The writing's on the wall

I like The Fiery Furnaces' defiantly offbeat recorded work, but was left feeling a bit underwhelmed by their live show at last year's Bluesfest. It was just a bit too ... normal. By comparison, their show at the Capital Idea festival was a breath of fresh air. They've switched a few things around, added a percussionist and had some strong new material for the appreciative crowd.

There were a few bugs to work out with the sound system. Here's Eleanor going "Check, check" in a fab fringed jacket.



Eleanor was in good vocal form this evening.



Brother Matthew has switched over entirely to keyboards.



Jake Lowenstein plays all the guitar now. His old post on bass goes unfilled - instead he uses an octave pedal to provide the necessary low end.



A very grainy Don D'Amico and that wall.



Michael Goodman is the band's new secret weapon. His Latin percussion really kicks things up a notch.



Let's get this show on the road!







Fiery action!



And one more Eleanor picture - what can I say, she had the best lighting.



Definitely up a notch from their Bluesfest set; a new album entitled Widow City waits in the wings.

• Show reminder: Trigger Effect, Elephantoms, DangerDangerMammothHunter and We Can Transport play 59 Argyle Ave.

The fire this time

Tuesday was the last night of Capital Idea Festival shows for yours truly; by the time I'm off work again on Sunday the closer, Damo Suzuki, will have come and gone. On the bright side, this final evening did provide the most consistent evening's entertainment, with every band kicking up the dust in a major way.

First up was Montreal's Thundrah!, drafted in when Chinese Stars were forced to cancel their tour. They've got the urgency of P.J. Harvey, some cool racket and death disco all intertwined. I bought their 12-inch I liked 'em so much.



From the same neighbourhood, Hot Springs. I've seen them before and I'll see them again (I hope). This was a really great set from them. Even greater than their usual greatness.



Last time I saw Fiery Furnaces (at Bluesfest last year) I thought they were good, but fell a little short of the expectations I had of them. This time around they really cooked. They've switched things up a bit. Matt Friedberger is on keys, Jason Lowenstein has switched to guitar (with an octave pedal, so he can also play bass parts)and Mike Goodman has been added to provided a Latin percussive vibe which really works (Eleanor still sings, Bob D'Amico still drums). Here's Eleanor and a blurry Matt.



Solid all 'round. Tonight's Capital idea offering is Destroyer, Rock Plaza Central and As The Poets Affirm at Barrymore's.
Show reminder:

Have a nice time without me

I was looking forward to seeing a lot of great music in June, but alas my work schedule has taken a sudden turn for the busy so I'm going to miss a big chunk of it. Well, no reason to stop anyone else plotting out their showgoing next month, starting with the Capital Idea Festival.


Fiery Furnaces, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2006

Sure, I'm going to get to see The Besnard Lakes and Jade McNelis June 20; Sunset Rubdown, Montag and Miracle Fortress June 21; Xiu Xiu, Chris Garneau and the mighty Fucked Corpse June 25; not to mention The Fiery Furnaces, Chinese Stars and the always wonderful Hot Springs June 26.


Born Ruffians, First Baptist Church, October 6, 2006

Alas, I shall miss a heap of other good stuff, most importantly The Walkmen (appearing with super duper locals Relief Maps and Acres) on June 22 and The Wrens with Poorfolk and Darling Arms June 22, but also Frog Eyes at Zaphod's June 24 and Born Ruffians with The Field Register and Henri Faberge and The Adorables June 29. You may also fancy the opportunity to see The Russian Futurists and Parts and Labour June 28; there's also Destroyer and Rock Central Plaza at Barrymore's June 27 and Girl Talk with Crystal Castles June 29; finally, if you didn't see Damo Suzuki on his previous jaunts to town you should seize the opportunity June 30.


Fifty Men, Babylon, August 1, 2006

Off course, Capital Idea isn't the only festival in town; Westboro has a hoedown of their own, and while I'm going to miss a chunk of it too, that's no reason for anyone to pass up performances by Big Stone Drummers and Alden Pompana, The Old Youth,Graveyard Dogs, Hunter Valentine, Andy Swan, NUKARIIK, Golden Dogs (once again, I miss a Golden Dogs show ... grrr!), Angela Desveaux, Jason Collett, Lily Frost, Lindsay Ferguson and Kathleen Edwards on the Saturday. Me, I'll be catching at least part of the Sunday lineup: Ana Muira, Marie-Josee Houle, Jupiter Ray Project, Slo' Tom, The John Henry’s, Mckenzie McBride, Eric Vieweg, Crowded Skies, Camp Radio, Juliana Pulford and Fifty Men. (ADDENDUM: Since I've just learned that Zoobombs will be at Babylon June 10, you can probably guess how I'll spend the rest of the evening).


Pride Tiger, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Feb. 3, 2007

Tell the truth, though, if I were free that Saturday (July 9) I'd probably either be in the basement of End Hits watching Mouthus, Cousins of Reggae, B'Italian and Smoke Judo at End Hits or over at Zaphod's catching Pride Tiger, Die Mannequin and The Mighty Eagle Band. What else am I missing - oh, too much to mention, so I'll just pass the word on another two shows you should show up for: Sunburned Hand Of The Man, The Michael Flower Band, MV & EE and The Bummer Road will be freaking out at Zaphod Beeblebrox June 3; and Mocking Music brings The Clientele, Beach House and My Dad Vs Yours to Babylon June 5. If the Walkmen aren't your thing, you might want to check out i(heart)music's Nymphets gig at Zaphod's or The Shovels CD release show at Irene's with Crowded Skies and Golden Famile man Darrell Angus's new project Rickity Ship. Second to last, but certainly not least, Canadian living legends Simply Saucer perform at Babylon with Four'n'Giv'r June 15. Yes, I'll be missing that one too. One last plug: If you like the rock but aren't up for Damo June 30, you might want to spy out Montreal space-stoners The Mongrels (featuring Tricky Woo man Andrew Dickson) and Boom Creek at Irene's.

Burn, baby, burn

The Fiery Furnaces may be one of the most deliberately quirky outfits about. Garage rock, blues, folk, tropicalia and Eleanor Friedberger's swooping vocal delivery make the band's sound unmistakable. It also helps that Matthew Friedberger is a very good guitarist. He was rocking out at this performance. Nonetheless, I found I enjoyed them more on CD than live. For starters they use a far wider range of instruments on disc, whereas they had a less versatile two-guitars-bass-and-drums band lineup for their Bluesfest gig. That said, they put on a lively performance.

Eleanor looks good in yellow.



Matthew; I took a ridiculous amount of photos, about two actually worked out.



Jason Lowenstein, a.k.a. that guy from Sebadoh! (And Bob D'Amico on drums ... no good pictures of Bob, I'm afraid.)



How low can he go?



Fiery action!







In sum I'd say good but not great.

• Show reminder: Cobra Noir, Centertown Insurgents, Take One For The Team and Wanton Manner rev the punk up at the A&A Speedshop.

Bluesfest: Day Eight

The "Dog Day Afternoon" at the MBNA Grassroots Stage was aptly named because the sun was beating down mercilessly. You could tell the evening was aimed at a younger audience because when I arrived there was only a few chairs and a gaggle of folks standing right in front of the stage barrier. Wintersleep was the first act I saw. The Halifax band sweat mercilessly throughout their set of cathartic indie rock. (I'm missing touring member Michel Bigelow, but his likeness will appear online sometime).



The guy who really deserves the Bluesfest Iron Man award is Wintersleep drummer Loel Campbell, who also played for Holy Fuck immediately afterward. I hope he drank a lot of water!



Holy Fuck's instrumental dance music was also very satisfying. I don't usually go for that sort of thing, but they put on a fine show.





The band I was most anticipating on this noticeably hot day was The Fiery Furnaces. I enjoyed their set but I think I may have built them up in my mind a bit too much. Good heavy guitar sounds, though.





I decided not to stay around for Metric. I've seen them before, and the Black Sheep Stage was calling (I distinctly heard it go "baaaaaah!"). Luke Doucet was on stage. I had to check the marquee since I didn't recognize him. He sounded much better than when I saw him at Zaphod's. His daughter Chloe came on stage to sing - an amazing voice for a 10-year-old.



Alejandro Escovedo put on my favourite set of the festival to date. Great stuff! I love roots rock, and Escovedo delivered it in spades, alternating punk workouts with high lonesome melancholy.



Coincidentally, he finished his encore with Neil Young's Powderfinger, just as Elliot Brood had the day before. Danny Michel also stopped by to guest on guitar for the tune.