose back on stage for 2 songs near the end of his set, and wrapped up with an extended, passionate "Acting Crazy (It's a Breakdown)." Before returning on stage for the encore, he seemed confounded by the presence of washrooms where backstage is supposed to be. The Media Club's backstage is actually at the back of the room, and he commented that he wasn't sure whether to enter the men or the women's washroom in order to get there. Matching Rose's incredible sense of humour, he poked fun at the men in the room by encouraging a final sing-along by saying "this is to show your sexual confidence," which of course, got a burst of laughter and the desired louder audience participation.

All in all, the show was a heartwarming experience, and concert goers exited the Media Club with muted smiles, holding their loved ones into the windy, rainy Vancouver night.

For more photos of the show, visit my Flickr set.

NxEW.ca's 2009 Shadow Polaris Short List

We started asking back in May who you thought should win the Polaris Music Prize, We started out with a list of almost 100 artists and asked you to vote. We had a "Long List", narrowed it to 20 and now there are 10. Five of these agree with the real Polaris Short List, five do not. Amanda Ash and Ladysound will be pleased to hear that four of those five are solo albums by women.

Now we'll need you to vote again (see the bottom of this page) but the 2009 NxEW Shadow Polaris Short List goes:

Chad Van Gaalen - Soft Airplane



Elliott Brood - Mountain Meadows



Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels



Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs



Laura Barrett -Victory Garden



Jenn Grant - Echoes



Jill Barber - Chances



Joel Plaskett - Three



Julie Doiron - I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day



Timber Timbre - self titled



Keep Voting
(poll closes at midnight on Sept. 20)

Julie Payette Takes Canadian Music to Space

Via @JillBarber and the Canadian Space Agency: Astronaut Julie Payette is bringing a collection of Canadian Music with her to the International Space Station:

"For mission STS-127, Canadian astronaut Julie Payette will be bringing aboard the International Space Station, a sampling of music from across Canada in honour of Canadian artists of all musical styles and regions.



Artist: Great Big Sea
Album: Fortune's Favour
Province: Newfoundland

Artist: Jill Barber
Album: Chances
Province: Nova Scotia

Artist: Measha Brueggergosman
Album: Surprise
Province: New-Brunswick

Artist: Suzie McNeil
Album: Broken & Beautiful
Province: Ontario

Artist: Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra / Chamber Choir
Album: Vivaldi, L'estro armonico
Province: Ontario

Artist: Sierra Noble
Album: Possibilities
Province: Manitoba

Artist: Kal Hourd
Album: Haven't Even Met Yet
Province: Saskatchewan

Artist: Jann Arden
Album: Greatest Hurts: the best of Jann Arden
Province: Alberta

Artist: Theory of a Deadman
Album: Scars & Souvenirs
Province: British-Columbia

Artist: Jerry Alfred
Album: Jerry Alfred & The Medicine Beat
Province: Yukon

Artist: Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Album: L'idéal de la Révolution Française
Province: Quebec

Artist: Cirque du soleil
Album: Kooza
Province: Quebec

Artist: Cirque du soleil
Album: 25
Province: Quebec

Artist: Diane Dufresne
Album: Les Grands Succès
Province: Quebec

Artist: Marc-André Hamelin
Album: Frédéric Chopin
Province: Quebec

Artist: Village en Chanson-Petite Vallée-Gaspésie
Album: Chanter plus fort que la mer
Province: Quebec

Artist: Mes Aïeux
Album: La ligne orange
Province: Quebec

Artist: Music from Gerry Anderson's TV shows by Barry Gray
Album: Thunderbirds
United Kingdom

Artist: Mercury Baroque
Album: 8 seasons
Texas, United States

Artist: Florent Volant
Album: Katak
Province: Québec

Artist: Beau Dommage
Album: L'album de famille
Province: Québec

Artist: Susan Aglukark
Album: Blood Red Earth
Province: Nunavut

Artist: Lennie Gallant
Album: When We Get There
Province: Prince Edward Island""

Oh My My (Jill Barber Video)

New video for Jill Barber's amazing 'Oh My My'




and a live performance of the same song with Jill's brother Matt

Jill Barber @ the Alix Gooldin Hall in Victoria

If you've never been to the Alix Goolden Hall in Victoria, British Columbia, then consider yourself among those who have not experienced one of the better concert venues around. And if you've never seen Jill Barber in concert, then consider yourself among those who have not experienced one of Canada's better live performances. And so, if you were among those who saw Ms. Barber at the Alix Goolden last night, you may consider yourself lucky.

The show was opened by a game David Myles, who entertained the crowd with the story behind the song he wrote to convince his wife to marry him ("I wrote it five years ago, and we got married last fall, so it didn't work as well as I wanted it, too") and how despite being an East Coaster, failed to visit Cape Breton for years because he had it so built up in his mind. An old friend of Barber's, he was a good fit for the opening act.

Barber, for her part, took to the stage with a four piece band that included a stand-up bass and multi-instrumentalist (violin, clarinet, saxophone) and a glittery backdrop that was, apparently, the first thing she ever bought online. I was curious as to how she was going to mix the fifties soul sound of her most recent disc, "Chances" with the singer-songwriter-country-folk fare of her earlier releases, but she pulled it off ably. She started with a couple of "Chances" songs, before donning a guitar and delving into her back catalogue. She switched back and forth throughout, sometimes losing band members for the more intimate numbers. What gave it all continuity was her gift for putting fresh legs on old themes (love found, love lost, love never had), and her formidable pipes. Powerful but never overdone, she can lay claim to being a female chanteuse in the tradition of Patsy Cline.

The highlight of the night came with the last song before the inevitable encore, this is when she pulled out "Chances" first single, the propulsive, call-and-response blues of "Oh My My." With the audience joining in, the band going all out, and the church setting, you could easily picture a similar sound coming out of a southern gospel church circa 1923. Alas, that's the only song she has in that style, I'm sure if she wrote a few more, there would have been dancing in the aisles. As it was, there was simply a rush to the merchandise table. Definitely a show to check out.

Jill Barber plays Vancouver tonight at The Rio Theatre and in Penticton, BC, on April 5 at the Dream Cafe.