Live music galleries – My (life in) music lists

January 16, 2020January 15, 2020

Live music galleries: Frightened Rabbit [2013]

(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Like my ‘Vinyl love’ series, these posts will be more photos than words but that doesn’t mean I won’t welcome your thoughts and comments. And of course, until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts of page.)

Artist: Frightened Rabbit
When: August 4th, 2013
Where: River stage, Osheaga, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal
Context: A few days ago, I posted about how I recently purchased the 10th anniversary pressing of Frightened Rabbit’s 2nd album, “The midnight organ fight“. And of course, I made mention of frontman Scott Hutchison’s untimely death. It started me off thinking about the tragedy of it all, had me revisiting a bunch of their tracks, and got me reminiscing about the one and only time I ever got to see them live. My friends, Tim and Mark, and I decided to go to Montreal’s Osheaga as a means of celebrating a certain milestone birthday and we saw a great many excellent bands. I was especially excited for Frightened Rabbit’s set on day three because they had released their fourth studio album, “Pedestrian verse”, earlier in the year and it was in the early running for one of my faves for the year. Mark and I braved the medium-sized, early afternoon crowds (leaving Tim in the shade to nurse his hangover) and we were treated to an amazing performance.
Point of reference song: “Backyard skulls”

Scott and Grant Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit

Billy Kennedy and Andy Monaghan of Frightened Rabbit

Scott and Grant Hutchison and Billy Kennedy

Scott and Grant Hutchison looking intense

December 6, 2019December 6, 2019

Live music galleries: Orville Peck [2019]

Orville Peck and his band at CityFolk, 2019

Artist: Orville Peck
When: September 12th, 2019
Where: City stage, CityFolk, Lansdowne Park, Ottawa
Context: Just a few days ago, I posted about how Orville Peck’s debut album, “Pony”, made the number five spot on my best albums of the year list. As I mentioned there, I wasn’t that high on it at first listen. However, with repeat spins, it quickly climbed the ranks and by the time September rolled around, I was solidly hooked. Peck’s inclusion on the CityFolk lineup was the main reason I considered going at all this year. I had originally planned on going away on vacation in September but when that fell through, I took another look and bought a ticket for opening night. Orville Peck started off the festival proceedings and I’m sure the half the crowd that didn’t know what it was in for, was baffled for at least a few songs. He was backed by Toronto post-punk outfit Frigs, trading in their usual threads for cowboy hats and vintage, western garb. The set was phenomenal, engaging, and hooting and hollering fun, all the way through.
Point of reference song: “Big sky”

November 21, 2019November 21, 2019

Live music galleries: Camera Obscura [2013]

Artist: Camera Osbcura
When: July 5th, 2013
Where: River stage, Ottawa Bluesfest, Lebreton Flats Park, Ottawa
Context: In my humble opinion, 2013 saw the best lineup that Ottawa Bluesfest has ever seen, especially for indie rock fans like myself. Case in point was this early evening performance by Glasgow’s Camera Obscura on one of the festival’s side stages. This set in support of their fifth record, “Desire lines”, was actually my second time seeing the band, but I haven’t seen them since. I was super glad to catch this show with original keyboard player, Carey Lander, who, unfortunately for all of us, died two years later from Osteosarcoma. The indie pop group went on hiatus afterwards and only just this year returned to performing live. Hopefully, this means new material and perhaps another North American tour soon.
Point of reference song: “Break it to you gently”