this year.

So the concert streak continues, while my lack of commenting diminishes. I find it hard at time to collect my thoughts on these shows in a timely manner. So I’ve decided to go with short and sweet.

Saw The Constantines last week. Great show. It was a toss up between checking out Super Furry Animals, and The Constantines. I felt the need to rock out, so The Constantines won. What a show. Any show that begins with 6 drummers and 4 guys on guitar, and ends with a member of the band bleeding from a head wound as got to be a great rock show. Intermix an opening band with a keyboardist drinking from a bottle of Baby Duck, 3 hardcore fans, as well as a tambourine section in the audience, and you may begin to fathom the experience. Great concert, great music. A definite band to check out live if you ever have the chance.

This week I had the opportunity to check out Joel Plaskett (solo) and Kathleen Edwards. Another great night, and another great show. Joel played treated us with many a song off his newest solo album, La Di Da, and brought his dad Bill (aka Mr. P) on tour to play guitar. I’m not sure who was getting the bigger kick out of it, Joel or his dad, but either way both performers were truly enjoying playing together. Bill plays a mean finger picked guitar. Stellar. This guy puts on a good show. Having never seen him before, I was surprised at his string-beany-ness. I suppose I pictured someone more like Matt Mays. He still rocked in a gentle acoustic guitar way, and his vocals had no trouble filling the club.

Kathleen came out with full band and proceeded to ‘rock out’ in the way only a girl from the Ottawa Valley can. I started a bet on when she would drop the first F-bomb..and one, as it was her 2nd word of the night. She threw in a cover of The Everly Brothers “When Will I be Loved”. I also won that contest, being the guy who could name the songwriter — what a fantastic night for me.

It’s been a great couple of weeks for live music, with many great shows on the horizon. Trews and Stars are rocking Toronto in December. Get tickets, because you do not want to miss those bands.