old fashioned morphine
There were only two problems when Jolie Holland played the St. James Hall in Kits tonight. Both weren't her fault. For one, it was stifling hot inside. For two, they kicked her off stage at 11pm, and I'm pretty sure she would have been very happy to play for much longer. I could've listened to her play all night. Everything else was wonderful.
The church-come-community centre may have been a bit much in the temperature department, but it sounded phenomenal. I was sitting up in the balcony, and the music emanating from the stage was wrapped in a wonderful, natural, reverb. Think of the Cowboy Junkies' Trinity Sessions and you get an idea of what I'm getting at. I don't make a habit of hanging out in religious buildings, but old churches just have a certain sound that other places don't.
The performance itself was very off the cuff. I suppose some people might say "unprofessional," but I would call those people names. With no setlist, and no real plan for the evening, Holland and her band (just guitar/drums) made their way through tunes from all of her full lengths, as well as a healthy number of covers and traditional tunes, at their leisure. The former Vancouverite also got a little help from her friends. At various points in the evening Samantha Parton (who Holland played with in the Be Good Tanyas) and C.R. Avery both joined Holland on stage, playing piano and providing backing vocals. Another talented gentlemen (whom I can't recall the name of) also duetted with Holland; the two armed with accordion and fiddle, respectively.
During one of the many stories Jolie told during the course of the night, she mentioned a day in New York with a bunch of friends, "just singing for, like, 24 hours straight; it was beautiful." And, that was sort of what the show was like; like being privy to a bunch of very talented friends, who got together to make music for no other reason, than because that is what they love to do. It was one of the best performances I've seen all year.
A whole bunch of Jolie downloads at Anti.
I've been meaning to add Daytrotter to the sidebar for awhile, and it's kept slipping my mind, even though I visit them weekly. Hopefully, you already know about the site, but if not, the short and sweet of it is this: ever week a band drops by the Futureappletree studio in Illinois and records a 4-song set that gets put up for download on the site. Last week you may have caught Pitchfork linking to the new song that the Sunset Rubdown hammered out live (plus three more). This week, one of my new favourite singer-songwriters, Casey Dienel, is featured. Casey performed two songs from her stellar debut, Wind-Up Canary, one new song, and a fabulous cover of Pavement's Cut Your Hair. The Pavement cover is only good for a thousand downloads, so head over there and get it.
Lupe Fiasco is playing at the Standard on June 30th. The Grates show is early, so conceivably if you're into spastic indie pop and skateboard inspired rhymes, you could do both. I happen to think "Kick, Push" is one of the finest hip hop singles of 2006... but New Westminister is friggin' far... and $32.50 is kinda pricey.
now playing: Jolie Holland - Sascha
6 Comments:
That "talented gentleman" was the great Geoff Berner.
Yes, I'm sure she wanted to play longer, and I'd have have welcomed more. But why didn't she start her set earlier? It was originally scheduled for 9, and they decided to push it back, even knowing that there was an 11pm curfew.
By 
, at
8:55 a.m.
Ha! I have a sneaking suspicion that we were sitting about 6 feet away from each other a the show.
By , at
10:20 a.m.
Yeah.. i suppose she could have started earlier. Also, thx for the headsup on Geoff Berner.
Rob: if you were up on the balcony, I suppose we are. I was with the two dudes who snuck in right as Jolie was starting.
$32.50 for Lupe is kinda steep. Btw, he's got a blog, http://www.hypebeast.com/lupefiasco, he's a bit of a streetwear celebrity these days.
By , at
11:17 p.m.
We got there early and were milling around in the second row, on the balcony.
You never check out the opening acts, hey?! ;)
We'll be at Jose Gonzalez tonight. You there?
By , at
9:27 a.m.
I'll be there tonight. Either with a couple people, or maybe solo... not sure. But come say, hello.
By 
Quinn, at
10:58 a.m.
