CMW 2010 Update (Part Two)

Yes, I've decided to forgo the final night of Canadian Musicfest / Canadian Music Week. I made it out to 4 of the 5 nights which I'd say is a pretty good effort, but I'm pooped and I'm not in the mood to gamble on the lineups and getting in with my media pass at the 'big' shows tonight (ie. Born Ruffians/Young Rival/Parlovr @ the Phoenix and Woods/Real Estate @ the Horseshoe Tavern). Maybe I'll use my time constructively and process some of my photos from the festival. Let's just say with the rain, and the lineups and a few TTC delays, it wasn't one of the better CMW experiences I've had. Heck, CMW 2008 was better and one of those days were smack dab in a middle of a blizzard. On the good side, I ran into a bunch of blogger friends and acquaintances, met a few new people and had not-so-terrible lineup experiences chatting with people in line.

Stay tuned for the more detailed reviews as well as my photos. I already gave a rundown of my Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. My Saturday went down like this:

The first show of the night for me was the non-CMW-related early Joanna Newsom show at the Phoenix. Left home later than I intended and ended up missing opener Kevin Barker. Because of the strict camera policy at the Phoenix, I was forced to keep my camera in my bag for Joanna's entire set, a fantastic one at that especially to a relative newbie such as myself. Though it seems that an encore wasn't planned (because of the strict curfew at the Phoenix because of the dance club later that night), the crowd continued to applaud if after the stage lights and the music on the sound system came on, eventually prompting the club to allow Ms. Newsom one more song. I managed to sneak a few photos during the encore, nothing spectacular given my partially obstructed view of Ms. Newsom but for the sake of posterity it was something.

The CMW portion of the night started a streetcar ride down the street from the Phoenix with Providence, RI's and Chromewaves-favourite The Brother Kite down at Rancho Relaxo, then continued in the same venue with Ottawa's that's the spirit, and then capping off the festival for me was Toronto's fantastic Maylee and Pegwee Power!! at Bread & Circus. Ran into a new acquaintance outside of Bread & Circus who mentioned the !059 house party where Maylee was also suppose to play, but ahh, I'd leave that to the kids. I considered taking in Toronto's Action Makes' set closeby at The Comfort Zone but opted instead to quench my thirst with a grape soda at the 7-11 across the street from The Comfort Zone and then catching the streetcar back to the subway to get back to my car in the westend. No way in hell I wanted to take the TTC Blue Line that night.

And it didn't stop raining the ENTIRE night. And I lost my sweater at the Phoenix (ok, that's my own dumb fault).

CMW sent out some e-mails recently including the list of winners at this year's The Indies, the awards show and performances going down yesterday evening. Congrats to Rural Alberta Advantage for winning this year's Galaxie Rising Stars award. They have a busy week ahead of them as there heading to SxSW again this year. Favourite Live Artist/Group went to Hamilton's Arkells, a band I haven't necessarily taken hold of although the more I hear their single "Oh, The Boss is Coming!", the more they're working-class rock n' roll reveals its qualities. Favorite Folk Artist/Group went to Great Lake Swimmers and Favourite Group/Duo Of The Year went to The Constantines. Favourite Solo Artist Of The Year went to Joel Plaskett with Favourite Album going to Metric's "Fantasies". Favourite Hardcore album went to Fucked Up. International Single Of The Year went to Phoenix and "1901" with International Album Of The Year going to The xx's self-titled effort. I just wonder how The Indies are set up, especially with the Internationl Awards - for example is there some sort of satellite video feed with say The xx thanking all their Canadian fans for voting for them? I imagine that's probably not the case but it'd be kind of cool if it were.