Hey Man, You Gotta Nice Job

concert review: Mayor McCA, Jenn Grant, Great Plains @ The Casbah(Hamilton, Ontario), May 7, 2006

As I mentioned in my previous post, this past Sunday I was doing double duty with regards to going to concerts. I went to the Over The Top Fest matinee show at The Drake Hotel in Toronto which was enjoyable. That evening I went to Hamilton, ON to The Casbah to see Mayor McCA, Jenn Grant and Great Plains, who all coincidentally had performed in Toronto the night before as part of the Over The Top Fest. I was a little hesitant about going back to The Casbah since the last time I went there was to see The Heavy Blinkers(coincidentally featuring Jenn Grant as their vocalist), Julie Doiron, and Snailhouse who played to a very small crowd. Fortunately, and surprisingly for a Sunday night, there was a great turnout this time around. I underestimated the draw of Hamilton's very own Mayor McCA.

Opening things up were Halifax trio Great Plains. Starting off on a quiet note, Great Plains vocalist Sean MacGillivray sung a forlorn, melancholic guitar-rock tune, probably my favourite song of their set. Physically, in terms of his shag hair cut and even the way he held his guitar, he almost seemed a dead-ringer for The Inbreds' Mike O'Neill. Things changed gear when the drummer and the band's on-loan bass guitarist joined Sean onstage and turned up the volume. A good half of it was great. They have a rock sound that treads a middleground between the conventional and an edgier sound. Start-stop drum rythms, rumbling basslines, a bit of King Cobb Steelie-sounding dub-rock influences, plenty of meaty guitar work, but overall everything was tied together nicely with Sean's urgent vocals. I would have preferred more of a fully-developed melodic sensibility like the first song of their set which Sean performed solo. I also thought that half of the set fell too far on the side of conventionality. Hopefully, they explore more interestings sounds in the future because they definitely have some musical chops.

Listen: Great Plains @ MySpace

I was primarily there to see Jenn Grant. I was so impressed with her when I saw her last September 2005 at the same venue, when she performed as part of The Heavy Blinkers Trio. Despite the fact that that show last September was criminally underattended, Jenn's robust vocals over The Heavy Blinkers' soothing pop melodies made for a spine-tingling experience. Jenn's vocals are vibrant yet subtle and never excessive. Jenn started out her set solo accompanying herself on guitar, then was joined by the guys of Great Plains to back her up on drums, bass guitar, and some violin for the rest of the set. Musically, I find her music straddles the line between the earthy folkiness of Sarah Harmer with the jazzy-sophistication-meets-indie-rock of Feist. Vocally, it was more of a laid back performance this time compared to her nuanced performance with The Heavy Blinkers last September. I met Jenn after the set and purchased her EP "Jenn Grant and Goodbye Twentieth Century" and was fortunate to chat briefly with her. A very nice gal, and she said she remembered speaking to me at The Heavy Blinkers show! She's going to hopefully swing back through Toronto, Hamilton and other parts of Ontario later this year. I didn't mention this to Jenn at the time, but my only disappointment of her set was that she didn't perform her song "Don't Worry Baby", no doubt my most played MySpace song since last September. Therefore, I direct you to her MySpace site where you can hear the song:

Listen: Jenn Grant @ MySpace - recommend "Don't Worry Baby"

Don't underestimate Mayor McCA. I highly recommend everyone see him at least once. Fresh from touring in the UK, Hamilton's very own one-man band extraordinaire Mayor McCA brought the house down with his whimsical performance. The long-haired and bearded Mayor McCA seemed quite possibly deranged at first but turned out to be a puppy dog. He started out the set playing a pre-recorded backing track on his boombox, then picked up a ukelele and strummed some chords as he walked around the room in his bare feet. The Mayor continued the pre-recorded backing tracks on his boombox throughout the set, changing discs, or cueing up the right track. There was even some dialogue built on to the backing tracks and the Mayor referred the person talking as his new bandmade 'Tony'(and who suspiciously sounded just like him). Mayor McCA would respond to 'Tony' in a neatly and humourously scripted conversation. Pretty ingenious actually. The one-man band tag was capably demonstrated as Mayor McCA sat on a bass drum, played the drum with one foot, used his other foot to play a contraption which was his 'bass guitar' sound, all the while as he sung and played guitar. Musically he encompassed a variety of styles that had him performing a Beck-sounding garage-rap number one time, a lovely ukelele-laced love song the next("1 000 000 000 Songs"), and a number of acid-rock guitar tunes later on. A couple of times during the set he even put on some tap shoes to perform some percussive tap shoe arrangements as his boombox's beats played in the background. As he mentioned, he didn't usually perform covers, but he rewarded us that night with a heart-breaking ukelele-accompanied rendition of Simon and Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound". Musically talented, artistically creative, vocal about his indebtedness to his hometown of Hamilton, and humourous to boot, he's a true gem.

Listen: Mayor McCA @ MySpace - recommend "1 000 000 000 Songs"
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Watch the awesome new music video(directed by Sara St. Onge) for The Diableros' "Sugar-Laced Soul". Animaton was done by Jay White[via Stille Post]

More bands have been announced for Hillside Music Festival which goes down July 28-30, 2006.

Someone might be interested, but current emo-punk heros Fall Out Boy will be performing a free show at Yonge Dundas Square at around 2 pm on Saturday May 13th as sponsored by radio station 102.1 The Edge. The radio station have also announced the lineup for Edgefest I which goes down this July 1st, Canada Day.

Anyone remember the last great Edgefest in my opinion, the Sloan-headlined/curated Edgefest 3 of 1995? I posted a partial review of this show on the old Sloannet mailing list way back. Memories at the corners of my mind. For real.

A soundtrack for everyone has a lengthy song-by-song rundown of the 28 tracks on the Red Hot Chili Pepper's new album "Stadium Arcadium". I will say that I'm not feeling the first single "Dani California", but with 28 tracks I'm sure you'll find some winners in there.