New Ottawa Music Listings Guide Found

list –noun
[list]
1. a series of names or other items written or printed together in a meaningful grouping or sequence

If you remember a previous post about my favourite resource for live music in Ottawa, then you may be as sad as I was to find out that Stillepost.ca has been shutdown.

For weeks I was at a loss as to where to find a good listing of local live music. I would search all the popular venue's websites each and every weekend looking to see what was happening in Capital City. It became tedious, and I thought 'Hey, if now one else is going to compile all these listings then I guess the task is up to me.'

And that, Dear Reader, is how My Ottawa Show Listings was born.

Recently My Ottawa Show Listings made it to the 2nd round of CBC Radio3's Searchlight Contest for Best Canadian Music Website. It made the first cut from over 100 sites down to 60. However it did not make the third round cut that cut the list down to the top 30 sites, which happened just a few hours ago.

Oh well, better luck next time My Ottawa Show Listings.

If you like live music and find the resource useful, please share My Ottawa Show Listings with all your friends. Also, if anyone would like to help keep the site up-to-date I could really use the help.

2010 - Best. Year. Ever.

New Year's Eve –noun
[noo yeers eev]
1. the night of December 31, often celebrated with merrymaking to usher in the new year at midnight

From volunteering at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, to seeing many great shows and music festivals, as well as inventing a new music festival device and becoming a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol, 2010 has easily been the Best. Year. Ever.

Sure there were a few lows along the way, but the highs have definitely outweighed any lows that I have encountered. I've become a better and stronger person and will be able to tackle any challenges that present themselves in 2011 with confidence and clarity.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve and are happy and content with the outcome of 2010. Just remember, things are never as bad as they seem. Patience and persistence will see you through any challenge.

For myself the New Year will be a year of some pretty big changes and as apprehensive as I may be I'm still excited to see where this new adventure will take me.

Cheers!

Side Clapper™

side clap·per -noun
[sahyd klap-er]
1. A music festival device that allows the wearer to clap along with the band while holding their beverage

The Side Clapper™


This summer I did a bit of the music festival tour starting with the NxNE music festival in Toronto. During NxNE I began to realize a certain fact, when holding a beverage, especially one that comes in a brown bottle, it is almost impossible to clap.

During the shows I looked around at my fellow festival goers and noticed that many in attendance holding their own form of beverage would do the same thing as I would, they would either hoot and holler or slap their hip to show their appreciation for the band. I thought to myself, 'the band can't hear me slapping my hip… there's got to be a better way!' For the rest of the festival I shopped my idea around a bit and asked those in attendance that I spied slapping their hip if they think they would benefit from some sort of side clapper. I received some mixed reactions, some for, some against, some "Get away from me you drunk!"… I think they might have been still on the fence about the whole idea.

It was during the next festival, the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest where I really decided that this device had to be made, if not for me than for the hips of festival goers all over the world. During our late night Bluesfest brainstorming sessions, (where many good ideas are formed dontcha' know?), my pitch was met with much enthusiasm. It was time turn this dream into a reality.

For the next festival, the Wolfe Island Music Festival, I recruited a few friends and together we designed the first ever prototype of the Side Clapper™. Producing only 20 prototypes for the festival my goal was to spread the word, create some buzz and hopefully convince a band to wear them on stage during the festival. Well Dear Reader I am ecstatic to stay that I exceeded my goal. Not only did I create some buzz, but I also pitched the Side Clapper™ to front man Rolf of The Acorn. Much to my surprise, and those festival goers that were wearing their own Side Clapper™, Rolf even took a few seconds out of his performance to explain the Side Clapper™, using almost the same pitch that I had given him the night before.

But don't just take my word for it, I'll let Rolf explain it himself:



The final music festival of the season was the Ottawa Folk Fest, where I once again produced a few more prototypes and tried creating some buzz. It didn't hurt that The Acorn were also performing at this festival. At one point I overhead the following: "See that guy over there? He's the inventor of the Side Clapper™. I was at Wolfe Island last week when he was handing them out."

So where does the Side Clapper™ go from here? Well I'm going to take the Fall and Winter months to design and produce a permanent version and hopefully you'll see me at the 2011 SxSW where you too can get your very own Side Clapper™.


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Where'd ya go CD?

MIA -noun
[ěm'ī-ā']
1. A member of the armed services who is reported missing following a combat mission and whose status as to injury, capture, or death is unknown

So I've been away for some time, neglecting this poor blog, for that I do apologize to both you Dear Reader and to you poor blog.

So lets play some catch up shall we?

Around mid April I was given notice that my contract would be ending on May 31st, it's been two whole weeks now that I've been underemployed, and a whole month since I have gotten a pay cheque. For a guy that unfortunately lives hand to mouth, this friends is not a good situation to be in. On the plus side I have managed to get a couple of writing jobs and am still slowly working on my Freelance Writer website.

On May 1st I headed back to Golden BC for a few weeks to visit with the most amazing girl. It was a bittersweet visit however, as I do not think I will ever get a chance to see her again.

After that I came back to Capital City for a week, then headed off to the Muskoka's to hang out at a cottage and clear my mind. I did some visiting back in Hometown and returned once again to Capital City. In my downtime, while looking for some means of gainful employment I put together a little blog network, which I have called My Big List Of Blogs. I'm not sure what I am going to do with it, but hopefully I'll get a little traffic and gain some much needed income with this pet project of mine.

So where does Chasing Distractions go from here?

I should be putting my efforts into finding some work, getting my life back together, but my ever-muddled mind still has the urge to chase distractions. Lately I've been focusing that energy on entering contests, you all know how I love winning stuff. Yesterday I won a ride in the Bluesfest limo, got treated to a Subway lunch and was handed 4 day passes for the festival. Today I put my efforts into winning some NXNE passes, but sadly I didn't win. But never fear Dear Reader, this story does have a happy ending, fellow CBC Radio3 blogger MoniSki graciously offered me one of her own NXNE passes. How awesome is that?

On Thursday morning I plan on taking what little funds I have, jumping into my Granpa mobile and heading down to the Big Smoke for one last weekend of music and excitement. Maybe I'll even run into The Details again.

Oh speaking of The Details, in an old post I mentioned testing out recording audio with my digital handheld recorder, it worked and the quality was much better. So I'll leave you with a video from that show back in March.




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Upcoming Ottawa Shows - Stillepost.ca

con·cert –noun
[kon-surt]
1. a public musical performance in which a number of singers or instrumentalists, or both, participate

Just thought I would quickly share this great resource that I like to use when looking for upcoming shows in Ottawa.

Stillepost.ca is an all Canadian independent arts message board and show calendar. I've tried to become a member to update Capital City's show calendar, but my membership has yet to be approved.

Here are a two shows that I recently went to see, thanks in part to the Stillepost list:

The Polymorphines with The Rockalily Burlesque Girls

Saturday, March 20th - Babylon Nightclub

Thrush Hermit

Thursday, March 25th - Capital Music Hall

As you may already be able to tell my inexpensive HP CA350 Digital Camera does not have the greatest audio recording capabilities. I recently purchased a Panasonic portable audio recorder to use when I conduct interviews for work, so I was thinking I would bring both devices with me to the next show to see which one has a better audio quality.

Tomorrow I'm going to see The Details at The Cajun Attic and will test out my camera and portable recorder options. You may remember me mentioning meeting The Details on my 3rd day at the NxNE festival in Toronto.





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I'm Back!

re·al·i·ty –noun
[ree-al-i-tee]
1.the state or quality of being real

After a month away I am now back in Capital City. I spent the last four weeks or so in beautiful British Columbia.

Where I went to volunteer at the 2010 Winter Olympics with the aerial crew.

And got to see some great sites in and around Vancouver.

Including going to see a couple of great shows, like:
Elliott Brood


and We Were Promised Jetpacks.


I also got a chance to do a little snowboarding at Whistler and Kicking Horse.

Where I met the most amazing girl.

And got to see her band, Jiva Tree, perform.


Over breakfast I realized where I want to spend the rest of my days.

But for now it's back to reality, back to my one room apartment and my work from home job. Back to trying to make ends meat and remain sane and happy all at the same time.

One thing I'm going to take from my trip is that I am going to attempt to bring a little bit of that Vacation Persona that we all have into my everyday life.

I'm going to get out more and try new things.
I'm not going to be afraid to talk to strangers anymore.
I'm pretty much going to go against everything I ever learned as a kid, except maybe that whole look both ways before you cross the street thing, that could still prove to be important.

My first step in this 'New Me' transformation is to upgrade to a Big Boy Bed, and from there the sky is the limit.


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Olympic Torch Relay comes to Ottawa

re⋅lay –noun
[n. ree-ley]
1. a series of persons relieving one another or taking turns

Today the Olympic Torch officially arrives in Capital City and will be in the region until Monday, December 14th. There will be a bunch of festivities and dignitaries at City Hall this afternoon, including a performance by the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa Pipes and Drums.

But the fun will really start this evening on Parliament Hill, with performances by Gregory Charles and Tom Cochrane. The arrival of the Olympic Torch will also launch the illumination ceremony of the 25th edition of Christmas Lights Across Canada.

Hot chocolate and BeaverTails® will be offered from 5 pm to 8 pm (while quantities last).

I’ll leave you with the only Tom Cochrane song that I know (care of David Letterman):



For more information on today’s events please see the following:

Ottawa City Hall
Parliament Hill.
2010 Olympic Torch Route




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The Twelve Days Of Bluesfest

per⋅fect at⋅tend⋅ance –noun
[per-fekt uh-ten-duhns]
1. the act of attending an event without missing a day
The Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest was twelve days long this year, and being a trooper I managed to go every single day, no matter how much it hurt me. I would love to do a review of every single show I saw, but after seeing over 80 artists I think this post would take me forever. So this is going to be less of a review and more of a list of bands I saw. Please feel free to read them in the tune of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’:

On the first day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Amanda Rheaume, Van der Graaf Generator, Amos the Transparent, Monkey Junk, The Black Keys, Sergent Garcia

On the second day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Brothers Chaffey, Holy Fuck, Iron & Wine, Metric, Oumou Sangare, Ben Harper, The Road Hammers, Elliot Brood

On the third day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
The Stills, Okkervil River, Sam Roberts, Jackson Browne, The Dodos, Steve Earle, DeVotchka, King Sunny Ade & His African Beats, Arrested Development, Peter Voith Trio

On the fourth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Jill Barber, Hey Rosetta!, John Vanderslice, Rachael Yamagata, Punch Brothers, Curumin, Matisyahu, FEMI KUTI, Jesse Cook

On the fifth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Girl Talk, Land of Talk, King Khan & BBQ Show, Jenn Grant, Neko Case, Thunderheeist, Joe Cokcer, Mother Mother, Kid Koala

After my fifth day of Bluesfest Grant Lawrence of CBC Radio3, who had found me on Facebook to ask if I would do a live fan review of the festival, tracked me down. Hungover, and maybe even still a little drunk I agreed. If you ended up missing my live radio debut you can still give a listen to it. Look for the entry that says 'Live on CBC Radio 3: All Request with Wintersleep!' and hit the Play button for Ottawa Blues Fest Fan Review (Crozon Ottawa)

On the sixth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Gym Class Heroes, Stone Temple Pilots, Basia Bulat, Great Lake Swimmers

On the seventh day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
The Zombies, Ice Cube, The Yardbirds, Xavier Rudd, Toots & the Maytals

On the eighth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
The Arkells, Silent Disco, The National, KISS, Beast, Skydiggers, K'NAAN

On the ninth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Shout Out Out Out, Busta Rhymes, Mick Taylor, Les Claypool

On the tenth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Cake, Blue Rodeo, Paolo Nutini, Dave Mason, Clem Snide

On the eleventh day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Poorfolk, Woodhands, Otis Taylor, Ludacris, Drive-By Truckers, Black Mountain, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Low Anthem, Louisiana Red, Rhythm Council, David Lindley, The Deep Dark Woods, That 1 Guy

On the twelfth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Deer Tick, Handsome Furs, C.R. Avery with the Sojourne's, The Dead Weather, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

I ended up winning the Perfect Attendance Award. I think it was the first time ever in my life that I have had perfect attendance. My Mom would be so proud.



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NxNE – Day 5

de⋅feat –verb
[di-feet]
1. to eliminate or deprive of something expected
The Boat cruise took a lot out of me, so after getting up and eating some garbage food from McDonalds, I decided to blow off the last day of NxNE and make the long drive back to Capital City. Three out of Five is not bad, right?

We'll see if I can do any better on my home turf when the 12 days of Bluesfest comes along in July. Wish me luck.



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NxNE – Day 4

missed out –verb
[mis]
1. to fail to take advantage of
I awoke feeling a little rough so decided to take advantage of the late checkout and sleep in. Unfortunately I slept in too long and wasn’t able to use the pool, sauna, fitness centre or waters slide… not that I would really have done all that, but the sauna might have helped the hangover a bit.

After checking out I decided to head back to my cousin’s apartment for a little more rest. I passed The Details on my way to the subway station and they invited me to the Six Shooter BBQ. I asked them to call me once they confirmed I was able to get in for sure because the BBQ was all the way down by the beaches and I didn’t want to go to just be turned away. Plus it was raining. And did I mention I was hung over? In the end I never ended up going. I needed to rest up for the Boat Cruise.

Since I was in town I got in contact with The African Accent and tried to coax him out. He declined the night before, but was a maybe for the festivities for the Boat Cruise, where there was to be DJ’s, bands and as the fuzzy picture shows, nude painted models. He never showed and definitely missed out.

After the boat cruise I was planning on going to The Horseshoe to thank Grant Lawrence personally for the passes, but the cruise was so good hic I never made it.



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NxNE – Day 3

fate –noun
[feyt]
1. the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed
The day started off slow, I had a bit of writing to catch up on so I didn't end up going out until the late afternoon. I decided I was going to give my cousin and his wife a break and rented a room downtown at the Delta Chelsea. They set me up on the 15th floor with a view of Yonge Street. I could almost make out the stage set up at Yonge Dundas Square, so after I settled in I strolled down to catch Black Hat Brigade’s set.

After some dinner and a shower I was ready to see a show that I was really looking forward to, Coeur de Pirate. Apparently I wasn’t the only one as I arrived at the Dakota Tavern the line-up was already around the block. The doorman told me that they were overcapacity and it was now a case of one-in-one-out. Later I would find that this was not true and in fact it was another case of the industry guest list ruining it for the rest of the fans. In fact I have a credible source that says not only was the Dakota way below capacity, but Coeur de Pirate’s manager had to come out and ask why they were not letting anyone in. The answer – industry guest list first.

Feeling dejected, again, for having my beginning of the night ruined by NxNE’s industry guest list policy I was at a loss of where to go next. I almost planned to work my way up to College street to see some of the 9pm concerts before making my way back to Yonge Dundas Square for the Wintersleep show, but at last minute decided to cross the street to The Painted Lady to enjoy a pint of Guinness and listen a few minutes of a PEI band by the name of Boxer The Horse. That decision proved fateful as the rest of the night could have been quite different if I decided to walk up to College Street.

Not wanting to miss any of the Wintersleep show I left The Painted Lady early and walked down Dundas Street in search of a streetcar that would take me to Yonge Dundas Square. I ran into a couple asking a man about the very streetcar I was looking for. I asked if they wanted to just split a cab, but the girl said she was really looking forward to experiencing a streetcar for the first time. As it turns out our NxNE experience was very similar. The girl, originally from Winnipeg, who I am dubbing Superfan Jenny, arrived from Ottawa on Wednesday, where she had been visiting her sister. We both had tried to get into the Coeur de Pirate show but were turned away and ended up going to The Painted Lady for a pint of Guinness. Amused by our coincidences I mentioned that I was staying at the Delta Chelsea, and of course they were as well. I said they had me on the 15th floor, they were on the 14th floor. It turned out that her boyfriend Jon is the front man for a band called The Details and they were performing at NxNE. I missed their show on Thursday by a matter of minutes when after Papa Groove I decided to take in a documentary, which I also missed. Furthermore, every show the night before we were all at the same venue, probably even standing right near each other.

We ended up taking in the Wintersleep show together and bought each other rounds of Mill Street Organic Drafts from the beer tent. Although Wintersleep put on a great show it paled in comparison of the new friendship we were forming. I met the rest of the band members from The Details after the show and we all headed down to the Drake Hotel to take in Halifax’s Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees. Afterwards the band and Superfan Jenny called it a night and we planned to meet up the next day. I would see the band one more time in the morning, where they invited me to a party, which in the end I declined.

After I left the Drake Hotel I ended up at The Reverb and attempted to dance the night away to the sounds of the Parallels, 84.85 and Kenny Glasgow, but in the end the drink was too much for me and I headed back to my hotel room to pass out, alone, but happy for the experiences I had.

And that, Dear Reader, was my 3rd, and what would be my last, night at the North by Northeast festival in Toronto.



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NxNE – Day 2

ac⋅quaint –verb
[uh-kweynt]
1. to make more or less familiar, aware, or conversant
2. to bring into social contact; introduce

My cousin decided to blow off work and join me for a day at NxNE. I haven’t seen him in awhile and we were never really that close so it was a good chance to get to know him better.

We started the day out at the Hyatt Regency with Rah Rah, a pretty good band from Saskatchewan. Followed by Papa Groove, a very unique band from Montreal. During the Papa Groove show my cousin leaned over to me and said “They look like a bunch of tour buses crashed and these guys are the survivors.” And he is right. The lead singer resembles Lenny Cravitz, the bass player is a white guy with long dreadlocks sporting a cowboy hat, there was a 5-piece brass section, two guys on keyboards dressed as pimps, three drummers and I think one or two other guys on guitars. You really have to see it to believe it.

We rushed over to the National Film Board to check out a documentary but, still feeling the pints from the previous night, I misread the schedule. The documentary was being screened at the Hyatt Regency – the very place we just left. I begged off doing anything else for the rest of that afternoon and took a much-needed nap.

Feeling refreshed, we headed back out on the town. Our first stop was Lee’s Palace for the Outlaws and Gunslingers show. I ran into Amanda Putz and listened to The Swallows and a compilation of Jim Cuddy, Royal Wood and Oh Susanna. The line-up was a little too country for me so we jumped the streetcar to Queen St. West and just made it in time for The Burning Hell show at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, followed by The United Steelworkers of Montreal. Apparently the Horseshoe does not follow the maximum capacity requirements, so by the end of the Steelworkers show the place was jam-packed. Feeling slightly claustrophobic we left and ended the night off at the El Mocambo with You Say Party! We Say Die!, and die I did. Exhausted, I made it an early night and went back to my cousin’s place to rest up for the weekend.






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NxNE – Day 1

let⋅down –noun 
[let-doun]
1. disillusionment, discouragement, or disappointment

On Tuesday night the great people at CBC Radio3 hooked me up with two passes to the North by Northeast music festival in Toronto. So Wednesday morning I woke up early, jumped in my car and made the 500 or so kilometre drive to The Big Smoke.

The first night was a bit of a bust; the rain began just as I got in line for the Arts & Crafts show at The Courthouse, and to add insult to injury they were only letting in people on the industry guest list. After standing in the rain for 2 hours, dejected, I decided to leave and hailed a cab to The Drake Hotel. A cool pint of Guinness and the sounds of The D’Urbervilles, lioness and Woodhands made up for the disappointment from the beginning of the night.



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SEARCHLIGHT! Winner Phog Lounge Announces Concert Details

head⋅lin⋅er –noun
[hed-lahy-ner]
1. a performer whose name appears most prominently in a program
Tom Lucier, of the Phog Lounge, announced live today on CBC Radio 3 the concert details for winning the Searchlight Contest for the Best Live Music Venue in Canada back in February.

So without further ado, here are the details:

Phog Lounge, Windsor, Ontario
Saturday, July 11th, 2009

Many local Windsor Bands will be performing during the Free All Day Event (charges for the VIP section).
CBC Radio 3 will be there for a live broadcast of headliner Holy Fuck.

I wish I could make it down to Windsor for this concert, but I already have passes for Bluefest here in Capital City. For all those that are going to attend, enjoy!



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How To Be Lame In Ottawa

bor⋅ing –adjective
[bawr-ing, bohr-]
1. causing or marked by boredom

Over the last three weeks I have had three different friends from Hometown come visit, staying from six days to a weekend. I’ve now been living in Capital City for just under five years and you don’t realize how lame your life can be until you have someone come visit and you are expected to be their tour guide. It’s at the point when you are thinking of what to do with your guest that you realize `Hey I don’t really do anything, I’m pretty lame`.

Last night, around dusk, to chase away the ghosts I went for a long walk, which ended up being around ten kilometres. I would normally cross over the Rideau River and head towards the Market and stroll around, but last night I decided to walk along the Rideau River path, something I have never done in all the `just under five years` that I have been living here. It was very peaceful, away from the bulk of the traffic, listening to the sounds of trickling water and songs of different types of birds. I even stumbled upon some sort of ceremonial aboriginal dance. I wanted to stop and have a look but felt like I would be intruding.

On my three hour walk around parts of Capital City that I was just discovering for the first time, I took some time to reflect on the last five years of my life, specifically here in Ottawa. Understanding my lameness, I realized I could sum up my whole experience here in ten occurrences or less. So here it goes:


The TopOnly Ten Things I Have Experienced In Ottawa

1. When I first moved to Capital City I was a driving instructor, in fact that is the reason I moved here, I was transferred. The job only lasted eight months before I was laid off, but if anything I got to learn the city streets pretty well and hopefully taught a handful of kids how to drive safely.
2. The first two weeks that I was living here I walked around downtown and in the Market alone, going to bars and pubs by myself to check out the nightlife. On my very first outing I met a girl, and proceeded to never call her again. I thought to myself `Wow, if it’s this easy to meet girls…` Don’t worry karma taught me a lesson, and I didn’t meet another girl for 8 months, around the same time I lost my job, where in quick succession I met three girls and they all returned the favour by never calling me again.
3. At this point, an ex-girlfriend came back into my life for a brief period of time. When she would come to visit we would do some tourist type activities. We took a boat tour of the Ottawa River, we saw the Pompeii exhibit at the Museum of Civilizations, and took a walking tour around Parliament. I also took the Parliament tour twice, once with my Uncle who works in Centre Block and the latest time when a Hometown friend came to visit for six days.
4. After being a retired driving instructor for a few months I soon accepted a contract to work with the Ottawa Chamber Music Society and got a chance hear a lot of really amazing live classical music in many of the churches around Capital City. I also met the Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean at one event. It was my responsibility to send out the letter to ask her to take part in our Christmas concert, where we wanted her to narrate the story of the Nutcracker. It was this contract that inevitably led me to my current line of work.
5. After my contract was up I took a job with a popular courier company, worked part-time at a local pub and started my foray into the world of freelance writing. If you haven’t noticed yet, other than the occasional night out at the bars, and the brief time I spent as a tourist with an ex-girlfriend I haven’t really done much in the terms of seeing anything in Ottawa. The last five will be pretty short.
6. I’ve been zip lining – although it is on the Quebec side.
7. I’ve been to one Ottawa Senators hockey game.
8. I’ve been to a handful of indie rock concerts and two Bluesfest.
9. I’ve hiked Gatineau Park approximately five times, two of them being on the most recent visits from Hometown friends. Again on the Quebec side, so I’m not sure if it counts.
10. For two and half hours I went snowboarding at Camp Fortune… once.

That about sums up my past five years in Capital City, other than dining out at some really good (and some really bad) restaurants, spending numerous times in the pubs and clubs, and attending the occasional BBQ, house or cottage party, that’s about it.

This my friends, is How To Be Lame In Ottawa.






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Wolfe Island Musicfest 2009

line⋅up –noun
[lahyn-uhp]
1. a particular order or disposition of persons or things as arranged or drawn up for action

Today Virginia Clark, the Artistic Director of the Wolfe Island Musicfest 2009, released the 2009 line-up on CBC Radio3.

This year’s festival will be taking place Aug 7th and 8th and a weekend pass goes for $50, which includes camping.

I'm not very good at typing, so I was only able to get a few of the bands down, so here is the small list:

Holy Fuck
Apostle of Hustle
Rural Alberta Advantage
ohbijou
Woodhands
Attack in Black
P.S. I Love You

Per Virginia these are only a few of the confirmed ones (minus the two our three I missed) and there are still many more to be added to the show.

I went to the 2008 Wolfe Island Musicfest, had an amazing time, and will sure to be back this year.

Update:
CBC Radio3 finally released their blog post, so here are the three artists I missed:

Busdriver
The D'urbervilles
Julie Fader

You can also hear the interview with Virginia Clark.





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The Mist

o⋅ver⋅stim⋅u⋅late –verb
[oh-ver-stim-yuh-leyt]
1. to stimulate to an excessive degree
2. to expose to excessive stimulation

I don’t know if anyone else experiences the same phenomena, but whenever I am in a new place for the first time I find it hard to take in my surroundings. It seems my vision can only concentrate on one particular thing at a time. I have a centre focal point and everything surrounding is shrouded in a mist. It is as if my brain cannot comprehend this new environment and goes into overload. The side effect usually is that when I return to a place it seems much smaller than I originally thought.

Last night I attended a concert as part of BC Scene here in Capital City. I ‘won’ two tickets from my favourite radio station CBC Radio3, and although my attention was focused on both Dan Mangan and Danny Michel who are amazing artists, I had to blink away the mist that kept crowding my vision. Regardless of my encroaching mist problem the concert, held at the First Baptist Church, was simply amazing, hard bench pews and all.

If you would like to listen to the concert, which was recorded live, it should be available at CBC’s Concert on Demand. You can also see some live videos and read a better review of the concert from Emily Chen.



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