2013 CMW Day 5- This Might Just Be My Waterloo
I’m fighting a cold (that may be winning) but Saturday was a bit of a trial.
The Horseshoe hosts an annual Aussie Barbecue. I made my way down for The Black Chords. They are very much a bar band but at this point I am looking for something a bit different. The crowd was big and hungry but they only started serving food as I left so I missed out on the Aussie Sizzler.
I returned to the Shoe for The Trouble with Templeton. I gave them two songs but the need for food won out. I would have like to have given them at least another song but my friend was a bit cranky- good thing she wasn’t at the Savages show last night. The residual anger might have resulted in a fist to the face.
I received an invite to check out some bands at someone’s cool apartment on Spadina that wasn’t officially on the CMW ticket. I only stayed for Reversing Falls, a band from Montreal (according to a girl at the show). I liked the music but I was not keen on the voice. This band and the crowd made me feel old. I would probably have been a lot more forgiving (and patient) 25 years ago.
Charlotte Church, yes, the former child phenom from Wales was performing at The Elmo. I waited, and waited. 25 minutes into the wait, I ran upstairs to have a quick listen to Ninette and the Goldfish. Gah! I liked the music but the vocalist sings up her nose and that makes me very sad.
I went back downstairs and the show was finally underway. There was something about the arrangement that gave it an adult contemporary feel and they used some effects that buried her voice. This made me sad I didn’t attempt to get into the sold out Nick Cave show.
Because of the late start, my hands were tied so I decided to find respite at Rancho. Our Friends and Spiders, an alt-rock band from Montreal were able to take some of the sting away but the vocals still did me in.
I decided to see a band I liked from Day 2, Pull My Strings, from Spain. They were playing a second show at Global Village Backpackers. I liked them better at The Painted Lady but I don’t know if the sound was actually better or if Intergalactic Lovers ewerted them??
We were early for the show we wanted to see at the Elmo (upstairs) so we checked out Chloe Charles- who became the first performer I walked out on in less than 10 seconds. If you can’t sing in that register, write a different song.
The sadness continued downstairs with Tympanic from Ottawa. They were marginally better but I was starting to get a little punchy. This also unfortunately continue the trend of disappointing Ottawa area bands.
Boy, from Hamburg were doing sound check when we got back upstairs. Thank god! The band did an adorable three-person huddle before performing. Other than some unfortunate feedback issues with the acoustic guitar, they were very good. Country/folk/pop- very light on the pop. I would have liked them more if it weren’t for Intergalactic Lovers. Ewerted again.
I thought about ending the night on a high but The Silver Dollar is 20 seconds up the street and it was hard for me to justify not checking out X-Ray Eyeballs from Brooklyn. They were fun. I kept wanting to leave and they would reel me back in with a catchy song featuring a familiar riff that I can’t quite place. Some of their songs have an 80s New Wave vibe that makes me very nostalgic. I want to find some people who like New Wave, punk and go dancing!
I got greedy and decided to make one last stop at Rancho for Boats (no exclamation mark). The voice killed me. Am I missing something? I don’t care enough to look into it further but what is it with that anime voice? Are you trying to be witty? I just wanted a wall to pound the vocals from my head.
I should have known better than to try and fit one more in. Have I have learned my lesson? The next time I am faced with this decision, I will probably take the chance because you never know.
AngryEgg 