Tag: Alternative

Categories
Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Amigo the Devil [2025]

Amigo the Devil at Ottawa Bluesfest 2025

Artist: Amigo the Devil
When: July 11th, 2025
Where: Lebreton Flats Park, Ottawa Bluesfest, Ottawa
Context: A few days in to this year’s edition of Ottawa Bluesfest and I’ve already been treated to a number of unforgettable performances that have not only introduced but quickly made a fan of this humble music nerd to their respective artists. One example of these pleasant surprises was the 7:45pm set by Amigo the Devil on Friday night on the River stage. It was my friend Josh and the fact that this artist was the only reason he was attending the festival on this night that pushed me to have a look into the music of the noir folk artist beforehand. A few spins of their tunes had me looking forward to the set as well but I was woefully unprepared for how blown away I would be. Frontman Danny Kiranos’s immense stage presence and storytelling prowess had the crowd wrapped up with him, laughing and crying and singing along. Especially poignant were the duet with his girlfriend Abbey covering the John Prine tune “In spite of ourselves” and in introducing “It’s all gone” with a crack that he wished he had never wrote the song after losing most of his possessions in a house fire last month. I can’t wait to start digging further into his catalogue and wouldn’t hesitate to see Amigo the Devil, solo or full band, live, again and again and again.
Point of reference song: “Murder at the bingo hall”

Carson Kehrer on the drum kit
Katerina Kiranos adding some percussion
Danny Kiranos playing banjo
David Talley on guitar

Carson rocking out
Danny and Abbey duet
David Talley
Katerina playing the melodica
Amigo the Devil taking it away
Categories
Live music galleries

Live music galleries: The Tea Party [2024]

(It’s the eve of the first day of this year’s edition of Ottawa Bluesfest! Can you tell I’m excited? I bought a full pass when they went on sale back at the end of February and I had no idea if I’d be well enough to attend any of it. I’ve been looking forward to it ever since. I still don’t know how many of the shows I’ll get to but I’m looking at it all as a bonus. To celebrate, I’m taking a pause in our regular scheduled programming. Today, I’m sharing some pics from one of last year’s great sets and hopefully, I’ll have a few more words and pictures to share on the festival over the next 11 days.)

The Tea Party live at Bluesfest July 13 2024

Artist: The Tea Party
When: July 13th, 2024
Where: Lebreton Flats Park, Ottawa Bluesfest, Ottawa
Context: This set of pictures is more than just a record of a rock performance. It also shows and reminds me of one of the many reasons I love Ottawa Bluesfest so much. It has not only given me the opportunity to discover so many excellent acts over the years but it has also allowed me to witness the performance of acts that I would not have otherwise seen. The Tea Party is an example of the latter. The trio originally from Windsor, Ontario were a huge name in Canadian alternative rock throughout the 90s. I knew them by name and because I’d heard them played ad nauseam on the radio, benefactors of our country’s Canadian Content laws. I had nearly forgotten about them but gave them another look in advance of last year’s edition of the festival when I saw their name on the bill and I was pleasantly surprised at how many of their songs I knew and (more importantly) liked and how well they held up. These songs motivated me enough to head down to the festival grounds specifically to see them* and The Tea Party did not disappoint. In their energetic one hour set, they tore through pretty much all their hits (including “The bazaar”, “Temptation”, “Sister awake”, and the song below), impressed with their prowess on multiple instruments, and Jeff Martin did the same with his frontman showmanship.
Point of reference song: “Heaven coming down”

Jeff Martin surverying the crowd
Jeff Burrows at the kit
Stuart Chatwood on the bass
Jeff Burrows in the zone
Jeff Martin pulling out the big guns
Stuart Chatwood on the keys
The trio just jamming away

*And leave before the headlining set by Motley Crue.

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Pixies “Come on pilgrim… it’s surfer rosa”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: Pixies
Album Title: Come on pilgrim… it’s surfer rosa
Year released: 2018
Details: 3 x LP, 180 gram, gold, 30th anniversary of “Come on pilgrim” and “Surfer rosa”

The skinny: We’re just a handful of days removed from the start of Ottawa Bluesfest, the local 9-day music extravaganza that I try to attend in some capacity every year and have been doing so in most cases for just over fifteen years. With my health issues this year, I’m certain I won’t be attending every night but I did purchase a full pass and there are a few bands performing that I am definitely going to try to see. Pixies is one of these acts and I’ve been spinning a bunch of their tunes in preparation. I purchased this special edition 3 LP box set collecting together “Come on pilgrim” and “Surfer Rosa”, two of the band’s first ever releases, a few years after it was released, when I found it while browsing Toronto’s Rotate This on a Boxing Day. Released in 2018 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the former’s release, the three discs were pressed on gold vinyl. Included with the mini album and LP was the group’s first ever recording, a live performance from 1986. It was a great find all around and with the Boxing Day discount, a worthwhile purchase.

Standout track: “Gigantic”