Calexico w/Cuff The Duke @ The Phoenix

After many years of neglect, I finally got around to seeing Calexico live on Tuesday night at The Phoenix. Admittedly I haven't been an avid follower of their style of Latin tinged eclectic folk rock, but I've always been curious enough to want to see them live, and thankfully they did not disappoint. They were already here back in July at the much more intimate Mod Club, and at that time they chose the very energetic Scout as their opener. This time around they chose to adopt a more subtle approach, opening with Brisbee Blue from 2006's Garden Ruin CD. The charisma of Joey Burns was evident to me as soon as he hit the stage, endearing the crowd in a way that only a seasoned professional could. His ability to improvise lyrics based on the shout out's and general silliness of the crowd was hillarious and any drunken heckles were taken in stride. The show featured a pretty hefty helping of selections from Carried To Dust , their latest release, which was cool with me since it sounds like a pretty solid album overall; easily one of their finest works in recent years. In fact, I'd say about half of their set was from this album while the rest of their set was compiled of classics like Frontera and Trigger from The Black Light as well as their 'made it their own' rendition of Love 's Alone Again Or which is one of my all time favourite covers. For me though, the highlights were definitely the songs that were heavily steeped in Tejano horn arrangements. This could be because I was more tired than I ever remember being in my life, (busy week) and those songs consistently gave me the shot of adrenalin necessary to make sure I stuck it out for the whole show. Calexico is the type of band whose experience is obvious, and finally getting to see them live only confirmed what I had suspected all along, that is, that they are one of the must-see bands of our generation.

Photos: Calexico @ The Phoenix on flickr
Myspace: Calexico
Download: Two Silver Trees mp3


The opening band for the evening was Cuff The Duke . I went to see them back in August , and I made no secret of the fact that their show was one of my favourites of the year. Obviously this one would be a shorter set, but the band did a very good job of engaging the crowd in much the same way; holding their own with the legends that were to follow them. They opened with the mild tearjerker Remember The Good Times and went through a paced set that felt like it was over before it even began. I guess I was just spoiled by their headlining set the last time. Still, Wayne plays a pretty mean guitar and again, I was floored at how tight this band is, especially considering their relative newness to the music scene. The fact that many of those in attendance seemed to be quite familiar with the songs was also a bit of a surprise, and I thought it was great to reflect on just how far these guys have come in the past couple of years or so. I was swelling with some true down home Oshawa pride. Seriously.

Photos: Cuff The Duke @ The Phoenix on flickr
Myspace: Cuff The Duke
Download: Rossland Square (live) mp3