I’ve mostly been having a little break from filming bands this summer, but I found a couple of files on my hard-drive that I thought I should finally upload. It may be a month or so late, but here is some footage I took from And So I Watch You From Afar’s show at the Horseshoe in July.

This band is pretty great live, though filming from the front row was a bit perilous. My camera almost got taken out by the the guitarist’s crotch a couple of times. My highlight of the night was when both guitarists jumped into the audience to finish up the last song of their set. It was one of those magically intimate live music moments. See it for yourself here.

After the show we were also treated to a set by Toronto guitar drum duo Indian Handcrafts. By that point of the night I was pretty exhausted and left early. But they impressed me enough I bought their album when I got home, and will try and catch them again soon.

It’s been a while since I’ve uploaded anything here, so I thought I’d add some new photos. I recently spent a scorching weekend in Brooklyn gorging myself on delicious food and beer. I also took a couple of photographs in between pints. Here are some of my favourites!

Flickr Photoset

Cut it out your self inflicted pain is getting too routine, the crowd is catching on to the self inflicted song… Yes it’s probably true. Almost 10 years from when that song was released we might be on to them. But the formula works, and the frenzied crowd at the Horseshoe Tavern on Saturday ate up every second of Tim Kasher spitting out his angst and anger over Cursive’s dissonant crash of guitars, drums, and the odd trumpet.

Rewind to the year 2004. I’m in my first year of university; Cursive are one of my favourite bands; living in Australia I had given up hope of every getting the chance to see them live. Fast-forward back to 2012. I’m still in university (at least graduate school now…); Domestica and The Ugly Organ are still two of my favourite records; however I’ve mostly drifted away from the post-hardcore bands that dominated my early 20s. But I do live in Canada now, and the chance to see Cursive live could not be passed up.

Live video playlist

1. This House Alive
2. Big Bang
3. A Gentleman Caller
4. A Red So Deep
5. Going To Hell
6. The Martyr
7. The Recluse
8. From The Hips
9. The Casualty
10. Sink To The Beat
11. Art Is Hard
12. Eulogy For No Name

1. Plainclothes (Cymbals Eat Guitars)
2. Keep Me Waiting (Cymbals Eat Guitars)

I admit a couple of weeks ago I wasn’t too familiar with Cursive’s output after their 2006 record Happy Hollow. So I got myself a copy of Mama, I’m Swollen, and their brand new album I Am Gemini and started doing my homework on the new material in anticipation of the show. One thing I have to say about Cursive: they are bloody consistent. Since they released Domestica in 2000 a new album has come out every three years like clockwork, and they’ve all been pretty much great. Thankfully they don’t skimp on their old material in their live show and their set plays like a greatest hits collection of their last five albums.

Saturdays show was fantastic. There was an crazy amount of energy in the room, both from the band, and the crowd who were singing along to every songs and jumping around like madmen. I managed to hide off to the side behind a little pillar which let me film most of the show without getting knocked over or my camera smashed up in the process. A couple of characters stood out. There was a large bearded guy in a truckers hat at front and centre who kept climbing halfway up onto the stage and shouting along with the lyrics, spit flying everything, while furiously pontificating at Tim Kasher’s face. There was also a bald, bearded hipster guy right next to me who may have gone down in history for the Horseshoe massacre if Cursive didn’t play The Casualty. Luckily for everyone there that track made it into their encore right before Burst & Bloom and Art Is Hard, making for possibly my favourite 12 minutes of the night.

The opening act for the night, New York City’s Cymbals Eat Guitars were also a great band and a perfect match for Cursive. I hadn’t heard them before the night but I will definitely be checking them out now, and hopefully I’ll get to see them headlining their own tour up this way soon.

Check out the videos and photos from the show!

Flickr photoset

Several weeks ago I had the great pleasuring of seeing Canadian Hip Hop legend Buck 65. This was actually my first Hip Hop gig (excluding music festivals), and I had a great time. I wasn’t very familiar with Buck’s music going in, all I knew was he had a voice like gravel, and unorthodox instrumentation for rap music. I came out convinced his was definitely worth getting familiar with though. He also looks a heck of a lot like Billy Bob Thornton. Check out the clips from the show below:

Live video playlist

1. Indestructible Sam (Buck 65)
2. Gee Whiz  (Buck 65)
3. Cold Steel Drum  (Buck 65)
4. Zombie Delight  (Buck 65)
5. Blood Of A Young Wolf  (Buck 65)
6. Gettin’ Down (Kool Krys)
7. Touch Home (Kool Krys)

The night opened with Halifax groomed, currently Toronto based, rapper Kool Krys who managed to get the lethargic crowd warmed up and in a party mood. But the crowd was really there to see Buck  65, who’s last show in Waterloo was rumoured to be many many years ago. He played a great set of newer songs and old classics (I only know this because I went with a friend who is a big Buck 65 fan). In what was a nice touch he also put out a song request sheet at the merch desk before the show and managed to get through pretty much everything on it. Of course this was done by throwing in an epic couple-of-bars-of-the-left-over-requests medley at the end of his set. Still, it’s the thought that counts.

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(I experimented with filming with a monopod for the first time at this show to help reduce the shakiness of the footage after the arm-death of a workout that was TSMZ the week before).

Last week I had the great pleasure of seeing Montreal’s bombastically named  Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. In short, the show was fantastic. I dragged along two friends who had never heard of the band before, and I didn’t give them much of a hint on what to expect, but needless to say they were both awed by the show. The show opened up with an expected offhanded political rant about Toronto’s government before launching into the first performance of the brand new song Take Away These Early Grave Blues. In fact the crowd at Lee’s was in for a treat, as TSMZ played a total of three new songs. You can see them all in the videos down before, this was the first time I filmed a whole show, but it was worth it. Sadly the video isn’t the best quality as I my arms got pretty shaky holding my camera up for the almost two hour long set, but I hope you enjoy them anyway!

Live video playlist

1. Take Away These Early Grave Blues (new song)
2. Blindblindblind
3. 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons
4. There Is A Light
5. The State Itself Did Not Agree (new song)
6. Horses In The Sky
7. What We Loved Was Not Enough
8. Psalms 99 (new song)

Like a lot of their fans I first came upon them back when they went by the marginally humbler name of A Silver Mt. Zion and were a stripped down side project of three core musicians of the orchestral post-rock juggernauts  Godspeed You! Back Emperors. At first I was put off by their changing sound as they ballooned from a three piece to a similar sized collective to GY!BE and started featuring frontman Efrim’s warbly voice as a main song element, but it has grown on me a lot over their last few records. TSMZ’s music has a human element that GY!BE’s lacked. GY!BE’s music and live show (which I had the good fortune to see twice last year) is more akin a force of nature. Overall I would have to admit that as much as I love GY!BE, I found TSMZ’s live show even better.

You would never guess if you only listened to their music, but Efrim turns out to be one of the best front men I’ve seen in ages. The banter between songs, question time and the heckling with the audience, does a great job of giving everyone a breather between their longer numbers. One of my highlights was when he was talking between songs telling an amusing story about a crazy night at the dance club above Lee’s Palace he had when he was 19, when he stopped and told us to look at the stage lights. They were bouncing like crazy from whatever was happening upstairs and looked like they could rain down on the crowd at any moment. Thankfully they survived the last song and encore.

It’s early days yet but I have a feeling this will be one of the best shows I see this year. The bar is now set quite high for everyone else…

Last week I kicked off a (hopefully) music filled twenty twelve, by catching up and coming Sydney post-punkers Sweet Teeth back in my homeland of Australia. The guys in the band are friends of mine and I’ve been following them from the other side of the the world for the last year, so it was great to actually get a chance to see them live on my brief visit here. It was a pretty low key show, and they were the opening act, but it was loud, it was raw, and it was fun. They could probably do with a couple of guitar tuners though… but that’s rock-n-roll innit? You also owe it to yourself to check out their video for the song Girls off their forth coming debut EP which will be released at the Oxford Art Factory (Sydney, AU) on Feb 2nd. Also check out some my videos of the show below.

Live video playlist

Sweet Teeth – Girls

Flickr Photogallery

It’s been a while since my last post, and that’s because I’ve been on holiday in Australia over Christmas and New Years. I spent my new years down on the great ocean road (as I did last year too), though instead of Falls Festival this year, I camped at a friends cabin in the hills near Johanna Beach. The party there ended up having the same vibe as a music festival, only without the bands. Here are some of my favourite photos I took from the trip.

Sunset over Johanna

Flickr Photoset

It’s been a long time since Hinindar have played in KW, and that’s a shame. I last saw them at the Carl X, the final show at the old Trepid House on King St N which was host to many amazing house shows in its time. Sadly I only got to see the tail end of its legacy in the time since I moved to Canada. I’m not exactly sure what Hinindar’s story is. I think it’s something of a side project turned band of the guitar wielding, story slinging front man Steve Sloane (The Music Box), rounded out with Jeff Woods and Steph Yates (Tyson & The Trepids) on synth and drums slash banjo respectively. Wherever they came from though, I thoroughly enjoy them. So I was quick to pack my camera to record some of their recent free show at The Artery in Kitchener. Enjoy the videos!

Live video playlist

A couple of week I decided to go watch Oshawa alt-country rockers Cuff The Duke at Starlight on a recommendation of a friend. I didn’t know anything about the band in advance, but going in I sure wasn’t expecting a country show. The openers for the night were Toronto’s Hooded Fang, who played with a stripped down line up and seemed a little lacking a little in energy on the night. Cuff The Duke gave a great show though.

Live Video Playlist

The whole show I couldn’t help notice a fiddle sitting up on top of the bass amp, and I kept wondering when the fiddle song was coming. Of course their was only one fiddle song, the enjoyable If I Live of If I die, and of course it was the encore. There was also a group of young girls who decided they would clap religiously to every song. But unfortunately they became evangelical about it and got up in everyones faces trying to force them to clap, and they did a good job of attempting to ruin the show for one of my friends whom they wouldn’t leave alone. I’m surprised she didn’t headbutt them. A word for future shows Waterloo Clap Police: if you want to clap go all out, but let other people enjoy the show in their own way.

Flickr Photogallery

I’m always cautious about seeing an young and extremely hyped band live, as deep down I’m afraid they won’t be able to live up to their reputation, and the mysterious Manchester four piece WU LYF have been one of the most hyped young bands this year. To the uninitiated they are more than a little confusing. For starters their full name is World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation and one of their two websites reads more like some confusing cult propaganda page than a band site. But contrary to their satanic name their songs feel decidedly hopeful and positive; sparkling guitar and pounding drums are soaked in angelic reverb then wrapped up with the cathartic cries form their almost incomprehensible singer. And that’s even before you try to decipher the lyrics. My favourite description of their sound is from the Pitchfork review of their album: “This is life-afirming music”. For a band that has this much buzz it was a great opportunity to see them at an intimate venue like The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, and I also paid less for the ticket than I usually have to for local bands. In the end they more than met my expectations and it ended up being one of the best shows I’ve been to this year.

WU LYF Live Video Playlist

Their wasn’t too many surprises in WU LYF’s set. They started with the song LYF and then continued almost track for track from their debut album Go Tell Fire To The Mountain, though they did skip We Bros so they had something to save for an inevitable encore. WU LYF’s live shows are often described as Cathartic, and that sums it up well enough. The crowd was overly enthusiastic, singing along to all the yelps and shouts, slamming palms on the front of the stage, and building up to a foaming frenzy in tracks like Spitting Blood, Heavy Pop, and We Bros. If anything the band seemed a little shy of the crowds enthusiasm. There wasn’t much banter form the band either, but that didn’t really matter as it didn’t feel needed. The singer spoke only a few words in between songs yet these were even more incomprehensible than his lyrics. If he wasn’t putting it that voice when talking, he probably should be planning a visit to the doctor. There was nice moment at the start of their last song Heavy Pop when the guitarist took the microphone to give an endearing dedication to all us “true love people”, and if you saw the crowd half way through that song i’d forgive you for thinking you were witnessing the rapture. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that much intensity and emotion between band and crowd at an indie rock show.

After a brief stage exit they returned for their encore amidst the crowd pounding out the intro drum beat for Dirt  with both hands and feet on the stage and floor. They started with a cover of Chris Isaac’s Wicked Game and then wrapped up the night with crowd favourite We Bros. The crowd got pretty frantic and there was a lot of pushing in the last song. In a quiet lull towards the end of the song the singer took a moment to tell the crowd “Stop hitting each other! This song is about having respect for you fellow man, so stop fucking hitting each other.” I find it somewhat ironic that for a song called We Bros, the bros are the ones missing the message. All in all it was a fantastic show, one of the best I’ve been to this year. If you haven’t heard of them, check them out. If you have make sure you see them while they’re touring. It might be your only chance to see them in a small venue before they explode.

Flickr Photogallery

Note: I didn’t take many photos of at this show because I decided to try and capture as much as a could on video. The sound isn’t perfect since I was right at the front of the stage and so mostly picking up the stage monitors, and the video is pretty shaking since the lens I had was not really wide enough for being that close, and I was getting bumped around by the crowd. But I hope you still enjoy the footage!