"Once I had a love and it was a gas...it soon turned out to be a pain in the ass.." Blondie

Over the weekend I steeped myself in music culture and took in Blondie on Saturday night and got up close and personal on Sunday night with Fran Healy from Travis. A very satisfying weekend, indeed.

First, Saturday night, I made my way out to the tent at River Cree Resort and Casino which was packed to the rafters and AMEN they've stopped allowing smoking inside so there was no thick haze to wade through. Now I came to this Blondie show with ridiculous notions and all of them were completely obliterated by the time they performed Rapture.

You see, the first memory I have of Blondie is from my 5 year old mind, my Mother loved Blondie and listened to them all the time and we would dance in the living room to Call Me.
They are cool defined I thought, and as I grew up Blondie always managed to avoid that awkward, 'everybody hates Blondie stage' and we still used to party to Blondie and dance and sing if they played Blondie in the bar...But, I never did see them live, never thought I would have the chance. From history I thought Debbie Harry would be brooding and sullen and 'angsty'.

Wrong. I was amazed when out pops this wee firecracker in a see through white tutu and punk rock jean jacket and belts and busts into D-Day. Debbie Harry, looking great, sounding phenomenal and strutting up there like Dolly Parton sans the giant knockers, she was AWESOME! Funny and entertaining and they sang some new songs and then...then came Rapture. The first rap song. Ever. I am not kidding, look it up. She rapped. I can now say that I have witnessed that, it is awesome. And so was Blondie.
From the 1970's fast forward 20 years or so to '98 when my co-worker Bryony Stone from Scotland says one day, "hey you would love Travis, ever heard of them?" And...They became one of my favourite bands. And Bryony and I are still pen pals to this day.

Then this summer rumours were flying that Fran Healy, lead singer of Travis, is working on a solo album and might tour so imagine my delight when I actually got tickets.

Sunday night Fran Healy came to the Starlite Room-- just him and his guitar and he sang, sang, sang and talked, talked, talked and we never wanted it to end. The place was crawling with U2 fans. You couldn't have swung a dead cat without plowing down some U2 fans. And not just part-timers, hard core, uber U2 fans who have seen way more gigs than I have. One guy I spoke to had never heard of Travis at all, but had come with his buddy. His buddy was the dude crying 'man tear' after 'man tear' and closing his eyes and singing every word of every song with Fran.

Fran sang some new songs, I thought of Alan Cross and how much he would love this, cause he's a music geek too and he would have loved knowing all the tidbits about each song. He spoke of love when he sang his new one, "Buttercups" and wowed us with tales about Meko Case and Paul McCartney who are both featured on his new one, Wreckorder (out October 5th). Oh and it is pronounced, "recorder"...he wanted me to pass that on.

Fran spoke of becoming a father when he wrote "My Eyes". Then he sang 20:

I was 5 feet away! He talked to the audience and we got to ask a few questions, "how many push ups did you have to do for the video shoot of Turn?" LOL! His answer was hilarious because it involved many takes and he was vibrating through most of it! LOL! He explained the genesis of all the songs he sang, then he sang them--that voice...I love his voice.

I think every music fan daydreams about the opportunity to sit and talk about music with a talented songwriter...so throughout the night at Starlite Room I kept catching my mouth agape with awe, trying not to be so struck by the incredible songs and stories pouring out of Fran on that stage. I just could not believe I was lucky enough to be a part of that.

Then he sang Driftwood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzUdJ-5fscA . Then he sang The Humpty Dumpty Love Song and I cried, it was so beautiful.

It was over too fast. It came to the point where he was to "do the encore thing" which we all agree is so over. He admitted what they, the band, do in that in between (whilst the audience is supposed to kill itself clapping and begging for more) for a moment or two backstage, "mostly tripping over wires in the dark". LOL! So he proposed a postmodern encore. He said Goodnight...then he walked to the curtain and back and then turned and came right back and picked up his guitar for more. (For the record, apparently the same night in San Fransisco, Kings of Leon also rebuked the traditional bullshit of the encore and played through, saying they didn't want to waste any time that could be filled with song-- these steps towards abolishing the whole archaic encore shite warms my heart...but I digress)

The encore was great, he did 3 more songs for us, filled us up with a bit more joy and sent us on our way. It was a really special night. A night I will not forget and my friend Bryony will be super jealous of when I tell her in my next letter. Muwahaha!

Currently my favourite song off Suburbs is:

Song Du Jour: City With No Children by Arcade Fire

And guess who just got GA for the Calgary gig in September? SO EXCITED to finally get to see Arcade Fire live.

"What you got, they can't steal it, No they can't even feel it..."

Yesterday My Cousin was admitted to the Bar. We, her family, friends, teammates, and colleagues, packed into the Law Courts (first we removed our shoes and belts and got searched -holy security!). It was a really nice ceremony, in a courtroom with a judge, and her Principle who was recommending her roasted her a bit which made it really funny (and embarrassing for her) and took the edge off the very formal nature of the proceedings.

To be there to see that moment with her was really something special, and it really showed me how many people it takes to support us through our lives. All those people that gathered there yesterday have touched her life, each in a special way, which made her who she is today. Just like she has made me who I am today with her support of me. It was all very joyful and I needed my tissues. a lot.

Then we went back to her firm and got loaded on free beers. She also has a really cool office and it makes her look so damned official.

Kinda weird to see her all grown up and to hear other people, (older, professional people!) talk about her with such admiration. It was a total love-in. LOL! I am so proud of her.

But you know the best part? She is still just MCD.

Song Du Jour: Walk On by U2 (of course....)

Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic - Van Morrison

Finally got to see the man himself last night, the one and only, Mr. Van Morrison.


My first experience at the Folk Music Festival was rather magical. The backdrop of the city combined with the most beautiful sunset and a mass of humanity on a hill soaking up the musical offering...man, it was awesome. I really enjoyed all the violin, it was amazing, he has such an awesome band.
They gave us candles on the way in and as twilight fell to darkness each concert goer lit there wee candle to create a milky way. Seeing all those lights on that hill from the top to the bottom made Van jump right into Gloria to get us up off our butts, which were asleep by this time, and watch all those candles sway with the dancers! It was a perfect ending.

The Edmonton Folk Music Festival really has an incredible infrastructure running it, from the volunteers to the security, it was so well organized. Although I did not eat anything I could see plates (yes, actual plates they will wash and use again!) of heaping salads, fruits, healthy Curry dishes and Bison Burgers with Saskatoon Berries. They also have the crap you want like those wee crack 'donuts' but, I was impressed with how much fresh food was available. It would have been awesome if I could have filled up my water bottle on site, instead of having to buy those 2 blue bottles.
I love that they really keep their eco footprint small and all the "Folkies" clean up after themselves and don't leave anything behind.

Song Du Jour - Suburbs by Arcade Fire....I mean seriously the album is out, you should get it.
Here is a link to the Video