August 6, 2009
Ohbijou, The Artel, Kingston, 23 February 2007
Photo by Chromewaves, taken at The Opera House in Toronto on June 25, 2009 (more photos here)
A very quick post to say Wolfe Island Music Fest kicks off TOMORROW! It is going to be two days of amazing music and you would be crazy not to take the ferry out to the island and soak it all up.
Performing at 7pm of the main day of the festival (Saturday) are the amazing Ohbijou. I happen to have a recording of their 2007 show at The Artel which has been sitting on my computer untouched for way too long so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share some of the highlights from that show. Really, it is too gorgeous not to put out there into the world. They filled the tiny space with strings, strums, tinkles and Casey Mecija’s distinct and utterly captivating voice.
They have a few Ontario dates – they are touring to support their fantastic new record Beacons – before heading over to the UK and Europe but don’t worry, they will be touring the heck out of Canada again in October and November (hey look! they will be back in Kingston in November in time for my birthday!) Check out their site/space for tour details.
7 Aug 2009 The Roaring Frog, Brockville
8 Aug 2009 Wolfe Island Music Festival
28 Aug 2009 Lee’s Palace, Toronto [note: this show is listed on their site but NOT on their myspace. You may wish to confirm this show is still happening.]
Ohbijou, The Artel, Kingston, 23 February 2007
* St. Francis
* New Years
* Wildfires
* Heartbeats (Annie cover)
Buy their lovely, lovely albums as well as shirts at their online store and digitally at Zunior. And be sure to look out for Friends in Bellwoods II on August 25th which is two discs of amazing bands with proceeds going to a great cause.
August 5, 2009
The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Artel, Kingston, 16 February 2008 (full set)
photo taken at the Gladstone by Marc Hodges.
The 2009 Wolfe Island Music Fest is only a few days away now. You are undoubtedly already excited about the whole thing but I figured I’d try to get one or two more posts about bands that are going to be performing.
In an all-’round strong line up, The Rural Alberta Advantage are one of the strongest bands who are only getting more and more notice. I first posted about them in July of 2008. Here’s what I said previously:
Hey everyone. I hope you all had a smashing Canada Day. To celebrate I’m going to give a quick shout out to a great, Canadian band, The Rural Alberta Advantage, who shared the bill with Entire Cities at The Artel. Going into this show I had a passing familiarity with The RAA – I’d heard a song or two – but hadn’t investigated them in any serious way. Man, I was missing out. They are top-to-bottom amazing on record and live. The RAA feature powerful lyrics & delivery by Nils Edenloff; flawless, frenetic drumming by Paul Banwatt (who was pulling a double-shift as he played with EC earlier); and sublime backing vocals and killer glock work by Amy Cole. They kept up an amazing pace, blasting through the better part of the stellar album Hometowns. The album is dark and sweet and evocative and very very wonderful. They don’t look to be on tour at the moment but be sure to catch them if you have the chance. As usual, here are a few songs from their set in february. Enjoy.
All that remains true. Since that show in February I’ve had their astounding “Hometowns” on heavy rotation and am very excited to see them live again. Speaking of live, they have a bunch of dates in the US and Canada coming up (check their site/space for full listings), including :
5 Aug 2009 – The Middle East Cafe [Upstairs], Cambridge, MA
6 Aug 2009 – Mavericks, Ottawa
8 Aug 2009 – Wolfe Island Musicfest, Wolfe Island
20 Aug 2009 – The Intersection [Front Lounge], Grand Rapids, MI
21 Aug 2009 – WMSE Radio Summer Camp @ Cactus Club, Milwaukee
22 Aug 2009 – Memorial Union Terrace, Univ of Wisconsin, Madison
24 Aug 2009 – Pritzker Pavilion [AA], Chicago
25 Aug 2009 – Bear’s Place, Bloomington, Indiana
27 Aug 2009 – Rubble’s Bar, Mount Pleasant, MI
29 Aug 2009 – V-Fest Ontario, Oro-Medonte, Ontario
So get out there and see them, especially this weekend at the Wolfe Island Music Fest (tickets available online and around town).
I only posted a few highlights from the show previously. Here is the full set for your listening pleasure.
The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Artel, Kingston, 16 February 2008
1. let’s get it started (talk)
2. The Ballad of the RAA
3. Rush Apart
4. ah whatever (talk)
5. Don’t Haunt This Place
6. cds (talk)
7. Luciana
8. from Alberta (talk)
9. Frank, AB
10. The Air
11. Sleep All Day
12. very nice (talk)
13. Four Night Rider
14. Edmonton
15. In the Summertime
16. tension in the band (talk)
17. The Dethbridge in Lethbridge
18. last song (talk)
19. Goodnight
20. louder ones (talk)
21. Drain The Blood
Check out the setlist at Lists, Plans.
Buy the re-released record from the band (CD) or via SaddleCreek (CD, LP, MP3).
B(oot)log 