Socializing with BLSH

With a summer of touring across Canada and a winter of warming up fans for Umphrey's McGee, Austin, Texas-based Bright Light Social Hour has been a busy band ("busy beavers" we'd say in Canada). Sitting down for a drink and a chat before their show in Ottawa, we got so caught up in philosophical conjecture we almost missed the show...

jambands.com - In Like a Lion, Out with a Bang Bang - Dispatch in Sound Acedemy, Toronto - 08/10/12

Check out this link for my relix magazine review of Dispatch live at Sound Academy in Toronto, 08/10/12.

jambands.com - Dispatch not messin around with first tour in a decade

Click this link for my jambands.com (Relix Magazine) exclusive interview with Braddigan from Dispatch - i spoke with him in depth on the phone from his house in Colorado, just a few days before he left for the West coast to kick off their current tour with Pete Francis and Chad Stokes. There are some great gems in there!

DISPATCH in Toronto, Oct. 8 - There was a decorated band with a heart of gold...

I thought I was ready…

I remember well the summer of 2002 – there was a girl.

Her name was Julie. She and I were counselors at the sleepaway camp I had gone to for many summers. She had curly brown hair and dark blue eyes, and freckles that came out in the sun. As our romance kindled, we would sit at the end of the dock with a blanket wrapped around us, watching the sunset as I sang to her. One day, Julie told me there was a song she wanted to play for me – it was called the General.

It was a revelation.

More than 10 years have gone by since I discovered a little indie band called Dispatch—“indie,” at the time, meaning something different than it does today. Admittedly, I was introduced to the band at a time when they were announcing a hiatus and the passionate fan base—Julie included—was lamenting the fact.    

As I went back into the band’s discography and discovered more of Dispatch, they quickly grew into one of my favourite bands. It was a mixed blessing, because I thought I’d never have the chance to see them live, like a Gen-X’er who discovered Sublime a year after Bradley died.

Then they got back together. They announced a European tour, their first one across the pond. And then word came of the North American tour, with not one, but two stops in Canada. Like I said, I thought I was ready.

At Toronto’s Sound Academy on October 8, 2012, I finally got my chance to see Dispatch live—I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

“We’re so happy to be here with you guys on Thanksgiving,” exclaimed Chad Stokes to the crowd midway through the set. “We’d much rather be here than in the U.S. for Columbus Day—and they didn’t even wake us up at the border. You guys are so friendly!” (Note to American readers: Canadian Thanksgiving is the second weekend of October. There are no pilgrims, but there’s plenty of turkey.)

When I spoke to Brad Corrigan, one-multi-talented-third of the band, a few weeks ago, he described his excitement at being able to play new material after so many years. While the guys did break out several selections from the new album, Circles Around the Sun, this show was nothing less than a journey into the musical history of Dispatch, featuring their rocking-est numbers alongside their folkiest tunes, jams and sing-alongs, crowd participation and no shortage of witty banter.

For just their third show north of the border, as Chad and Brad at one point discussed on stage – “We played once at the Horseshoe Tavern…That’s right, a while ago” – the guys really left it all on stage. They played with a harder edge than I’ve usually associated with Dispatch, channeling the spirit of some of the one-off gigs they played during their hiatus. Some of their live sound this night reminded me a little of the Foo Fighters, equated in my mind with the garage-rock origins both bands share.

I was especially impressed with their ability to take some of their slower ballads, like Two Coins, Carry You and Out Loud, and really rock. Some of the more haunting, somber material from CATS got the same treatment, with Sign of the Times, Flag and Josephine all sped up and electrified. It was a particularly epic version of Flag, with an extended moe.–like jam that really had me moving.

Beginning the show with a blistering version of Passerby that set the tone for the evening, Time Served and Circles Around the Sun announced the band’s arrival in Toronto. Then, just as the crowd started to go nuts with those dark, crunchy opening chords of Open Up, Stokes put a halt to the whole thing.

“Wait – stop,” he said mid-strum, setting his guitar down on the stage in front of him. “I promise we’re gonna play this song, I just want to be able to hear it when we do.” After fiddling with his amp at stage right, he returned to his axe, picked it off the stage and resumed the crowd favourite. It was a candid bit of stage theatre that heralded an intimate and very accessible show.

I admit, I was really hoping for their awesome Open Up/Land Down Under medley, but you can’t win ‘em all. The barn-burnin’ bluegrass version of Flying Horses made up for it.

Ironically, for a place called the Sound Academy there were some sound issues. Trouble setting up the mics delayed the start time by about 15 minutes, and Chad had to make several in-song adjustments to his levels. The guys got around it by using the crowd to the best of our abilities, calling for repeats and audience participation at least five or six times during the show. There was even a little tribute to Harry Belafonte and his classic Day-O back-and-forth, which we all got a kick out of.

The crowd was really great. Incredibly knowledgeable, they knew every word to every song. It was obvious everyone was having a really good – jumping up and down with arms around each other and big smiles, swaying and dancing, people were mostly just happy to get the chance to see Dispatch, and the guys were feeding off that energy.   

I must say, Dispatch’s live dynamic was not what I expected. It was interesting to watch the guys rotate around the stage and trade instruments between songs, double checking for each song whether Pete Francis was playing a guitar or a base, if Brad or Pete was on the drums and which side of the stage they were on. Pete, for his part, is the least vocal on stage – he spent most of the show with a contented smile on his face, just enjoying himself and taking it all in.

Francis is their anchor, holding down the base lines and inserting a perfectly timed Caribbean-sounding solo flourish here and there. Brad brings a more rowdy, east-coast pub-show dynamic that never gets out of hand but almost seems to give Pete and Chad the OK to have fun. Chad is the “frontman,” keeping everything moving and directing traffic, so to speak. These roles, that seem so natural, have evolved over the decade the guys spent apart and are an extension of the confidence the three have gained in themselves individually and in coming back together as a cohesive unit.

All in all, with the highlights of Open Up, Bang Bang, and set closer Bats in the Belfry into Mission, my decade of anticipation came to a very satisfying close. When those classic chords of The General began, I couldn’t help but feel a happy tear in my eye and a smile for things past. 

BREAKING NEWS: DMB in TO

If you listen to the Jam On satellite radio, you know that there is an ongoing debate as to whether or not Dave Matthews belongs in the "jam band" category. If you ask me he does, and it's not just because of who he's friends with or what festivals he's played. Right at the heart of the debate is what exactly a "jam band" is, and for me it's any group that creates spontaneously on stage, going beyond the sheet music, so to speak. Considering that i once saw Dave do a 30+ minute version of #42, among the many 10+ minute ants marching jams ive seen both live and on video, thats good enough for me. The guy just flat out jams. If your convinced, watch The Dave Matthews Live from Radio City Music Hall dvd with Tim Reynolds, then get back to me.

Or better yet - to bring this tangent back to its point - go see Dave live. He has just announced plans for his winter tour, which features 15 shows in the mostly US Northeast, and ONE SHOW IN TORONTO at the Air Canada Centre on December 7. Tickets go on sale October 19 and the supporting act is blues rocker Jimmy Cliff. In other exciting news, indie darlings the Lumineers will also be supporting DMB for the second half of the tour, which is unfortunate for Canadian fans as they recently cancelled a show at Ottawa Folkfest and now look to be occupied for the immediate future.

Get DMB show deets and tix here.

Jim James says Obama for Prez

Just in case you were wondering where My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James stands on the upcoming presidential election, check out this link - he's actually a pretty good writer, it seems.

NOTE: This is not an indication of my political leanings or my support for Obama - I just think it's interesting and well written and i dont really care who Yim wants to vote for, as long as he keeps making amazing music. Enjoy!

The Little Festival That Could

Now that the Ottawa folk festival has had a chance to digest in my system, far from passing right through me, it’s been stuck in my stomach like a good comfort food, warming my bones and lulling me into a contented sleepiness.

Set up in a quiet little green space enclosed by towering maples and evergreens, the festival grounds was large enough to accommodate its biggest crowds, but intimate enough to create an atmosphere for even the sparsely attended performances.

The best thing about Folkfest, perhaps, was that it was true to its name – unlike so many other festivals out there (ahem, “Blues” fest, ahem). It was folky from start to finish, and while many of the 1965 Newport Folk Festival crowd would cringe at the electric guitars and amps many of the performers used, the weekend never pretended to be anything other than what it was.

I have to admit, when I first saw the lineup for Folkfest, I thought, “That’s it?” My expectations were low. Headlining performances by Bon Iver, Ben Harper, Dan Mangan, Great Big Sea and Lyndsey Buckingham at first glance left something to be desired. There was even a day when there were more stages set up than bands performing.

Somehow – perhaps, right according to plan – Folkfest organizers pulled off their most successful showing to date. Now brought to you by the same people who run Ottawa Bluesfest, Folkfest’s scope and ambitions have grown. This year had the sense of a prelude of greater things to come, both from the standpoint of the musical talent and from the capitalist, sponsorship and profit-generating potential. You know what I mean.

Back to the music. To reiterate, my expectations were low. Beyond the headliners, I found myself unimpressed with the rest of the bands in the sparsely populated lineup, with some exceptions. Matthew Good, Matt Mays, Hey! Rosetta, Great Lake Swimmers, Kathleen Edwards, LP, Said the Whale and Alberta Cross are all talented bands, don’t get me wrong, but they wont make me spend $100 on a festival pass.

Or so I thought. As it turned out, the only two shows I was disappointed by were two of the three I was anticipating: Hooded Fang and Ben Harper. I wont say too much about the Ben Harper show because everyone, across the board, seemed to love it, but I found it to be self-indulgent and lacking focus. I mean, who opens a show with a five-minute, meandering xylophone solo? And while Ben did appear to be opening up emotionally to the crowd, I found myself uninspired. For example, he played Burn One Down just a few songs in, almost as if to get it out the way, and sounded more whiny and warbly than he usual does. He did NOT play Burn to Shine, which surprised me, but at least I got my favourite, Excuse Me Mr.

Canadian indie darlings Hooded Fang – whose lead singer, Dan Lee, I interviewed before the fest – appeared nervous. Their on-stage banter was forced and unnatural, and they didn’t have enough material to fill their one-hour time slot. I know that because they told the crowd there was a timer at the side of the stage, and then kept telling us exactly how much time was left. And then they said they had no more material, and the crowd started yelling for them to play everyone’s favourite cover, Brown Eyed Girl. Gotta love a folk festival…

Meanwhile, Matt Mays, Hey! Rosetta and Said the Whale all put on good performances, but the standouts of the fest, for me, fell into two categories: Those who I didn’t know anything about and wasn’t expecting much of; and those I thought I wouldn’t like and who, as a result, blew me away. Examples.

Exhibit A: Whitehorse. This spunky Canadian husband-and-wife duo has that blistering blues-rock guitar sound the Black Keys have built a career around. Plus Melissa McLelland is much more attractive than Dan Auerbach. I was quite impressed with the wall of sound they were able to produce as just two people on stage, with Luke Doucet playing guitar while stomping on drum pedals. A very entertaining performance.

Exhibit B: the headliners. I realize this may be a minority opinion, but i was bored by Dan Mangan’s latest album (the blue one with the Queen on it), and I thought Bon Iver was like a male version of Enya. Well, I don’t know if fest organizers told those guys, “Listen – you’re headliners, you gotta, y’know, bring it.” – well, they did.

Bon Iver, playing under a drapery of canvas canopies that looked to me like a pirate ship, played a very entertaining set. His show is filled with climactic highs and somber lows, with long, philosophical harmonies that feel more like soliloquies than musical notes – it was almost as though I was watching a Disney movie turned into a classic opera, combined with the Eagles. Think about that.

As for Dan Mangan, he didn’t bore me. His set was upbeat and rocked enough that I didn’t leave. That’s a victory for him, because I was going to.

Before I get into my real surprise and highlight of the fest, I would be remiss if I did not mention Yukon Blonde. My third anticipated show (and third time seeing them this summer) was the best, simply because they didn’t even bring a setlist on stage – they just came out and did their thing, played their music, and they tore the roof off. I really like these guys. During the show it began to rain softly and, with the wind kicking up a bit, you could see the drops blowing across the stage and toward the crowd. It was a really cool natural lighting effect and a great festival moment.  

But for me, what was worth the price of admission was Patrick Watson. This Canadian indie band – somewhat pretentiously named after the lead singer/pianist for a group with four-plus members – had a really interesting style I haven’t heard since Supertramp created it. Watson, setting himself up behind an actual piano (by that I mean not a keyboard) is a natural and talented performer, and beautifully combines the softness of his piano with his band’s rock and indie elements, as well as some really interesting, Pink Floyd-esque musical forays into classical and operatic territory. Guitarist Simon Angell has a very David-Gilmour style. I did think, at times, they sacrificed their desire to play a heavier rock sound on the altar of soaring harmonies – but hey, it’s a folk fest, after all.

And so, on the strength of free tickets given away to all the first-year frosh students at Ottawa’s universities to pack the crowd, the Ottawa Folk Festival’s most successful year is in the books. We’re left with more rockin’ memories than we would have anticipated, a satisfying warmth in our hearts and a catchy sing-along tune in our heads. Until next year, when Metallica and Snoop Dogg headline.