On the benefits of feeding the band alcohol

It's been way too long since I've last mogged, but preparing applications for post-graduate study is a lot of work and unfortunately mog is not the priority I'd like it to be. But I've been having a lazy day, so I should do a recap of the last few concerts I've seen!The Dears - Nov. 25Starlite Room, EdmontonI haven't seen the Dears since they came through Edmonton in 2003, so this was quite a treat. The last time I saw them was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. While this one didn't quite live up to the last one (for reasons explained below), it was still a great show.For such a mopey, miserable gloom-pop dirge, this band sure does work hard. Their blend of mellow melancholy post-punk comes across as effortless and well-measured, with every member sounding well-rehearsed. They played quite a few numbers off their newest album, "Gang of Losers," the best of which was Whites Only Party, a brisk shuffle of a tune, and more uptempo than I'm used to from them. When big, dolorous synth epics like We Can Have It (still their best song) came up, the synth sound really filled the room in a gentle manner. I forgot my earplugs but I was pleased to find my ears were somehow not ringing after the show. Though maybe the tinnitus was soothed away by their lengthy encore, which consisted of a lovely dub-ish jam. I didn't know dub could be played live, but there you go. I was suitably impressed.Did I mention that it was about -25 C outside and snowing, yet the place was packed? Edmonton hipsters and concert-goers are fucking hardcore.I had said that this show was not as good as the previous time I saw them. That time, the band was in full swing, raucous, raw, loud, energetic and unhinged. It was exhilirating. They were really showing their post-rock that night, just kicking all kinds of ass. I remember, towards the end of the show during a big instrumental freakout, Murray Lightburn (vocals, guitar), was flaily madly about stage dancing around. As I was right in front of the stage, I could clearly see several shot glasses rolling around the stage... Lightburn was only inches away, several times, from totally wiping out into the drumkit. Which made me remember that... perhaps they rocked so hard that night because the audience bought the band three or four rounds of shots, in addition to several beers. After they were finished, I remember receiving a stinky, sweaty drunken hug from Lightburn as I left the venue. Aww.During this most recent show, the band was very composed and sober, which must be what accounts for the tight playing.So, folks, if you want a wicked, raucous live show, maybe the solution is to buy the band a few drinks. At least if it's the Dears.The Electric Six - Nov. 17New City SuburbsYou wouldn't need to get these guys drunk - singer Dick Valentine was doing a good enough job of that on his own. While I don't find their club-friendly power-pop pop to be totally compelling, when they're live they put on a great energetic show, and when you're playing a gig that's half the battle. Valentine's banter was on throughout the night - sometimes at length - and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves. Especially the drummer, of whom Valentine made the audience aware (many, many times) is from Medicine Hat, Alberta, a city far to the south of where I live. "Alberta Drummer!" Valentine would cheer. I think my favourite part of the whole night was during the various guitar solos, rather than posture about, Valentine would simply stand next to whomever was soloing, hold the mic up to the fretboard, and just stand there rigidly, giving the audience a supremely smarmy smile. He was great, and the show was a lot of fun.Also of note was the second opening band, a local electro-pop band called the Casanova Playboys. Their angular, jaunty super-emo pop was amusing (emusing?) but the highlight was what they were wearing. I wish we took pictures, but they were so hipstered out that it was obviously parody. Faux-hawks, big sunglasses, big white belts, super-tight pants, overly-small trendy blazers, sweater vests, you name it, it was there. Hilarious.Speaking of hilarious, during the early stages of the the night, there was a super-drunken man dancing around the dance floor. Well, he wasn't really dancing - he was doing that sort of shamanic "drunk guy" stumble, dancing to music that's not there, attempting to interact with people, almost falling over several times. And, in classic Drunk Guy fashion, he completely did not fit in. No sense of style at all, so he looked totally out of place and lost. He didn't even make it till The Electric Six came on, he was that drunk. Hilarious, or sad? I don't know. My guess is he was a rig worker from up north who was back from work for the first time in months. Granted that doesn't give anyone an excuse to get totally ripped like that, but it's a plausible explanation. Also of note about Drunk Guys: why the hell must they always gravitate towards me? I'm serious, it almost always happens at concerts with me. What is up with that?Greg Keelor and The Sadies - Oct. 28Powerplant, U of AWow, all the way back in October! I really should have mogged this back then, as it was an excellent show, despite the fact that I went alone (sometimes going alone can work - this time it did not). The crowd was an amusing combination of twentysomethings and fortysomethings, which makes sense given that Keelor and the Sadies are a whole generation apart, maybe even more. So you had your hipster alt-country urban cowboys (Edmonton has plenty of those) alongside your grown-up aging 80's country-rock hippie types. It was a nice spread. Unfortunately no one I knew was there, and I did not fit in at all. I felt rather alienated and it kind of prevented me from really getting into the music. I couldn't drink my alienation away either, since I had to drive myself home (it turned out, through a horrible horrible snow storm).I was really impressed by the Sadies, who I have not seen live before. Their best moments were their short instrumentals, that conjured up Link Wray and Ennio Morriconne at the same time. Big epic adventure sounds, packed tight into a short, twangy tune. Their proper songs were good too, with surprisingly powerful vocals, but I still liked the mini-epics the best. Also amusing was how almost every song was introduced by "This is a song we like to play called...." I honestly don't know what to thing of that... are they trying to sound old-timey or what? It was weird. Anyways, The Sadies kick ass and are expert showmen...... but I was still surprised when they stayed on stage to play as Greg Keelor's backing band! Such hard workers, they are. And versatile, as they've played for all sorts of other artists, including Neko Case. Keelor himself, a veteran musician, put on a solid showing too. He has a warm, confident air that makes it look like what he's doing is completely effortless. Keelor is also a member of Blue Rodeo, a classic Canadian rock band of some renown. He played a few Blue Rodeo tunes, but they didn't sound the same (as there was no organ in his band, and Blue Rodeo certainly relies on that instrument), but his own solo works sounded great. I was hoping that he'd play a lot of the super-mellow tunes from his last album, "Seven songs for Jim," but he played mostly big rock-and-roll numbers, which was nice, but not really emotionally resonant. His best number was a brand new track from "Aphrodite Rose" called Alaska. It was a ripping, epic rock number with a sweet Keelor-signature sweeping guitar solo. The subject concerned the proposed drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, ostensibly because, as Keelor put, "The TVs in Southern California are growing dim." A great song, with a great sentiment, not unlike some of Don Henley's better songs. All in all I enjoyed Keelor a lot, but his set lacked the emotion that the Sadies could better conjure on their own.So, that's the end of my concert recap. Soon I hope to post more mogs about new artists I've discovered, or genres. We'll see if I have time. Salut.