Categories
Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Corb Lund [2024]

(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. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

Corb Lund performing at Ottawa Bluesfest 2024

Artist: Corb Lund
When: July 11th, 2024
Where: SiriusXM stage, Ottawa Bluesfest, Lebreton Flats Park, Ottawa
Context: So this year’s edition of Ottawa Bluesfest wrapped up five days ago and as is usual when I purchase a full festival pass, it’s taken me a few days to recover from the grind. Indeed, I always find myself glad it’s over but at the same time, sad and missing having live music to see every night. All told, I went to seven of the ten nights of the festival and saw more than twenty excellent sets. Hands down, my favourite of the bunch was Corb Lund’s 8pm set on the SiriusXM stage on the second Thursday night. I’d heard of the Canadian country singer-songwriter before, of course*, but had never really given his music a chance**. I had done a small sampling in the week before seeing him so was somewhat familiar with some of the tunes. Lund and his band powered through a set that played on the rockabilly, blues, and rock country side of the genre. With lyrical themes of trucking, farming, and drinking, he had the crowd jumping like maniacs and knocking back cans of Canadian like it was water. Corb and his cowboy hat never took himself too seriously but his talent on the guitar was palpable and his voice hit all the right notes, even when he yodelled. His backing band kicked ass, as well, with Grant Siemens setting the tone on the lap steel and Sean Burns knocking us all out with his upright bass chops. It was such an eye-opening performance, that I’ve resolved myself to make up for all the lost time without his music in my life and would definitely jump at the chance to see him and his group perform again.
Point of reference song: “Redneck rehab”

Lyle Molzan on the drums
Sean Burns on the upright bass and mouth organ
Corb Lund
Grant Siemens and the lap steel
Sean Burns and Lyle Molten
Corb and Sean Burns sharing the mike
Grant Siemens
Corb Lund taking it away

*In fact, my friend Tim left Mark and me to catch a bit of his set at Osheaga back in 2013.

**Not because I was prejudiced in any way against listening to him but as usual, a case of so much music, so little time.

Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 1993: #2 Adorable “Homeboy”

<< #3   |    #1 >>

So just two songs ago on this list, I posted about how I always connected the song in question, The Boo Radleys’ “Lazarus”, with drunkenly dancing at Toronto’s The Dance Cave back in the 90s and here’s another one I remember dancing to a heck of a lot back in the day. And though I definitely remember it from The Dance Cave as well, it is one of York University’s campus pubs that sticks with me when it comes to “Homeboy” by Adorable… and it’s mostly the fault of a young lady.

The pub in question was Jac’s in the basement of Norman Bethune College*, which I discovered early into my third year of “higher education” had alternative music and dancing on Friday nights, and the young lady was one of many who had caught my attention, but whom I later learned was very much interested in me. She requested the DJ play “Homeboy” and when he did, I recognized** the tune from the radio and joined her on the dance floor. I asked after the artist and it was only then that I connected the song with the group that also performed “Sunshine smile” and she added that it was her older brother that introduced her to the song. And just before I lost myself in the song, she laughingly whispered the word ‘Rage’ in my ear: an ongoing joke between the two of us about whether a song needed to be angry to be worth listening to.

Not long after that, I was out at my favourite music store at the time, Penguin Music, and found a copy of Adorable’s debut album, “Against perfection” on the used CD racks and snatched it up. It became one of my favourite new finds, spending a lot of time in my player. It would be years before I ever heard any of the group’s other work and this, thanks to the magic of the internet. Their largely forgotten sophomore (and only other released) long player was also quite good but fell victim to a music press that was keen to move on from the baggy and shoegaze scenes to which Adorable was attributed and embrace the budding brit pop wave.

“I’m tripping into the back of my mind
And your words like angels crash inside
And a word and a movement and a touch
And a word and a movement and it’s all too much”

“Homeboy” is exactly the type of song that I would’ve loved to dance to in the early to mid 90s. A rumbling bass line and peppy drumming underpins the entire track but really comes into focus during the verses as it acts as the counterpoint to Pete Fijalkowski’s wistful vocals. Then, at the chorus, the guitars crash in, finally making good on the chiming threats to take over, and our protagonist becomes more passionate in his delivery. Hence, the ‘rage’ the ‘young lady’ referred to. But the rage is not necessarily directed at anyone or any external thing – it’s an internalized shot as he bemoans, “You’re so beautiful”, over and over, at the one that got away.

This is a crazy good track and it makes me smile at all the memories, every damn time.

*Back in those days, all of the campus college had their own pubs, but from what I understand, all but the main campus pub have long-since closed.

**As did a bunch of my friends.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1993 list, click here.

Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 2003: #12 Coldplay “Clocks”

<< #13    |    #11 >>

There are times while making and posting all these lists of my favourite tunes and albums of each year, times that I err and omit an important (to me) work of music. Indeed, I don’t have a perfect system and my memory is not at all what it used to be.

And so it was, that while counting down my favourite tunes of 2002, I somehow forgot to include “The scientist”, one of my favourite Coldplay songs. However, I can’t very well go back when redo the list at this point so I decided to right this wrong by fudging this new series a bit. “Clocks” appeared on “A rush of blood to the head”, the same 2002 album as “The scientist”, and was released as a single in the US in November 2002. Nevertheless, given that was released in the UK a few months later in 2003, I decided to bend my admittedly malleable rules of inclusion and insert “Clocks” here, a year late, as a sort of reparation for the earlier error. Besides, “Clocks” is a great tune in its own right.

I’ve already shared a few times on these pages about my intro to Coldplay via “Yellow“and ultimately, their debut album “Parachutes“. By 2002, we were all champing at the bit for new music but as it turns out, the group weren’t at all happy with their efforts on the recording sessions for their sophomore record. It was delayed a number of times. In fact, after putting it off, they went out on a world tour and started recording their third album. And it was during these sessions that “Clocks” came out of the woodwork and would go on to save “A rush of blood to the head”.

“Clocks” begins and ends with that piano riff that is instantly recognizable, has been used and sampled by other artists, and is nearly impossible to evacuate from your head once it’s lodged there. The song was built around this riff and despite “Clocks” being planned for a later album, it became imperative to include on the gestating sophomore release.

“The lights go out and I can’t be saved
Tides that I tried to swim against
Have brought me down upon my knees
Oh, I beg, I beg and plead”

The lyrics are unclear in literal meaning but they give a certain impression that is unmistakable. An emotion. An energy. And paired with that intense piano riff and the relentless drum beat, it all spells an immediacy. A sense that you are in the eye of the storm, feeling in slow motion while everything and everyone else is whipping around you triple time fast forward speed. This is life. This is the dream. And Coldplay is soundtracking it.

It’s a beautiful thing and no amount of radio overkill can dull the bright colours and rosy fragrance.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2003 list, click here.