09.01.2008 The New Pornographers / Black Mountain / Stevie Jackson

The Stanley Park Exhibition is a (they're hoping) annual concert curated by the New Pornographers in their home town, an Stanley Park's Malkin Bowl. Proceeds from the ticket sales and merchandise will benefit two charities:

ALS Society of Canada

and

Urban Native Youth Association


go support.

There was a total of 10 bands playing over two days. On the first day Deerhoof, The Evaporators, Andrew Bird, Destroyer and Neko Case played. I didn't go, so there'll be no review.

There also won't be a review of the first two bands (Visqueen, 1900s) from the second day. (I had a paper to finish)



I arrived just as Stevie Jackson was making his introductions to the crowd. For those who don't recognize who this gentleman is, he plays guitar and does some singing for a well known band by the name of Belle and Sebastian. Apparently he also doesn't do a lot of solo shows. For the first couple of songs, he played solo, just him, in a nice looking dark suit and a guitar. He seems to have captured most of the crowds attention, due to his charming Scottish accent and humorous self deprecating banter. After a couple of songs he brings out his buddy Mick, also from B+S to accompany him on bass. As you would have guessed, they did a Belle and Sebastian cover. The last couple of songs, they are joined by Katheryn Calder, Kurt Dahl and Blaine Thurier (i think), for a few other songs I didn't recognize.



The sun was starting to set as Black Mountain ripped into their opening number "Stormy High." I chuckled to myself as a few kids and their parents retreated from the front of the stage. Black Mountain played about an hour of their usual heavy 70s psych inspired songs. They played mostly the same songs from their last tour. 'Tyrants' was a highlight as it was heavy, jammy and pretty mind blowing. However, as good as they played it didn't seem right that there was still a little bit of light left, spoiling the dark mood.





Whenever I think of how lucky Torontonians are with having Broken Social Scene as their 'home town' super-band, I then remind myself that they're probably pretty jealous we have the New Pornographers. Since, Destroyer and Neko Case played the night before, both Neko and Dan Bejar were in attendance today. It's been a while since they've played with their full line up as Kurt didn't tour on their last Challenger's tour. The ever enigmatic Dan Bejar was his usual self, arriving on stage (sometimes late) for his songs, and leaving after the song was done. There was a special guest who sang backup vocals for a couple songs, a Nora O'Connor, who sang backup vocals on the last two albums. Carl Newman remarked that it was the first time they've ever had 9 members. Adventures in Solitude was dedicated to Kathryn's mother, who has ALS. It was very touching and probably one of the highlights of their set. Noting the 10pm curfew, the Pornographers didn't break for an encore and ended with Bleeding Heart Show and "Don't Bring Me Down", an ELO cover.

$50/$35

06.21.2008 Stars

The last time I saw Stars, I actually convinced myself that I really didn't like them as much as I thought I did. Then again, the last time I saw them, the drunk moshers really ruined the mood of the show. Still, I was a little disappointed with the setlist last time as it didn't really change a whole lot in the last couple of years. I wasn't planning on going to this show, but after reading this post on A&C's forum, I reconsidered. I'm a sucker for "special" and "secret" (There was none). Looking back I probably should have been more skeptical as I haven't seen any other evidence to support the claims in that post.

I arrived just before Stars got on. They were checking the drums as I walked into the Malkin Bowl. I've never been there before, but apparently it's supposed to be 2/3 the size of the Hollywood Bowl in Cali. (Radiohead played there in 2003, I don't know why I'm mentioning this...) The Malkin Bowl is actually quite nice. It's surrounded by trees and is all lawn. It's like Deer Lake Park, but more intimate. I don't think I'd go there if it were raining.... but on a nice summer day, it's a great outdoor venue.

Torq seemed to be in a really good mood today as he was playing in his home city. He could literally walk home from Stanley Park. During one of the earlier songs, possibly Window Bird, Torq pointed out a bald eagle flying into the trees. It was nice to hear 'The Big Fight' mixed into the setlist, more for variety than actual demand (It's not one of my favourites, but it is the first time I've heard it in a couple years). It appears the new version of Going, Going Gone is here to stay as well. I think they seem to have added a new short couple-chord intro to that song as well if I'm not mistaken. Amy and Torq had a pretty funny exchange of words when Torq started to (sarcastically) put over the New Kids on the Block. He asked for cheers from the crowd. Amy described it as "disgusting" and demanded boos. Overall the band sounded great and was very enjoyable watch. The bitterness from the last time I saw them has been washed from my mouth. I didn't get as much setlist variety as I wanted, but I did get a show that was a lot better than the last time I saw them. I also got to hear "The Woods" live for the first time, been waiting for that since about 2005, hooray for persistence.

01) Intro
02) The Night Starts Here
03) Ageless Beauty
04) Soft Revolution
05) Window Bird
06) Your Ex-Lover is Dead
07) Ghost of Genoa
08) Bitches in Tokyo
09) Set Yourself on Fire
10) The Big Fight
11) Going, Going, Gone
12) What I'm Trying To Say
13) Elevator Love Letter
14) My Favourite Book
15) Midnight Coward
16) One More Night
17) Take Me To the Riot
18) In Our Bedroom After the War
==
19) Reunion
20) Calendar Girl
21) The Woods


$30/$36