Sunday, March 2nd, 2003
Endearing
Went to the Endearing showcase at the Silver Dollar last night, part of CMW. Good lineup of bands I’d never heard.
First up – The Parkas. From various points around Ontario, they performed a solid if fairly generic set of country-tinged pop rock. Stellar harmonies, though.
Calgary’s Hot Little Rocket put on a very energetic show of angular post-punk rock. Kevin said they sounded just like Sparta. Having never heard Sparta, I’m in no position to debate. But full points for playing the opening of Television’s “Marquee Moon” for soundcheck.
Next up were Paper Moon from sunny Winnipeg. Formerly twee-poppers B’Ehl, Paper Moon offered up lots of sugary pop goodness with just enough grit to keep from getting a toothache.
By this point the cozy (read: small) Silver Dollar room was filling with scenesters eager to check out the Heavy Blinkers, Endearing’s latest signing from Halifax. If you’ve never been to the Silver Dollar, the stage is small. Smaller than the Horseshoe, which is not big. Well the Heavy Blinkers are a 10-piece band, and we’re not talking small pieces, like kazoos or tambourines. We’re talking keyboards, organs, pedal steels, horn sections… It was a Herculean feat. The Heavy Blinkers’ thing is full-on orch-pop. Bacharach may be an overused reference point, but it’s still an apt one. Really fun, sophisticated and impressive stuff.
By this point I was too bushed to stick around for Vancouver’s Radiogram, which is a shame because some good roots music would have been a good way to wash down the evening. Maybe next time.
I burned my first CD yesterday. I feel mighty. It was the second disc of the Wilco live in Philadelphia set – I had the first one courtesy of 517. It’s so quick and easy. Now I can get to work on making CDs for everyone who’s given me stuff over the years.
I don’t know what this is, but it looks cool. Apparently the shrimp car has kick-ass acceleration.
np – Billy Bragg & Wilco / Mermaid Avenue
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