I first heard the Good Lovelies a couple of years ago when I joined my friend Teresa for their show during the In the Dead of Winter festival in Halifax in 2009. These ladies were fun and their music joyful. The Company House hosted them again last Tuesday, October 26th.
The show was again a two-set night of hilarious stories (they must practice beforehand, they're so well-timed and funny) and heart-swellingly uplifting songs. I've never thought of myself as a bluegrass fan, but if this is bluegrass, I am.
The Wilderness of Manitoba played at the Company House for the Halifax Pop Explosion last Thursday. I told everyone I knew about the show and brought along as many friends as we could fit into our taxi. Other friends who'd already seen them spread the word as well. I've seen them play a couple of times already and am invariably moved by how beautiful they sound:
They played with Acres & Acres, Christina Martin, and Erin Costelo.
[Full disclosure: Melissa Dalton of WOM and I have been friends for nearly 20 years]
Many weeks ago, long before the exam panic set in, I bought two tickets for the Wolf Parade show at the Paragon.
This past Saturday, the bf and I studied all day and met up for some take-away before the concert. We headed over to the Paragon just after 10pm, giving us a chance to catch the last three songs played by the opening band. We saw Ellen Page in the crowd (I just found out my dad is a huge fan of hers), a couple of local celebrity musicians, and several of our classmates.
I'm normally a cash in my chips early kinda gal, but I love Wolf Parade, so we stayed until the very very end.
I was very tired the next day and I missed out on some extra desperate hours of studying. But, I regret absolutely nothing. It was by far my favourite concert of this past year.
I visted New Orleans last week. The day we arrived, we walked around the French Quarter - so filled with music - and came across Tuba Skinny (we had been standing around listening to the G String Orchestra and still had beers to finish). We sat down on the curb and stayed, until our dinner bell rang and we had to go.
My roommate suggested I get the bf to take me to the show last night because the music is romantic. I hadn't heard him or heard of him, so we listened to some of his songs while studying yesterday afternoon.
And we did go to the show. We watched from the corner of the room furthest from the bar and the stage, under a light illuminating a painting of a rooster. Our corner wasn't crowded, though every inch of floorspace around the stage was. And there were no empty seats in the house:
