CMW 2013 Day 3: I May Have Just Found This Year’s Ewert
True to form I haven’t looked at today’s line- but first a quick summary of the day.
It had turned into a bit of a cluster-f*ck because I was late getting started, I got turned around in the Marriot (CMW headquarters), decided to go to June Records but the streetcar took its sweet ass time in coming so I spent prime music listening time stuck in traffic and when I got there I was intimidated by the fact that there were less than eight people there (including the musicians and the guys who worked in the store) so I left and decided to get some food.
No music until the evening….
Nevada Drive, from Denmark, performed at the back room of the Cameron. She said to give her a buzz to go for drinks if we were ever in the area, ah, okay. She has a dusky quality to her voice, a rawness that was kind of perfect in its emotional imperfection. I appreciated the realness and the unaffected quality of her voice.
Clintons (again) for Inch Chua, from Singapore. There are some things that I liked and some qualities to her voice that made me itch. Part of the problem is that I judged her poorly in comparison with Nevada Drive. Completely different styles of music but the voice…. My friend and I have a word for this. She was ewerted.*
I bailed early so I made it to The Central in time to catch the last song by Suzy Wilde. She is from Toronto and I heard enough to add her to the check-it-out list. I was here to see Tom West. He is a good guitarist but I am a bit undecided. Has he been ewerted* as well? I’ll check out his music online when I am no longer saturated by music.
I made it to the Elmo in time to see Statue Park, a band from Montreal and ironically the band I bailed on at June Records. They were good- just the thing I needed (indie rock)- a change of pace from the mellow singer-songwriters I started the evening with. I would see them again, no question.
I went downstairs to catch a few songs from Courage My Love, a local punk band. They weren’t my speed tonight but I wasn’t offended. I am not sure that I would see them again- I am feeling a little old these days for that crowd.
The big surprise for me tonight was Intergalactic Lovers, a band from Belgium. This may just be my favourite band this year but it is a little too close to tell. I’ll have to think on it a little more. I am listening to them right now and their recorded music is not a disappointment. The lead singer has a great voice- more powerful live. I would gush more but the clock is ticking. I save the fangirling for another post.
It was downstairs again to catch a band from Ann Arbor, Iamdynamite- hard but pretty good. A huge wall of sound but the guys can sing.
Frantic Sundays, from Sweden, were next upstairs at the Elmo. One word: ENERGY!!!! A little manic actually. These guys may have been ewerted by Intergalactic Lovers. The music is good but I am having trouble making out his vocals. One girl actually hid from the lead singer because he was wandering around the audience. I didn’t move fast enough and got hit with the mic. The lead singer encouraged people to come closer for the last song- at which time he proceeded to “stage-dive”, which was really just one guy to hold him up airplane-styles. I couldn’t stop laughing. It was a little too much but I was entertained.
It was still early-ish (around 1am) so I made a quick stop at Rancho Relaxo. I felt like a dork because I didn’t know how to get in. Stoner. The band I was hoping to check out was replaced by Brothers of North (?)- according to the guy I asked when the set ended. Solid indie rock, harder than Pull My Strings.
That concludes the round-up for Thursday.
* This word comes from Ewert and the Two Dragons, a band from Estonia. To be “ewerted” is to be found wanting in direct comparison with someone or something, usually used when referencing music. The word has a slightly sad (and sometimes apologetic) undertone- if Ewert and the Two Dragons (in the original case) did not exist, we would have like this other band/singer better.
AngryEgg 