In the meantime, I’ve been puzzling over the fact that YouTube lets me watch some videos on a my computer, but not on my Android tablet. “Content provider has not made this video not available on mobile” it will say.

So it’s something about copyright protection, but what, exactly? While I think regional bans are fairly stupid, I at least somewhat understand “the logic” of them. That the copyright may only be valid in a certain area, not globally. Someone else might own it somewhere else. So only people in your area can watch certain.

But that I can watch a video on my computer, but not on my tablet three feet away? Huh? What are thinking I’m going to do with it on my tablet that’s so terrible? (Because honestly, there seems lots more PC than Android software for downloading and manipulating YouTube videos, if that’s where we’re going with this.) And if that’s I can travel around with my tablet… Well, news flash, I can also do that with a laptop.

But with a little Googling, I found out the why. This happens a lot on music videos, which happens to be the main type of video I watch, so I see that message a lot.

It’s because they don’t want me using YouTube as a music player on my tablet (or on a phone, of course–the main target of this particular restriction).

So as is often the case with these copyright things, it’s a stupid reason. And also as usual, pretty easy to work around.

1. Use the Opera browser.
2. Set the Opera user agent setting to desktop instead of tablet mode.
3. Go to YouTube and watch video.

Works a treat. Thank you and good night and stop SOPA.

As a result, it seemed apropos to play the “Christmas” playlist. (Particularly as I received a new iPod dock I had to try out.) But though all 82 songs are self-selected and heavy on the non-traditional, I gotta say that it’s just not my favorite type of music.

However, there are a few stand-outs.

* Sting’s “Gabriel’s Message”, a simply gorgeous song proving that not all rock star Christmas songs for charity have to suck.
* The Kink’s ”Father Christmas”, a somewhat dark yet catchy tune, that unfortunately seems timely: A poor kid just wants cash for Christmas, or “give my Dad a job ’cause he needs one.” All those toys? Gives them to the little rich boys.
* Adam Sandler’s Hanukuah Song which, OK, isn’t about Christmas at all. But though I’ve heard all the jokes in it many times before, it still makes me laugh. “OJ Simpson… Not a Jew!”
*  Do They Know it’s Christmas? Truly the weirdest set of lyrics ever penned by an atheist, and ones I’m sure Geldof, now an expert on Africa (as he wasn’t then), must wince over. Still, too many good memories around this song. And I love its jingly-jangly sound.
* Last year’s YouTube discovery, Spiraling’s mash-up of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” with The Who’s “Baba O’Riley”, producing the most awesome guitar riff in a Christmas song ever.

And this year’s YouTube discovery, courtesy of @eoutwater of the KW Symphony: Tim Michen’s “White Wine in the Sun”. Lovely, funny, and true, Minchen’s explains his fondness for Christmas despite his reservations about “the commercialization of an ancient religion, the Westernization of a dead Palestinian”. But you get to be with your family in a relaxed state, and that’s what it’s all about. 5 stars.

I’ll cut to the chase on that last one: This was quite possibly the best rock concert, category “Hockey Arena”— that I’ve seen. The only real competition is U2 back in Montreal during their Joshua Tree tour. As my memory is not quite good enough for a true comparison, let’s call it a tie.

Prince has continued to record quite prolifically, up to two years, but I have to say I stopped listening to the newer material after 1992. But this show obviously focused on that earlier material, because I knew almost every song.

It started about 45 (?) minutes late (no opening act), immediately got us up singing and clapping along to “Purple Rain”, and never really stopped. The seated moments were few, as the energy coming from the stage kept compelling us back to our feet to dance and attempt to sing along to Prince’s complex vocal gymnastics. It’s difficult to believe this guy is 53 or whatever, as he pretty much looks, sounds, and moves as he did in the 80s. He can still hit all the high notes, his dance moves don’t let up, and he remains a guitar virtuoso.

And despite the focus on older (and therefore better known) material, it never felt like a nostalgia fest. He often reinterpreted the numbers, bringing an added soulful-ness to “Little Red Corvette”, and even more funk (who knew it was possible?) to “Kiss”. He also often mashed songs together, segueing from one to the other in interesting ways, thus covering even more of his impressive canon of hits. He even included a version of “Nothing Compares to U”, written by him but made famous by Sinead O’Connor, which reminded me of the many other artists who had hits with Prince songs (Manic Monday, I Feel for You, The Glamorous Life, When You Were Mine, and on, and on…).

I’d heard that he wasn’t doing his “dirty”songs anymore, and I kind of wondered what would be left, but he seems to have a pretty loose definition of what’s “dirty”, since Controversy, Raspberry Beret, When Doves Cry, Take Me With U, and Cream were included. And he also simulated a great deal of, um, passion on the floor during Little Red Corvette. He even played the intro to Darlin’ Nikki during the encore—though did stop there with a “Nah-ah! You don’t get that!”

His band was wonderful, and I loved that now as always, most of them were women. (Prince seems to truly love women, not just sexually, but also spiritually and musically. Three spheres I don’t think he separates.) They also got to shine at times, including in a cover of Sarah MacLachlan’s “Angel”, one of a number of covers he included—such as Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough.”

The stage was in that male / female symbol shape that Prince once used as his name. We were sitting facing the round end, 22 rows up, which were pretty decent seats. Prince and band made their way around to all points throughout the evening, and we could always look up at the screen when they weren’t at our end. (I wish I could include a picture, but they made me check my camera, which seemed pretty peculiar, since nobody had to check their smart phones… But anyway.)

Friday night, from what I understand, he did six encores, resulting in a 3 hour, 15 minute show. We had to be content with just one encore (though an awesome and long one it was), and a show that was probably only, 2 and a half hours? There was an after-party at a bar, though. My sister and I decided not to attempt attending that, though, because a) We figured the crowds would be insane b) We don’t have the energy of Prince, so we were tired and c) We really couldn’t make out the name of the bar, which was announced on the loudspeaker at the end in a bid to get us to leave, already.

Other reviews:

Toronto Star
National Post
Scotchneat

But despite good notices, I’d been dragging my feet about seeing this one. I was a teenager in the 1980s, but musically, I was into the New Wave British stuff: Duran Duran, Adam Ant, Spandau Ballet, Billy Idol, U2, Culture Club, Howard Jones… The stuff in this musical? Journey, Whitesnake, REO Speedwagon, Poison… That would be the 1980s music I didn’t like. At all. The musical even includes possibly the worst rock song of all time, “We Built This City” by Starship.

Finally, though, I was lured in by a package deal involving the show + dinner at Verses. (Though note the advertising for this is deceptive; you don’t get any discount on the ticket, just on the meal.)

As the musical began, it became clear that a big part of the premise was trying to save the Los Angeles Sunset strip from being cleaned up and redeveloped. Seriously? Los Angeles? OK, I’ve never been there, but my impression, and what I’ve heard from people who have been, is that this isn’t a city that inspires great passion for preservation. The place seems like more of a necessary evil than anything else.

Still, I found I couldn’t help but be drawn in by the good-natured vibe of all the whole thing. Take, for example, the horrid “We Built this City”. This plays back as an echo from the chorus from the German developer who wants to tear everything down and start anew. “But we built this city on rock’n'roll!” It’s a short snippet, it’s performed better than the original (how could it be done worse?), and it’s funny.

And that sort of thing just keeps winning you over. It’s not taking itself seriously. One character keeps breaking the fourth wall (rather 90s, that) to comment on the play’s structure and how it plays with the musical conventions. That’s funny, and so are a lot of the other bits. A lot of the singers, particular strip club owner Mother and lead actor Drew, have fantastic voices. Only parts of the songs are performed, then you’re on to another.

And, well, not *all* the songs suck. I do have some fondness for “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”—much more comfortable here than in the original, as sung by male actor Franz, possibly the funniest character of all, and “Cum on Feel the Noize”, soundtrack to an exuberant moment at the rock club, and even “We’re Not Gonna Take It”—even though it’s used to protest the destruction of a sleazy rock club.

It’s also kind of a sexy musical, with the attractive young cast making the most of their assets. Male and female cast, I would add. (Even though I don’t really remember the 1980s as being so sex-drenched, but whatever.) And I did love the unexpected, big gay love story in the middle.

So, I clapped, I cheered, I wished I had bought tickets earlier so that I would have been in better seats. It is a pretty impressive achievement to put together such an appealing show on such an unpromising premise.

Now, though, I’m addicted.

I initially signed on based on a friend’s advice to do so just to get a good Twitter-name, even if I didn’t do much with it right away. Turned out she had a point; most variations of my name and my most commonly used web pseudonyms were already in use by others. But I did find an available combination.

Twitter has a bit of learning curve to it. I started by just following a small number of people and trying to figure it out from there. I soon learned that a lot of power is in the link; sure, you can’t say that much in 140 characters, but you can link to those details. (And to photos. And to videos.)

But when I’m say addicted, it’s not to tweeting itself, which I remain a little gun-shy about. (Apparently I have tweeted 28 times in total.) In fact, I’m still not completely clear on who sees what when it comes replies, direct replies, direct messages, retweets, private message… ? All in all, it’s easier to just listen, most of the time.

Currently I follow 59 accounts, some of whom haven’t tweeted in two years, some of whom tweet so frequently, I don’t know how they stay employed.

Among my favorites are the following.

@Elizabeth May:  A lot of the politicians I follow tweet mostly dull platitudes, toeing the party line. Elizabeth May (federal leader of the Green Party, but you knew that) tweets more like a real person would. I particularly enjoy her tweets from Parliament Hill, which give insight into things that wouldn’t necessarily make the media:

I had planned to make a statement marking Remembrance Day. I am shocked the CPC has blocked my chance to speak.

They didn’t like the point I was making. 40 years 1913-1956 closure used 10x; in last 40 days, 7x

Conservatives keep limiting debate. They have the votes. Not sure why everything has to be forced thru.

Ban asbestos motion. First vote to keep asbestos trade, our PM.

John McCallum asked Tony Clement about an answer by tweet! Twitter seems to be Clement’s only forum 4 G8 $ Q’s. Baird takes all Qs in QP.

Though must say it’s not exactly improving my opinion of the Conservative Party of Canada.

@simont400000: He being Simon Townshend, the much younger brother of one Pete Townshend, and who also tours with Roger Daltrey. Been kind of fun “following” him on tour:

Great show in Vancouver. Smokin’ crowd! Two shows left on tour and the TCT charity gig in LA. Come along… 2.5k a ticket. Rock n’ Roll!

And his random tweets are also kind of funny:

@Kimmittable: I’m a real fan of your earlier work.” I said that to Joni Mitchell once and she told me to Fuck off. True!

And if you’re wondering what it’s like to not be famous yourself (though he is himself quite a talented composer and musician), but hanging with the very famous:

Getting home from tour is strange… no daily sheet, no room service, no living from suitcase or doing laundry – no gigs. Not being a pop star

@dizzyfeet: This being the moniker of Nigel Lithgow, producer of American Idol and judge on So You Think You Can Dance. It’s in the latter capacity that I’m interested, but I don’t follow anyone else connected with that show. Nigel’s feed is just hilarious as he so frequently engages in public battles with those who reply to this tweets. There’s a whole “Moron” meme running through his feed that you’d have to read back on to completely understand.

RT @Clamanity: @izzyfeet Emmy voters are morons. [I KNOW. I'VE BEEN HANDING OUT #MORON NUMBERS ALL NIGHT. HA, HA!]

He’s also satisfyingly blunt (not mean) in posting his opinion. He’s recently been listed on “Recommend people to follow on Twitter”, so I’m not the only one to notice the fun to be had here. His response:

Welcome to all my new followers. Thank you#NewYorkPost I felt truly proud. Bring on the#Morons.

Of course!

@karenscian: Who? Right! She makes Simon Townshend seem famous. She’s my city councillor. Who has actually gotten in trouble for tweeting during council meetings.

But her feed covers a great deal more than the goings-on at Waterloo City Hall. She comments on Waterloo news in general, federal and provincial politics, food, family… An eclectic mix that very often seems to jibe with my own interests.

And I’ll leave the last tweet to her.

Oh Twitter, you are such a procrastination-enabler.

1. Angel Main Theme (the Sanctuary Extended Remix) – Darling Violetta – Live Fast, Die Never (Music from the TV Series)
2. Another World – Joe Jackson – Night And Day
3. Ballad for Dead Friends – Dashboard Prophets – Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale (Music from the TV Series)
4. Bat Out Of Hell – Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell
5. Beware Of Darkness – George Harrison – All Things Must Pass
6. Boris The Spider – The Who – Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy
7. Brain Damage – Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
8. Buffy Main Title Theme – The Breeders – Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale (Music from the TV Series)
9. Clap For The Wolfman – The Guess Who – The Greatest Of The Guess Who
10. Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd – Pink Floyd The Wall
11. Cry, Little Sister (Theme From The Lost Boys) – Gerard McMann – The Lost Boys
12. Dangerous – The Who – It’s Hard
13. The Devil You Know (God Is A Man) – Face To Face – Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album
14. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me – Roger Daltrey – The Lost Boys
    [A darker—and, I think, better—take on the Elton John song]
15. Down in the Park – Foo Fighters – Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by ‘the X-Files’
16. End Of The Night – The Doors – The Doors
17. Funhouse – P!nk – Greatest Hits…So Far!!!
18. Ghost Story – Sting – Brand New Day
19. Ghost Train – Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Get Happy!!
20. Ghostdancing – Simple Minds – Glittering Prize: Simple Minds 81/92
21. Gold Dust Woman – Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
22. Happy Phantom – Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes
23. Hell’s Half Acre – Robbie Robertson – Robbie Robertson
24. Keep Myself Awake – Black Lab – Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album
25. Lost In The Shadows – Lou Gramm – The Lost Boys
26. Moonlight Drive – The Doors – Strange Days
27. On the Run – Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
28. People Are Strange – Echo & The Bunnymen  – The Lost Boys
    [The original Doors version would also do. This cover isn't much different.]
29. Phobia – The Kinks – Phobia
30. Rest In Peace – James Marsters – Once More, With Feeling (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)
31. Rhiannon – Fleetwood Mac – Greatest Hits
    [Though Rhiannon isn't a very scary witch]
32. Science Fiction/Double Feature – Richard O’Brien – Rocky Horror Picture Show
33. Showdown At Big Sky – Robbie Robertson – Robbie Robertson
34. Something’s Gonna Die Tonight – The Doughboys – Tribute to Hard Core Logo
35. Spooky Girlfriend – Elvis Costello – When I Was Cruel
36. Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet
37. Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s A Doll Revolution) – Elvis Costello – When I Was Cruel
38. Thriller / Heads Will Roll – Glee Cast – Single
    [I don't have the Michael Jackson original, but I do like this mash-up]
39. The Time Warp – Rocky Horror cast – Rocky Horror Picture Show
40. Transylvania Concubine – Rasputina – Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album
41. Under a Raging Moon – Roger Daltrey – Under a Raging Moon
42. Under Your Spell / Standing (Reprise) – Amber Benson and Anthony Stewart Head – Once More, With Feeling (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
43. Unmarked Helicopters – Soul Coughing – The X-Files: Songs In The Key Of X
44. Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy
    [A recent acquisition. Ah-oo! Werewolves of London]
45. Wicked Annabella – Dave Davies – Rock Bottom Live At The Bottom Line
    [So good I've included it twice.]
46. Wicked Annabella – The Kinks – The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
    [One list I saw had Apeman by The Kinks as a Halloween song. What? Nothing Halloween-y about Apeman at all. This one, though, is about a scary witch who snatches away naughty children who refuse to go to sleep. Clearly composed by an exhausted parent.]
47. Witches’ Song – Marianne Faithfull – Broken English
48. X-Files Theme – Mark Snow – Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by ‘the X-Files’
49. X Files Theme (Remix) – P.M. Dawn – The X-Files: Songs In The Key Of X
50. You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) – Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell
    [“On a hot summer's night, will you give your throat to the wolf with the red roses?”]

It was a long piece, but I knew if we could get to the “Listening to You” chorus, we’d be all right. We’d have them.

—Pete Townshend on performing Tommy

The raison d’être for Roger Daltrey’s latest tour—apart from his continued desire to keep performing for as long as he possibly can—is to present the Tommy album live in a way The Who never did: Playing the entire thing, in order, with the full complement of harmonies and keyboards and everything included on that iconic album.

Witnessing this Friday night, it became clear that there are a few problems with that approach. The original album is sequenced a bit weirdly, both story-wise and musically. And even with the dropping long, instrumental “Underture”, it’s quite long. So while you would certainly build and gain momentum through some sequences: 1921, Amazing Journey, Sparks, Christmas… Or particularly, Pinball Wizard, Tommy Can You Hear Me, Smash the Mirror… Momentum would then somewhat be lost by the necessity of then performing a lesser track like Sensation or Sally Simpson.

(“Is this still Tommy?” Jean asked, about three-quarters of the way through.)

That said, there was still plenty to enjoy about the live performance of this opera, and it wasn’t all the expected stuff. Like, for example, seeing Roger Daltrey, for the first time (that I know of) taking on the villain’s roles in “Cousin Kevin” and “Fiddle About”. He seemed to really relish those two roles (maybe nice to finally not be the in Tommy/victim role), and sank his acting chops into the interpretation. I can honestly say I’ve never enjoyed either of those songs more.

30 years after being under Cousin Kevin’s boot, Daltrey finally gets to turn the table

Another surprise was just how enjoyable the silly little “Tommy’s Holiday Camp” song was—possibly because it is perhaps the only giddy moment in this rather grim little opera. It was totally fun.

And the songs you expected to be great… Really were great. Last time I saw Roger in concert, the microphone twirling was very limited and approached rather gingerly. But clearly the old man’s been practicing, because it was whipping around like nobody’s business during “Pinball Wizard” and the finale. It was impressive. See:

And speaking of that finale… I’ve seen many videotaped versions of The Who leading the crowd toward what seems an almost religious experience after Roger Daltrey sings the “See Me / Feel Me” chorus for the last time, and then everyone joins in on the “Listening to you / I get the music” chorus. But I’d never participated in that. And this crowd was fantastic. The second that moment came around, everyone was on their feet, rushing the stage, pumping their fists, singing along… It looked, sounded, and felt amazing. The ovation at the end was huge. Daltrey appeared really touched by it.

But how was the voice?

Last time I’d heard Daltrey perform, two years ago, the voice was not good. He’d even had to cancel some performances. So I felt grateful to have seen him perform at all. But that whole show, he was singing through a thick, nearly hoarse, rasp.

It was much, much better this time out. This isn’t to say it was perfect. Despite the humidifier going, the water, the tea, the strictly enforced smoking ban in theatre, the voice did crack on some of the high notes—for example, on the See Me / Feel Me part of “Christmas”. But it sounded beautiful on others — for example, on the See Me / Feel Part of “We’re Not Going to Take It”. And in the lower ranges, there were no issues at all.

(By the way, entire tour performances available from http://www.livedownloads.com/. I hear can now confirm that the Altanta show was particularly good – no voice cracking. )

The concert, Part 2

The second half of the show featured a variety of songs among the now rather large catalog Roger and his band have rehearsed. And where the Tommy had some unavoidable lulls, the second half was nothing but highlights, including (but not limited to):

• A bluesy version of “My Generation”
• A lovely take on my favorite Who song, “Behind Blue Eyes”
• The Simon Townshend spotlight song, “Going Mobile”
• An incendiary version of “Young Man’s Blues” (which Roger seems to love the irony of singing, now that he is the old man with all the money), complete with some highly showy microphone twirling, and integrations of the relatively rare Who track called “Water”.

Also fun was his solo track, “Days of Light”. And on “Baba O’Riley”, when he unbuttoned his shirt all the way (as the Toronto Sun’s [female] writer said, “it was an impressive display.” It’s not normal to get even more fit and muscular as you age, is it?), raised his arm, and his full head of hair was backlit, you were definitely reminded that this was the iconic rock God of the seventies, right there, right now, still.

Still a rock god

We want to be on stage, but we don’t want to be on a pedestal. We’re like you. I’m like you. That’s what this song says to me.

— Roger Daltrey, Toronto, September 30, 2011

Since I knew that the playlist for the second half varied from night to night, I was trying not to get my hopes up about any particular song being performed. But in truth, there is one I really wanted to hear: “Without Your Love”. [Because I'm a sap!] I was not to be disappointed on that front. He did a lovely job with it.

After that, he explained that they had a strict time limit for this particular performance, and performed one last song, the lovely “Red Blue and Grey”. I was feeling slightly miffed at apparently getting a shortened show, but you know, the thing started before 8:00 (with a quite good opening act), Roger and band took the stage somewhere between 8:30 and 8:45, and it was nearly 11:00 when it was over. No breaks.

I supposed 2-2.5 hours is a reasonable length of concert for a 67-year-old man who just had throat surgery.

Our seats

Though I tried not to fret overly much before attending this concert, one thing I did wonder about a bit was just how good our seats were, really. Turns out, they were really very good. We were in the fifth row, and though not right in the center, you could see everything really well. The only problem, really, is that is not very good seats for taking pictures and video. There was always a light right behind Roger’s head, which just washed out his face on film.

One photo that didn’t turn out too badly

Fortunately, there were hundreds taking pictures and video there, so I’m not going to be deprived of that.

We did get talking to people before the show started. The guy beside us was kind of funny, as he didn’t seem entirely sure what he was about to see. And his question about how much the seat cost confused me a bit as well. Maybe he won his in in a contest? But, turns out he’d bought tickets from a scalper minutes before, so that explained that. He was a very friendly American from Florida, who’d last seen The Who perform around 1979.

And the people in the row in front us of turned out to be from Waterloo as well. But they’d bought their tickets on Tuesday! This Tuesday! Ticketmaster, I bought my tickets the day they went on sale. Why did these people get better ones, four days before the show? (They said it wasn’t from a reseller or anything.)

[Almost forgot about some lady behind us—apparently not such a big fan—who was nearly freaking out at having been told how long the show would be. Kind of funny.]

Anyway. The important thing is I was really close to Roger Daltrey again, and in fact, even managed to go stand right in front of the stage by evening’s end. (Even though we didn’t make eye contact this time.)

The band

The set list was actually somewhat similar to that of the 2009 Use It or Lose It tour, but it sure has acquired a professional sheen on this tour. In introducing his band, Roger said that they were “the best band I have ever played with.” Now, I don’t know if he’s including The Who among the bands he has played with, but there is no denying he has assembled a fantastic group of musicians here. They provide beautiful backup harmonies throughout, and completely solid musical accompaniment.

I also kind of met them before the show. As I was asking Jean if he remembered seeing what was likely Roger Daltrey’s limo drive past us when were walking over to the Orillia show two years ago [he didn't], a big limo bus pulled up to the stage entrance of the Sony Centre. So we ambled over to see who would get off. Clearly, we did not meet Mr. Daltrey, or even the young Mr. Townshend. But we did see the keyboard player, and the drummer, and musical director and lead guitarist Frank Simes was particularly nice with all the fans.

The famous-only-by-association Frank Simes

Our buddy Frank on stage

The crowd

I’ve already mentioned them a few times, but it was a great crowd. (The place looked sold out to me; I don’t know if it actually was.) Mostly boomers, of course, but a number of them brought their teenage kids, so that made for a nice younger contingent. I could sense (and hear, in all the singalongs) a real diehard Who crowd. Jean, who didn’t have such a constant laser focus on the man onstage, spent more time actually looking at the crowd and enjoying how much they were enjoying it.

And I’ll leave the last words to Jean.

You know, I didn’t hate that. I didn’t hate that at all.

It’s really high praise.

Last Thursday, July 21, was the hottest of the summer so far, and one of the hottest on record ever. (And must say I was surprised to discover that these parts have never registered 40C before. Because, like, Sudbury has…) Nevertheless, we decided to go to an outdoor event: Music and Movies in the Park.

Sponsored by Beat Goes On and Princess Cinemas, these free events take place in Waterloo Park, supporting the food bank. The evening begins with a live band, then as the sun lowers, they put up a big screen and show a movie. We arrived armed with lawn chairs, water, hats, bug stuff (not needed), and a few snacks. Though I couldn’t resist also buying a bag of popcorn.

The band we saw were called The Slacks, and they were a quite decent cover band who did tunes by artists like Neil Young, the Grateful Dead, the Dandy Warhols, and The Who (“Drowned” from Quadrophenia). We had a pretty good viewing spot, and didn’t find the heat too bad. It was evening, albeit still 32C when we left, but the sun wasn’t beating down overhead anymore, and there was a breeze. Plus, we were just sitting there. One thing I did notice was that my feet got really warm, despite my being in little sandals. Guess the ground was just really hot.

The movie, shown on this big inflatable screen we watched them set up after the band was done, was the animated Rango, starring Johnny Depp’s voice. Interestingly for such a warm day in the middle of our drought, it all takes place in a desert town, centering around lack of water. Pet lizard Rango is thrown from his owner’s car during an accident, and has the cope with being in the real world filled with suspicious locals.

Though nothing you can’t let kids see, this particular animated movie really has more to offer adults, I think. There’s no way kids are going to get all the sly references and tributes to other films (including some of Depp’s, and adult fare like Chinatown), or the jokes about lesbians and peyote and such. But for grown-ups, it’s quite entertaining. (Jean expressed amazement that I finally took him to a movie he liked!)

Then the Saturday after, we escape to Port Stanley where, if anything, it was even hotter and stickier. But we took our time walking around, took refuge in air conditioned shops—which featured some nice paintings, photos, accessories, gourmet foods—and on the beach, including a dip in Lake Erie, which hasn’t overheated. We also enjoyed the very good local restaurants, partaking of Lake Erie fish and nicely priced Ontario wines from the banner 2007 year. Jean put some photos up at Picassa.

Random play 15 songs on your MP3 and say what they are. (Inflation, I guess, because last time I did this, it was only 5 songs.) Played them then, but only got around to listing them now.

1. The Golden Boy – Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé – Instrumentals

I have this Freddie Mercury box set. It’s a gorgeous thing, really, that includes a large book on glossy paper with great photos. But they also stretched out his original three (3) solo albums onto ten (10) CDs. (There are also two DVDs.) This particular one, called Instrumentals, is actually Karaoke versions of his songs. The music and the backing vocals are there; just not the lead.

Want to feel particularly inferior about your singing voice? Attempt Freddie Mercury Karaoke.

2. Imagination (Is a Powerful Deceiver) – Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True (Bonus Disc)

3. Darling Nikki – Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain

Ah, dear, dirty, darling Nikki, the song that inspired Tipper Gore to request parental warning labels on albums. At least it’s not particularly misogynistic. Nikki owns her own sexuality, and the singer seems to admire her for it. On the Purplish Rain tribute CD, it’s song by a woman, and it’s pretty awesome.

4. Never in a Million Years – The Boomtown Rats – V Deep

5. Eleanor Rigby/Julia [Transition] / I Am the Walrus / I Want to Hold Your Hand – The Beatles – Love

Until the recent reissues, Love was almost the only remastered Beatles CD available, and I still love the sound of the whole album. (It’s the soundtrack for the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show.) Lots of interesting mash-ups of the songs, like this one.

6. Bell Boy – The Who – Thirty Years of Maximum R&D Disc 3

From the compilation, but it’s the same version as on Quadrophenia. Nice duet between Daltrey and Moon. But as with many things Who, even better live. I love the ceremonial hand-off of the lead mike they’d do in concert.

7. It’s a Boy – The Who – Tanglewood

A live snippet (40 seconds) from an American stop on their long Tommy tour. Tanglewood is a classical music hall, so having a rock band perform there was highly unusual. You can hear the whole the concert at Wolfgang’s Vault.

8. Mandela Day – Simple Minds – Glittering Prize: Simple Minds 81/92

Still remember this song being played the day Nelson Mandela was released from, and it seeming so odd that this full song was all ready for the occasion, which came as something of a surprise at the time. (When Simple Minds wrote the song, they were just imagining how great would be the day that Mandela was released from prison…)

9. Slow Love – Prince – Sign ‘O’ the Times

10. Blue – Joni Mitchell – Blue

For some reason Joni has come up in conversation a few times this week. This is the only album of hers that I have.

11. Killer’s Eyes – The Kinks – Give the People What They Want (Remastered)

From my first-ever Kinks album, one I still really like. Inspired by John Hinkley, Jr., this tune is about a family’s confusion on finding our their son / brother is a murderer. (‘We’ve seen your picture in the paper. Your little sister pinned in on the wall. She thinks you’re some kind of movie…”) Cheery, huh?

12. Grand Illusion – Styx – Return to Paradise (Disc 2)

I think the hope of this exercise is that something really embarrassing will come up. I’m not completely mortified that I own a Styx CD (double CD at that), but I have to say, their music has not aged well. All the synths, the trite lyrics… Not stuff I’m too interested in listening to anymore.

13. Imagine – Jordis Unga – Rock Star: INXS

14. Dumb – Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York

Interesting sequence, as it’s largely through Rock Star: INXS that I got into Nirvana, actually…

15. Trouble In Mind – Janis Joplin – 18 Essential Songs

I’ve been adding some of Jean’s CDs to his iTunes, and bringing a few over to my iTunes as well. This would be one of those.

The show itself, I have no complaints about. The opening act were Mick Thomas and Squeezebox Wally, an Australian duo so taken with Shakespeare My Butt  that they would play the entire album at their shows. They even made one of the songs—“Rosy and Grey”—a hit there. So there was much more collaboration between opening act and headliner than you normally get, with Lowest members joining in on Mick’s set, and Mick contributing to the Lowest set.

Lowest of the Low played the entirety of Shakespeare My Butt, in order, then came back to do various songs from their other two albums, including “Black Monday” and “The Last Recidivist”. It was fun being in a room full of people who also knew all the words to all the songs. And it was nice to hear, from singer and main songwriter Ron Hawkins, that both “Subversives” and the afore-mentioned “Black Monday” were as honest and beautiful as they were because each was inspired by women he really loved. (He explained it in a less mushy way, but that’s what it came down to.) Performances of both those songs, I found particularly powerful.

But the room? With the low ceiling and all, the music was painfully loud. I had to do the extremely cool “Kleenex in the ears thing” to survive. And with the full house, it was hot and crowded. Plus, way too many tall dudes. I had to keep moving around, trying to get a spot where I actually see the band, and not just the back of someone’s head. The crowd was very well-behaved—no smoke of any kind, and surprisingly little beer spilled. But still. I’d say I’m too old for this kind of show, but I didn’t really like them when I was younger, either.

So kind of glad I didn’t drag any friends with me to this, as I feel I would have just had to apologize. Instead, I suggest, just check out Lowest of the Low on record. That way you’ll thank me later. Maybe start with these ones:

• “4 O’Clock Stop”, Shakespeare My Butt, the insanely catchy opening number. Lyrics may not cohere as a whole, but they sure feel right as they hurtle along.
• “Black Monday”, Hallucigenia, as the singer regrets the effects of his depressive nature on the “sad and beautiful” Kate. “The way I am has never been too good for us.”
• “Rosy & Grey”, Shakespeare My Butt, the most Canadian love song ever, where even “the smell of snow warms me today”.
• “Gamble”, Hallucigenia, which sounds like it’s exactly about Buffy and Spike, Season 6, even though it was written before then.
• “Henry Needs a New Pair of Shoes”, Shakespeare My Butt, a deceptively upbeat little ditty that, on closer listening, reveals the social conscience of the band, along with their sense of humour.

And now for something completely different….

A couple years ago I wrote about attending the Open Ears festival, and the organizers noticed. So the notified me about this year’s festival, “celebrating the art of listening”. It took place at a busy time for us, but we did manage to attend one concert: Toca Loca, on April 30.

Where Lowest gave me some unpleasant flashbacks to concerts of my youth, this was like nothing I’d ever seen or heard before. The opening number was “Temazcal”, a piece for maracas and tape. So recorded sounds were played, then a live percussionist joined in on maracas. That was followed by “AK-47”, a piano solo based on the assault rifle. It was both virtuosic, and pretty noisy.

Then there was “Pattycake”. Two performers sat facing each other clapping out the familiar childhood rhythm, but at increasingly dizzying speeds, and with some variation in the original words. It was riveting, as mistakes would be—if not disastrous—at least potentially quite painful. “Repetition is good. It builds trust. Soon you come to know what’s expected.”

In the next two pieces, all three members played along to pieces composed for them, one a fusion of New Wave, Synth-Punk, and No Wave (I don’t know what that means, either), the other a love song as expressed by an industrial machine.

And finally, the “Halo Ballet”. In this one, five gamers manipulated the Halo participants into a kind of dance pattern, instead of the usual trying to kill each other. They would shoot patterns into the sky, or be stacked on one other and twirl, or leap around in synchronicity. We watched all that projected on video. Meanwhile, of course, the band was supplying the soundtrack.

Afterward, Jean commented on how we had paid $48 to watch people do Pattycake. “Did you dislike the music?” “No, can’t say I disliked it.” “Were you bored?” “Absolutely wasn’t bored.”

Me either. $48 well spent. And looking forward to the next Open Ears, where I can hopefully experience more of the aurally novel.