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.'
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.
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.
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:
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.
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’:
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
fru⋅gal–adjective [froo-guhl] 1. economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful 2. entailing little expense; requiring few resources; meager Yesterday I brought my car in for it’s semi-annual inspection and an oil change. Well the total tab ended up costing me close to $600. With the months entertainment budget now blown I decided to look for some free things to do in Capital City for the month of June.
June 12th (to 14th) Westfest This year you can look forward to the best in Canadian and Local Ottawa multidisciplinary arts, including music, performance art, literature, spoken word, media art, visual art, dance, theatre, and live animation. Westfest is located on Richmond Road, between Golden Avenue and Island Park Drive. Tonight’s musical acts include: Arctic 7:00 - 7:45 PM Jenn Grant 8:00 - 9:00 PM Danny Michel 9:30 - 11:00 PM
Check out Danny Michel’s video for Feather, Fur and Fin:
June 13th Indonesian Festival 2009 Embassy of Indonesia will be presenting “Indonesian Festival 2009”. There will be a bazaar (furniture, handycraft and traditional food), kid’s activities, traditional cultural performance and workshop, and trade/tourism promotion for the whole family. This event will be held at the Embassy’s premises at 55 Parkdale Ave from 11:00am-4:00pm.
June 16th Bloomsday In Ottawa National Irish Canadian Cultural Center is proud to announce the’ Inaugural Celebration’ of ‘James Joyce Bloomsday ‘ to be held at St. Brigid’s Cultural Center, 310 St. Patrick Street. Readers, Musicians and Dancers from the Irish Community, will combine to present Drama, Music and Irish Dance in a mosaic of the Performing Arts, reflecting every day life in Dublin around 1904, the year of ‘Ulysses’ debut. Doors will be open at 6:30 pm and the event will conclude at 10:30pm with the Cash Bar closing 11pm. Information: 613-225-1830
June 17th Mens' Health: Golfing Injuries Free seminar on Men’s health: Golfing injuries, presented by Joel Villenueve, Naturopathic Doctor, at Rainbow Foods 1487 Richmond Rd. 630-7:30pm. Information: 613-726-9200
June 19th Arts Cafe concert, Austrian Embassy Love, Rage and Altered States: The Mind in Austrian Music Concert by Justin KOLB (piano) and François MAI (text) with music by Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert and Robert Starer. How do emotions affect the music of great composers? In this duo performance virtuoso pianist Justin Kolb and psychiatrist-author François Mai will address this question and highlight how Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert and others expressed specific feelings in their music. Sheraton Hotel, 150 Albert St. 7pm
June 24th Seasonal Allergies Seminar Free seminar on Seasonal Allergies, presented by Mark Orbay, Naturopathic Doctor, at Rainbow Foods 1487 Richmond Rd. 630-7:30pm. Information: 613-726-9200
June 25th A Free Home Buyers Seminar Learn how to avoid common pitfalls when buying a home. Speak to the professionals. There will be a Lawyer, Home Inspector, Mortgage broker, and Real Estate Agent there to answer all your Real Estate questions. There will be light refreshments, discounts and The seminar will be held at the Royal LePage Gale Real Estate office Located at 591 March Road, Kanata from 6:45pm – 8:00pm Information: 613-763-0772
June 25th (to July 26th) OSA’s 2009 Graduating Class Exhibition A showcase of emerging artists in the Ottawa region. Work will be on display from June 25 to July 26, 2009 at the OSA Gallery, 35 George St., 5pm-8pm.
June 25th (to July 1st) Canada Day Festival The Canada Day Festival has talented performers, unique entertainment and fun for the whole family all weekend until the finale on July 1st 2009 Canada Day! Check out the events in Andrew Haydon Park in the city's west-end to savor foods for every palette and enjoy the colourful entertainment and activities offered by a variety of stellar performers. There's something for everyone - midway rides and games, a mini-circus, a petting zoo, a car show, a water park, face painting, live DJ, band shell entertainment, cultural events and a Canada Day fireworks display.
June 27th (to July 2nd) Unisong Choir Festival Over the Canada Day weekend, ensembles of over 400 choristers from across Canada will present four days of free concerts throughout the Capital.
Budget blown and all, I am still hoping to make it to Toronto next weekend for NxNE - so wish me luck.
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!
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:
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.
con·test-noun [kŏn'těst'] 1. A struggle for superiority or victory between rivals It started a month ago with a list of 114 nominated venues from coast to coast. Then the Top 50 were announced, then the Top 20. A week ago, it was the Top 10... and today the Grand Prize winner of the CBC Radio3 Searchlight Best Live Music Club in Canada was announced.
Congrats to the Phog Lounge located in Windsor, Ontario!
As the Grand Prize winner the Phog Lounge will receive:
con⋅fi⋅dence–noun [kon-fi-duhns] 1. belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; self-reliance 2. certitude; assurance Last night I finally saw a live Pixies show. I actually met Frank Black and Kim Deal up close and personal. I managed to get myself up on stage and convinced my way into being a backup vocalist…. yah right in my dreams.
Well it was a dream, maybe two mashed up together, so I will leave the first half of the dream out as it has little to no bearing on the second part:
ACT II I made my way through the cold wind and icy rain to the worn out brick building that had been converted into a music hall. For some reason I had Suited Up(!) and was wearing my $5 leather jacket as an overcoat. I had a moment of bravado and inspiration seeing the yellow jacketed security guard leave his post to the two female ticket takers. I boldly left my place in line and walked to the front of the crowd and explained that I was the talent. I was a vocalist that was called in at the last moment and that I had to get to the staging area right away. My performance was so good that they let me through without any questions. I tend to think it was the suit.
Once on stage the band, the Pixies(!), where setting up their gear, doing their own sound checks, testing their equipment. I explained to Frank Black that I was here to be the backup vocalist. He gave me a funny look as if he wasn’t sure, but finally shrugged his shoulders and set me up with a microphone.
I never did get to do any signing, but I did do a lot of dancing around with the mic stand during the first set. At intermission it started raining over the venue, apparently there was no roof on the building so we had to put tarps up over the stage so the band wouldn’t get electrocuted. They then brought in a meal for the band, huge trays of spaghetti and meatballs. The creepy looking guy in the yellow jacket that helped to bring in the food pulled me aside and let me know that he was going to pound the hell out of me after I left the show. He was angry for me embarrassing him. Apparently when he left his post and I managed to sneak myself into being part of the band was a great embarrassment to him. We threw him off the stage and…. well that was the time I met the Pixies.
ven⋅ue–noun [ven-yoo] 1. the scene or locale of any action or event If you haven’t yet figured it out, I am addicted to CBC Radio3. Every couple months they do The Searchlight! where they pick a topic, such as this rounds What Is The Best Live Music Club in Canada?, ask everyone to submit suggestions and then they start doing votes.
From a list of 114 venues they are now down to 10:
Yesterday I brought my car in for it’s semi-annual inspection and an oil change. Well the total tab ended up costing me close to $600. With the months entertainment budget now blown I decided to look for some free things to do in Capital City for the month of June.
It started a month ago with a list of 114 nominated venues from coast to coast. Then the Top 50 were announced, then the Top 20. A week ago, it was the Top 10... and today the Grand Prize winner of the 
Last night I finally saw a live 
If you haven’t yet figured it out, I am addicted to 