Congratulations, Karen! You win a new car….bragging rights!!!!
But Karen wasn’t the only one to guess this song. Both Susan and Joanne guessed it here.
I don’t know about you guys but I had TONS of fun with this challenge and having you guess at my theme. This may become an annual event!
There were great guesses! And you reminded me of so many songs that I’ve loved, and could have chosen for my theme as well.
I especially loved one of Joanne’s many guesses (and this song – I was a huge 3 Dog Night fan at one time):
In coming up with a song for the challenge, I almost chose “My Favourite Things”, Sarah’s (from Travels with Choppy) guess from my F post.
But I had summer on the brain, so the song had to be focused on that.
I also seriously thought about using this one, that Karen guessed on my L post:
Every time I hear this song, I am transported back to long summer days in the yard, playing with my sisters and hearing it coming from the radio in my dad’s man cave workshop attached to the garage.
(I kinda hate this clip though, with Nat King Cole singing to only white people. Where is everybody else, having “fun in the sun”, huh?)
I hope you all enjoyed the A-Z Challenge posts and guessing my theme as much I enjoyed writing them and reading your comments.
Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, BIG Music Fest July 2014
I have loved seeing live acts since I was in my early teens. I love it now more than ever and I discussed that here.
And there is nothing I love more than music, in the outdoors, in the summer. Yep, the summer music festival.
The last few years have been amazing for summer music festivals. Acts are touring like crazy lately, in order to make money. And this widow is happy to take advantage. (I think it may have peaked last year but there are still plenty to choose from.)
BIG Music Fest, July 2014Aerosmith, Sunday Headliner at BIG Music Fest 2014Monster Truck, BIG Music Fest July 2015Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction, BIG Music Fest July 2015The Glorious Sons @ the CNE, August 2015Junkanoo, Hillside Music Festival July 2016The Temperance Movement, Toronto Festival of Beer July 2016 (OK, not technically a music festival but it still rocked!)Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Bloemendaal, The Netherlands, August 2016Mother Mother @ Riverfest Elora 2017
The only downside (for me) of outdoor music festivals is taking your chances on the weather. I’ve been at these events where the temps were over 30 degrees Celsius and there was no shade to be had. I’ve also been stuck outdoors all day and night at 12 degrees Celsius, where the kids and I huddled together under our picnic blanket for warmth, while we watched the acts. I’ve also been rained on.
But the majority of music festivals I’ve attended have been in great weather. Which is why summer music festivals rock!
Rock on,
The WB
Can you guess my theme for this year’s A-Z Challenge? All of my A-Z posts this month will be tied into my theme, which is represented by the title of a song that was popular when I was a child. Can you figure it out as the days (and posts) go by? Leave your guesses (one per day only, please) in the comments. At the end of the challenge, I will reveal the theme. Have fun!
In this week’s episode of Drunk People Behaving Badly (alternate title: Maybe I AM Getting Too Old for This Shit?), I bring you a little photo essay of The WB and Mizz J’s adventure in the Very Big City attending The Glorious Sons show, at the Phoenix Concert Theatre.
Opening act was grandson. Hard rocking; highly entertaining. On a mission to dispel the rumours that Rock Is Dead.
What’s my name? “Grandson!” What’s my name? “Grandson!!” What’s my name? “Grandson!!!” OK. Now you know my name.
The crowds weren’t bad (in terms of numbers or drunkenness) at this point and grandson was exciting to watch bounce all over the stage. At one point he even made the crowd (well, most of them) get down on their knees, then exhorted them to jump up (and around). Never seen that one before. He also asked us if we were warmed up yet for The Glorious Sons…about 15 times during his set. Mizz J and I really liked him, and appreciated his command of the stage and the audience. He never introduced his hard-rocking bandmates, though. That I can recall, anyways. It was all about grandson, all the time. My only negative critique.
By the time The Glorious Sons was in full swing, the scene looked more like this:
Packed in like little inebriated sardines, they were.
As it got steadily more packed on the floor – and we were continually jostled, pushed and stepped on – we made a decision to high-tail it up to the Loft area, where we stood by one of the many venue bars for a bit. Less jostling and pushing. Same amount of drunks though. Eventually we caught a break and found a couple of empty spaces on a bench. Now we could relax a bit and enjoy an unimpeded view. My highlight: all of us singing along with the band to Everything is Alright.
Better view, far above the maddeningly drunken crowd.
It really was too bad that we didn’t get as much out of this show as we anticipated we would. I’ve been a fan of the Sons in all their Gloriousness since I first heard them on the air, on our local rock station. Only now – 3 years later – is the Big City station deigning to play their music. This was my 3rd time, and Mizz J’s 4th time, seeing them live.
It’s been kinda neat to follow their evolution as artists.
I wisely booked the day off from work, fully anticipating that I would be dragging my sorry butt around this morning. Was 2:30 am before I was home and settled down enough to consider sleep.
Still not the oldest person in attendance! I always check.
On Friday I made a post of some favourite Canadian music artists of mine. I deliberately left off one very talented artist because of one song that just makes me gnash my teeth whenever I hear it.
City and Colour – The Girl. Go ahead and take a listen. I’ll be here when you come back.
A lot of people love this song. They think it is tender and romantic. It makes my blood boil.
Dallas Green sings: You sacrifice so much of your life in order for this to work.
And: If you were to leave; fulfil someone else’s dreams, I think I might totally be lost.
I end up mentally (or actually, if I’m alone) screaming whenever this song comes on the radio:
Oh yeah, what about her own fucking dreams, huh?! Why is The Girl’s only purpose to fulfil someone else’s dreams? What about her own dreams? Why does she have to sacrifice so much of her own fucking life to make the relationship work? Where is your sacrifice, Dude?!?!
Lately I’ve been thinking about this violent reaction I have to what most people would say is a gentle and loving tribute to someone in the artist’s life.
If you’re acquainted with this blog or know me in person, you’re probably shaking your head right now and thinking it’s so bloody obvious. And yes, it is to me now. I hate the lyrics in this song because It. Is. About. Me.
I’m the one who sacrificed her own dreams for most of my adult life to support the two husbands I committed to. Men who either were or would have been totally lost (at least temporarily) when/if I left.
So I’m furious with this song because it reminds me that I alone allowed this to happen. I willingly drank the Kool-Aid. And I’m still not at peace with myself for doing this. Although it is getting better.
A valuable lesson for me to remember: that when I have a violent reaction to something that doesn’t warrant that much emotion there is some inner work I need to do.
My apologies to City and Colour for omitting them from my Friday post. It’s not you; it’s me. Really.
We’re not just about Celine Dion, Nickleback and Justin Bieber here in the Great White North, ya know?
I may have mentioned this before on Ye Olde Blogge: I am loving and appreciating the Canadian alternative music scene like never before. It’s always been great IMHO, but lately the quantity and quality of music is just blowing my mind.
Here are just some of the current crop of Canadian bands/artists that I think are just great, in no particular order. Check them out!
It was a dark and stormy night…Last night was rainy and blowy as a cold front came roaring in. Mizz J and I looked at each other in alarm a couple of times during the evening as the wind sounded like a convoy of heavy transport trucks driving around the building. At some point the rain turned to snow – snow that stayed on the ground this time.
But enough about that. What I am really excited about is how the concert “season” is already shaping up for 2018!
I have 3 big shows lined up already – 2 thanks to being able to use presale codes.
Last time Foo Fighters were in town, Mizz J and I weren’t able to locate tickets (at non vital-organ-selling prices) and I deeply regretted missing this show and seeing Dave in all his Dave-of-Thrones, broken-legged glory. But this time – THIS TIME – there was a presale that I could take advantage of (thank you Capitol One!!!) so those are IN THE BAG for next July.
And yesterday I was able to use another presale code (thank you LiveNation!) to grab a pair of tickets to see Royal Blood and Queens of the Stone Age in London in May. These two bands were in Toronto fairly recently – just after I came back from Kelowna in September – and I was triggered to pick up a ticket every time I heard the show being advertised on the radio. Which was a lot.
Well, due to an attack of sudden-onset miserliness I ultimately decided to take a pass on this one. So they came and went without me in the audience. And I had regretted it ever since. Until yesterday!
The 3rd show I’m committed to is actually not a concert per se, but a weekend-long music festival. I am going to return to Riverfest Elora, August 17-19. And I have sold Mrs. & Mrs. Me Too on the idea so they are going to come down and stay with me and WHAT A TIME WILL BE HAD BY ALL, let me tell you!
Thinking on these 3 events and dreaming of what other 2018 shows may pop up on my musical horizon to tempt me is going to be a bright spot during the long, dark, cold days ahead.
Last night Mizz J and I attended yet another rock show together (yay!!!). Arcade Fire (with opening act, Broken Social Scene), at the Air Canada Centre on what we found out was the very last night of their tour!
I had been under the weather earlier this week but I knew I’d have to be pronounced dead before I’d miss this show.
It turned out to be one of those concerts that you felt was more like a giant house party or a show at an intimate club rather than an event at a major venue.
I didn’t know the opening (local to Toronto) act, but I did enjoy them and they appear to have a very strong following.
The stage was set in the middle of the arena and the members of Arcade Fire moved around the entire set playing to every last corner (and ventured into the crowd on a couple of occasions) so that everyone felt intimately connected with the experience they were creating.
Turn your lights on, we were told. And we did.
To begin, the band walked through the floor crowd (after being introduced like fighters) and climbed through the ropes set up to resemble a boxing ring, to start their set.
For most of this show, there were 2 free seats to the left of Mizz J and we utilized the extra space for DANCING! The owners of those seats showed up partway through Arcade Fire, stayed for about 30 minutes, then left again well before the set ended. These seats weren’t cheap. Who does this?
And, after a blistering finale they paraded off through the crowd again led by a sax player, like a New Orleans jazz funeral. We sang them off. Magical.
Highly recommended to see this band, if you get a chance.
I’ve been to a lot of concerts but never one like Arcade Fire. Everyone who purchased a ticket to the show was sent a copy of the latest CD, Everything Now. I’ve been enjoying this disc immensely since receiving it in early August.
Today I’m feeling the after-effects of this event coming so soon on the heels of being ill. I see a couple of naps in my immediate future.
But first I have to add some bands to my journal’s list of artists I have seen live…hehehe.
Definitely has the most plays in my iTunes library, followed by his latest release: You Want It Darker.
Dear Blog,
Now we have a definite contender, in my mind anyway, for biggest blow to humanity this week.
I had the opportunity to see this artist in 2009, during the tour that produced the live album pictured in this blog post.
When people would ask me what artist/band I would go see again in concert, the immediate answer was always “Leonard Cohen, naturally!” I had hoped to be able to see him again but as time went on it became apparent that this had been my only chance, and one I am so very grateful for.
A lot of us, myself included, knew this was coming. Mr. Cohen said this summer that he thought he would be joining his muse – Marianne – soon, in death.
Leonard Cohen used his poetic and musical talents to show us about life and all its joys and sorrows. It is no surprise to me that he also showed us about death and how to approach it with your whole being – head on and with full acceptance.
Like David Bowie – another artist who knew it was coming – he used what was left in him in his remaining days to get his last (and he knew it would be his last – again like Bowie) work out to us.
I see Gordon Downie of the Tragically Hip doing the same as he lives with the reality of a terminal brain cancer diagnosis.
Sunday brought us the Temperance Movement show at the Toronto Festival of Beer. Still very hot and humid, but thankfully mostly overcast so walking around outside was that much more bearable.
Mizz J and I left for Toronto as late as possible. Timing was perfect actually. We arrived about an hour before the band went on, which left us just enough time to spend our beer tokens (came with admission, along with a sampling mug) on tasting some new libations:
Crabbie’s Hard Ginger Beer….YUM.
And time to fuel up, thanks to the the Fidel Gastro food truck:
Pad Thai fries…which I can’t get out of my mind. Damn you, Fidel Gastro!
Everyone has a VW hippie van, it seems. I see these things everywhere. Except my driveway, that is. 🙁
Crabbie’s VW bus
We checked out the merch tent, of course. But alas, as with Macca, the t-shirts did not inspire me to get out my wallet. How hard is it to design an attractive band shirt, I ask you? Apparently too hard for either of these artists…sigh. Actually there was a nice shirt design (rainbow-y, psychedelic-looking) at the Paul McCartney concert…but it only came in kids’ sizes. What does this say about my taste???
At least the band did not disappoint:
High energy show by The Temperance MovementI love how close you can get to the band when at the CNE bandshell.
After a great show, it was back on the Go train to the car, then home.
And that is how to pace one’s self to get through 3 musical events over 4 steamy, energy-sapping days.
Since Thursday Mizz J and I have been on a bit of a marathon, musically-speaking.
When not working, doodling in the drywall dust that covers every surface of my home, or obsessively watching Die Antwoord videos (Don’t ask, I can’t explain it. I can’t even figure out what they are rapping about half the time. In fact I understand the English lyrics in equal measure to the Afrikaans.), I took in a lot of live music Thursday to Sunday.
Thursday night was the long anticipated Paul McCartney show at the First Ontario Centre, in Hamilton.
Hamilton was…er…interesting. Plenty of street people. Even more so than Toronto, it seemed to me.
We got there early and, because it was so stinking hot outside, hung out in Jackson Square Mall beside the event location.
We had to wait for a bit to use the washrooms off of the food court as 3 of the 5 stalls were out of order. Not a good sign. One stall was occupied for a very long time. A mom and her 7 year old daughter were waiting there too, for the occupant – her other daughter, as it turned out. Finally she emerged, looking all of about 12 (Mizz J said she looked 14), and waving around a pregnancy test in progress. I don’t know what the verdict was or how it was received. It was so awkward I avoided any eye contact with the whole scene and thankfully we got our business done and outta there very soon after that.
And then there was Macca, worth every moment of heat, discomfort and being exposed to the seedier, sadder side of life:
Sir Paul put on an incredible 3 hour show without a break – not even to take a sip of water. For a brief moment there I too could see my future self as a 74 year old ball of vegetarian energy but then I remembered who I really was…*cough*carnivore*cough*.
Got back to the Village around 130 am and hit my new bed around 2 am:
True fact: the bedding cost more than the bed. But so pretty and worth every penny. More photos of my newly renovated bedroom and closet to come as I finish the room.
I will not lie. Up at 6 am, Friday was a struggle to get through. So much so that I despaired as to how I was going to manage Hillside Festival on Saturday and seeing the Temperance Movement at the Toronto Festival of Beer on Sunday. (And then back to work on Monday). It didn’t help that the temps were in the mid thirties (degrees Celsius) with the humidity making it feel like the forties. And both events were outdoors.
So Mizz J and I did the wise thing. We went to Hillside fairly early and left fairly early too – the heat and humidity were relentless and no amount of shade, breeze or misting could alleviate it – only make it barely tolerable.
Junkanoo at Hillside – they must of been dying in those costumes!Mizz J in the Misting Tent right after we arrivedView of the Main Stage – notice the parched grassLoved the Inclusivity of HillsideMany more folk than this in the water as the day went on.Adornment of the Henry Kock Bike Lot – I once took a gardening course with the late, great Mr. Kock
I really enjoyed the relaxed, inclusive and friendly vibe of Hillside. I kinda felt like I had found my tribe. Mizz J and I took in several workshops as well as overhearing some performances as we wandered around, trying to stick to whatever shade was available. I would go again, but this time take my bathing suit and maybe even camp there for the weekend.
But in the end the heat did us in, so we left a lot earlier than we had planned, to get into some air-conditioned comfort and recover for the next day’s festival in Toronto.
