Other than that not much going on musically that I'm aware of here in Charlottetown. You know who I really feel like seeing live again (even though I've seen them 4 times this year), The Tom Fun Orchestra... alas, it will have to wait until next year.
On that same note, Tom Fun and Hey Rosetta, and Pat Deighan & The Orb Weavers, and many other great bands have all been nominated for ECMA's. Congratulations to all the nominees!
Been too long since I've put anything here. I really need to start thinking more about just quick posts perhaps, with some music I'm listening to, or shows I've seen.
Over the last month I've seen (and sometimes photographed) Cadence Weapon, Matthew Barber with The Spades, Stars, Hey Rosetta!, Raccoon Bandit, The Lodge, Pat Deighan and the Orb Weavers, the Love Junkies, Tom Fun Orchestra, and Carmen Townsend, to name a few.
Tonight I'm seeing and photographing Sam Roberts, which should be a lot of fun!
I shot this picture with my new 30mm f1.4 lens by Sigma. I've been pretty happy with it, tonight will be the first real test of it's purpose, shooting bands.
Just a quick post about some bands we've seen over the past week.
Last Thursday night Matthew Barber played at Baba's. I wish I'd payed more attention to the 3 different guys who opened, but I didn't. They all played enjoyable acoustic sets. Matthew Barber was very good. Especially considering the loud thin crowd. He is a great songwriter, and man, can he play guitar. He's very inspirational for me in my learning. Definitely something to shoot for.
Last night I was out to see Hey Rosetta! and Woodhands. Two very different, but excellent bands. I first saw Hey Rosetta! at the ECMA's in Fredericton, and though they were good, I really found the sound to be terrible there. Last night they sounded a whole lot better, and it was a whole lot more intimate.
I've never seen Woodhands before, but had heard good things about them on radio3, as well as enjoyed their music there. It all lived up to the live show, which was so full of energy, and great music. I'm convinced Dan Werb (keytar/singer/keyboards) is a twin of my friend Cam. Woodhands is the kind of band that I think Cam and I could have done. Maybe someday. Until then, I really enjoyed their show, and would love to see them again.
My friends and I saw Immaculate Machine play twice here in Charlottetown on Saturday. They first played in the small back room of Back Alley Music. I took my camera to that show, expecting it to be less crowded, and for me to be able to get a good vantage point. I was not disappointed.
Boxer The Horse opened the show, and I hadn't heard of them ahead of time. They put on a pretty rockin' show, and I enjoyed it. It also gave me a chance to be up front and take pictures and check camera settings. The keyboardist had a PBF shirt! I couldn't place it at the time, but I knew I'd seen it around somewhere before.
Immaculate Machine was up next, and they very much rocked. It was such a small room, and a lot of people in the crowd didn't know them, so I think they suitably impressed all. I was up front the whole time, snapping away, and enjoying the hell out of them. I posted a lot of pictures to flickr.
After their set I talked with Brooke (guitarist/singer) for a while about his experience in Dawson City, doing an artist in residence kind of thing. It sounds like a great place, I'd love to head up there for the Dawson City Music Festival some year.
After some chilling time at home, we headed back out to Baba's. We were there a bit late for Drea Macdonald, who was just wrapping up. Next up was Smothered in Hugs, a kickass local band. They put on a rocking good set. Even though it was even darker at Baba's, I wish I'd brought my camera, because I missed out on getting some pics of these guys.
Immaculate Machine played another great set next, and had the crowd moving (and one guy seemingly convulsing). After the show Shannon and I stuck around and chatted with Kathryn and Brooke, and I picked up their 7" single, even though I don't have a record player!
It was an awesome night, and we made it home safe and sound, which was initially in some doubt when we were almost attacked by a loose pitbull on the walk home. :/
Sunday was a bit of a lazy day on the couch. :)
I can't leave you with my favorite IM song (C'Mon Sea Legs, it's not on Radio 3), so I'll leave you with another favorite:
We're well into another year, and lots of things have changed for me. I'm sure anyone who ever checks here and reads this knows what's new in my world, so I'm not going to write about it.
I'm looking forward to spring. This has been a long snowy winter, and I miss biking on the Confederation trail. My goal of this year is to get out at least a few times a week. I also should start looking into seeing if there are any bike races here in PEI that would be fun.
In the meantime, I keep busy, Pottery, Photography, and I've just started Painting. I guess it's the three P's. ;)
I'm trying to get out to as many live shows as I can. It's been pretty quiet her over the winter, but the highlight was the Cuff the Duke and Blue Rodeo show. This weekend is Smothered in Hugs opening for Immaculate Machine. Also upcoming, Buck 65, Cadence Weapon, Cuff the Duke, Matthew Barber and Jill Barber, and Two Hours Traffic. (too many to link to!)
We also made it to the ECMA's in Fredericton, and here is one of my highlights from there, The Tom Fun Orchestra:
