Hawksley Workman - July 16, 2010 - Old Roxy Theater (Mount Forest)
Hawksley is one of the few Canadian artists who have been on our "must-see live" list for a while now but through either timing or expenses haven't been able to see. This all changed when we found out her was playing in Mount Forest (a small town around an hour north of Stratford).
The venue was the Old Roxy Theater, which as it's name suggests is an old movie theater converted to a concert venus. The theater only holds between 100 to 200 people which makes for a nice intimate evening. We ended up scoring front row right side seats which was cool but I don't think there was a bad seat in the house.
I didn't know what to expect out of a Hawksley Workman. I enjoy his music and I know he is a little eccentric, though I was afraid that he would be a little divaish and only play music with no connection/conversation with the audience. Boy was I wrong to worry. The music was phenomenal, even the new stuff that is not as known by the audience, and the stories were hillarious. He played off of the energy from the audience telling stories, telling jokes, occasionally making us scratch our heads trying to figure out what he was talking about. He would even break into stories in the middle of songs - while his buddy Todd Lumley ("Mr. Lonely") played accompaniment on the keyboards. The funniest story was about fusing drum solos with potato salad making (click here to see this song with the story that I took at the concert).
He even made references to being called Hawksley WORKSman by one of the old Roxy staffers who introduced him to the audience. A little inside joke for the people who were at the show :)
Since there was no opener we were treated to two hours of just Hawksley and Mr. Lumley. With one encore in which he played three songs selected by the audience.
He ended up playing many of my favorites and many new favorites from his albums including "Jealous of Your Cigarette", "You Me and the Weather", "Warhol's Portrait of Gretzsky", "Your Beauty Must Be Rubbing Off", "Tokyo Bicycle", "We Will Still Need a Song", "Autumn's Here", "Rain" just to name a few.
As an added surprise during "Autumn's Here" an audience member started playing his harmonica and Hawksley called him up on stage where they jammed for a while. The harmonica playing worked well with the song and Hawksley was really loving it and the audience enjoyed it as well - giving both Hawksley and the harmonica player a standing ovation at the end of the show.
Another Canadian artist off of the list - but this definitely will not be the last time I see Hawksley. Can't wait for the next time!
Heat Wave 2010
It's weeks like this that make me wish I shelled out a couple more bucks for the central air unit when we did the furnace upgrade this past winter.
Thankfully my buddy SMooSH and his wife gave us their window rattler AC unit so we can at least cool down our sleeping area.
Don't get me wrong - temperatures of 30 degrees is okay, as long as it cools down to the mid-teens at night. When it's in the mid-twenties at night we aren't given any time for things to cool down.
Oh well. It looks like either Friday or Saturday that things will cool down at night. Hopefully the humidity breaks soon.
Sarah Harmer - June 18, 2010 @ The Studio at Hamilton Place
This past Friday myself, Firda, my brother and sister-in-law, and three friends took in the music of Sarah Harmer in Hamilton, Ontario. For those unfamiliar with Ms. Harmer should know that she is a little folksy, a little rock, a little bluegrass but a lot of awesome! She recently started touring to promote her long awaited new album "Oh Little Fire" which comes out tomorrow.
As my long time readers may remember Firda and I saw Ms. Harmer in October of 2006 in Orillia, Ontario, which was a tour to promote her last album "I'm a Mountain". Four years was a long time to wait but she didn't disappoint. She played a lot of her new stuff while mixing in many of her more popular older songs, and we were very happy to have her play our favourite songs.
The venue was very nice as well. A small intimate setting with not a bad seat in the house. We ended up in the third row immediately in front of the talented keyboardist Julie Fader (whom I admit to having a little crush on - and have seen in concert with Sarah and the Great Lake Swimmers a total of four times now). The banter between the band members and the audience made the night even more magical. Plus the opening band "Colleen and Paul" were exceptionally apt at setting the mood for the main event.
My only peeve about the show is that the audience gave up after the first encore. I know the band were willing to come out for a second encore but the older population of the audience decided they needed to go home and sleep. Heck it took the venue a good 30 to 40 seconds to turn the lights on - which meant they weren't planning on doing that. Though this was a minor issue and didn't ruin the night for me.
Here's hoping that the next album doesn't take 5 years to emerge and the next time we get to see Ms. Harmer in concert is even sooner.
Five Years is a long time but it doesn't seem like it
This past Friday Firda and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We didn't do a whole lot on Friday - we had a nice expensive dinner at Foster's Inn in town and watched a movie together (The Invention of Lying). Foster's Inn was really good - I had the 8 oz. steak (well-done) and Firda has the Salmon. It's a pricey restaurant but not super pricey. The atmosphere was quite nice and the food was quick for a nice restaurant. The movie was okay as well - I still believe it was a romantic comedy, though not your typical romantic comedy.
Saturday my parents came up and took us out for dinner at a local Greek restaurant called Demetre's. We've been to this particular restaurant before and enjoyed it. This time was no different.
Five years with more years to go!
A New Post for Handy Solo
A friend of mine complained on my Facebook page that I never post here anymore and you know what? He's right!
I never know what to post about. I guess since it's season and series finale time I could post about the shows we watch and my thoughts on the finales.
Grey's Anatomy - A shooter on the loose in the hospital. A story of a grieving husband who believes that revenge is the only way he can get any closure in his wifes death. There was a lot of violence with a lot of people dieing and even more teetering on the brink of life and death. The ending was kind of predictable but a good end to a mediocre season. At least it had about 90% less whining over relationships. Sometimes I wonder why I still watch it.
Lost - The two and a half hour finale was on last Sunday but we didn't get to see it until Tuesday night. The six season story has finally come to an end - the main story line has been resolved, there are still many unanswered questions but I'm satisfied. As one of my friends said the finale was a definitive ending - there will be no spin-offs and no reunion episodes. After six years I am finally satisfied - and if you want to know what my theory about the finale is contact me.
How I Met Your Mother? - No major cliffhangers here but as always good entertainment. A baby may be added to the cast (will this cause a shark to be jumped?), a mistake averted due to bleached hair, a love lost and potential love rekindled next season. The only thing I hope is that in the next season they identify the mother before they run completely out of steam and get cancelled.
Big Bang Theory - Another great comedy series. The episode was good but no real cliff hanger - but I will still be watching next season.
Modern Family - If you are not watching this yet you don't know what you are missing. It's the new Arrested Development without the plot (meaning you can jump in at any point and watch the show - unlike AD which was one really long, amazingly awesome movie).
The Office - One of my favorite shows of all time. I love that it is syndicated like 200 times a day. The finale was no exception. Kathy Bates character of the Sabre founder Jo Bennett is priceless. And will we see the return of Holly? If so what happens to Toby? The questions!
Community - Another hillarious show. The cliff-hanger? Who will Jeff choose? Brita, the study group partner? The hot teacher? Or the twist contender at the end of the show? Can't wait to see.
And those are the shows that we watch that have finished for the season. Shows still ongoing are Breaking Bad and Glee.
Was this adequate for you Handy Solo?
