June 19, 2008
Entire Cities, The Artel, Kingston, 16 February 2008
photo by Jenny Charlton, taken at at the Alex P. Keaton in London, ON, from the Entire Cities FB album.
Well my friends, it is time for the Skeleton Park Music Festival. It starts tonight and there is an action packed lineup of great bands from near and far – over twenty acts in all – in addition to children’s activities, dancers, artisans and more. With two evening events leading up to the full day extravaganza on Saturday at McBurney (aka “Skeleton”) Park I have no doubt it is going to be a helluva time.
One of the bands that I am most looking forward to seeing is Entire Cities. I’ve seen them a few times now and they never never less that fantastic. There is a palpable energy on stage which is shared by the crowd, as is always seen while shouting out that memorable chorus on “Dancing with my Brother”, they are engaging and energizing. Both live and on cds, they dish up the raucous (ie “Dancing”; the unreleased “Chain-Link Fence”) balanced with the sweet and tender (Coffee; the absolutely stunning “Waiting”). On their recently released full-length “Deep River,” they’ve captured the best aspects of the live show but, through the excellent production, the subtleties of the vocal and the many, many instruments (accordion, flute, singing saw, banjo, guitar, horns, furious drums etc etc) are not lost.
Be sure to come out and see Entire Cities for yourself at the SPMF (its free!) and for those readers in Toronto they will be playing Sneaky Dee’s with Hot Panda and Wordburglar on June 29th (part of the Wavelength Music Series). Below is my recording of their set at The Artel in February where they played a fantastic show with the Rural Alberta Advantage.
Entire Cities, The Artel, Kingston, 16 February 2008
1. Sunshine
2. tiny place (talk)
3. Cop Song
4. fundraiser (talk)
5. Dancing With My Brother
6. special people (talk)
7. Chain-Link Fence
8. didn’t sleep for three days (talk)
9. Dream Logic (Zombie Song)
10. recorded a couple of times (talk)
11. Coffee
12. kind of a punk rock song (talk)
13. EntireCities-16Feb08-13 [title?]
14. next song (talk)
15. Hat on the Bed
16. pre-release (talk)
17. Talkers
18. Accountant’s Dream
19. stolen from the RAA (talk)
20. Barns of Reefer
Get yourself “Deep River” at select stores (Made 4 You, Kingston; Soundscapes, Toronto(? according to AKA not soundscapes, you’ll have to check for yourself)) and online at Zunior.
June 9, 2008
Skeleton Park Music Fest 2008 (June 19-21) Line Up Announced!
It has! and its great! Featuring Entire Cities, Jenny Omnichord, The Burning Hell, The Mahones, and many more bands along with dancers, crafts, puppet shows, its gonna be a weekend full of awesome. Oh, and its free. So, so good. For the full line up and more details check out their website.
June 8, 2008
Ghost Bees, Apple Crisp Music Series, Queen St. United Church, Kingston, 29 April 2008
Howdy from the east coast, folks. This is gonna be a short one but a good, nay great, one. The Ghost Bees are from Halifax but they sound like they are from a place far away both geographically and temporally. They are not from around these parts, you might say, but that’s ok, because while they are not what anyone might expect they are truly wonderful. Wondrous even. Hearing them on record and, especially, live, they are mesmerizing. The sing delicate yet powerful songs. They strum and pluck and sing so very very beautifully. Otherworldly harmonies tell tales of fortune telling, pogroms, births, Pol Pot, Goethe, and more and more and more, all in the span of seven songs. Romy and Sari Lightman were kind enough to visit Kingston as part of the Apple Crisp Music Series at the end of April and share their songs with us. I have two for you plus one of their wonderful stories. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. They are in the West Coast of the US and Canada and then off through the prairies so check them out if they stop by your town.
Ghost Bees, Apple Crisp Music Series, Queen St. United Church, Kingston, 29 April 2008
* Sinai
* an exciting day today (talk)
* Tear Tassle Ogre Heart
Buy Tasseomancy. Buy it for yourself, you deserve it. Get one for a friend too, they will thank you.
June 3, 2008
Jon-Rae and the River, Grad Club, Kingston, 9 March 2007
photos by Miles from Nowhere taken at the Grad Club, 4 November 2006 (you can find my recording of that great show here).
Word on the street is that Jon-Rae and the River are no more, which is unfortunate because as a unit, they had a really great vibe. I was lucky enough to catch them playing at the Grad Club twice and in both instances you could feel the passion and energy dripping off each member of the band. On stage, belting their songs out, it was the very definition of rock ‘n roll. However, illness and excess, or so the story goes, took their toll and not too long after the last time I saw them, the band broke up and Jon-Rae Fletcher moved to Kelowna. He’s apparently been working on new material (you can download an unreleased song called “I Cannot Dance” from his myspace) and has hit the road in a series of solo shows including TONIGHT in Kingston as part of the Apple Crisp Music Series at the Queen St. United Church (7pm start. go eat apple crisp it is freakin’ amazing) along with PS I Love You who are celebrating the release of their/his new cd.
You can also check out Jon-Rae in:
6 June – Montreal, with Alphababy
7 June – Ottawa, with Entire Cities, Alex R. Newmanand Rich Aucoin (this awesome bill is brought to you by I{heart}Music. Go here for details).
Get out and see Jon-Rae if you can. I have no doubt his solo performance will be just as great as his shows with the River. Here is my recording of the JR&theR show from last March. I felt at the time that the band was a little looser (um…drunker?) than the previous show, but they nevertheless rocked the socks off of all in attendance. Enjoy.
Jon-Rae and the River, Grad Club, Kingston, 9 March 2007
1. Eastern Migration
2. All That I Had
3. good to have it here (talk)
4. when i die (title?)
5. bless her heart (talk)
6. JonRae&River-9March2007-06 [i forget the name of this song – i’ll find it and update]
7. Two Hands
8. duct tape (talk)
9. Fuck Me
10. boys from St. Thomas (talk)
11. Best of My Time
12. Ghostsong
13. When You Come Knockin’
14. turn it up (talk)
15. Nothing To Do
16. wore me out (talk)
17. Hard In The City
18. we’re out of here (talk)
19. Downtown
20. one more (talk)
21. Just One More
22. encore break (talk)
23. Roll
24. our last song (talk)
25. Fourteen Years
Jon-Rae knows what you need (to buy): its his record.
B(oot)log 