Basia Bulat @ Mississauga Celebration Square (August 26, 2011)

Basia Bulat @ Mississauga Celebration Square: photo by Michael Ligon


Basia Bulat @ Mississauga Celebration Square: photo by Michael Ligon

As you may have guessed given my two recent posts, I'm trying to work my way backwards, posting photos/reviews of the shows I've gone to over the last several months, which brings me to the enchanting Basia Bulat who played Mississauga for the first time on August 26 at Mississauga Celebration Square. It was a solo set from Miss Bulat, accompanying herself on vocals with a variety of instrumentation from piano, guitar and autoharp.

A somewhat small crowd was on hand for the show, but otherwise Basia was chipper throughout, playing enthusiastically and smiling through. Basia bantered with the audience, .entioning her days as a youth patronizing such Mississauga establishments as "Coffee, Tea or Me" and how her mother still goes to Starsky's (a European-style grocery store). Performing a selection of tunes from her two albums, 2008's "Oh My Darling" and 2010's "Heart Of My Own", she charmed the crowd throughout her set. In addition to that, other highlights included a cover of Jon Rae Fletcher's "Come Back To Me" (which she sung as a duet with Mississauga native and Arkells member Dan Griffin), a cover of Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You in the End" and the folk traditional "Hush", which she embellished with hand clapping and foot stomping. And recognizing her heritage, and if I recall correctly saying something along the lines about wanting to record a Polish-sung album, she even sung in Polish like on "W Zielonym Zoo". Even a group of young teen boys, who in my opinion were acting up a bit, seemed to be charmed by Miss Bulat as during several of her tunes, they started to dance - it was perhaps a little bit of a joke to them, but Basia took it all in stride, accepting their enthusiasm as genuine. And perhaps maybe it was.

I've seen Basia several times live, and it was after this show I finally introduced myself, as well picking up her CD "Heart Of My Own". Lovely, lovely person, and I also must thank her for giving me the heads up on Supercrawl, a music and arts festival in Hamilton, ON which happened a week later, where she had a sublime performance collaboration with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.

For my complete photoset from the show, check out the link below:

Photos: Basia Bulat @ Mississauga Celebration Square (August 26, 2011)

Supercrawl in Hamilton, ON (September 10, 2011)

While the Toronto International Film Festival occupied most of my time during the period of September 8 to the 18, I'd consciously took Septemeber 10 off in order to check out a arts and music festival called Supercrawl in Hamilton, ON. I'd heard of the festival for a few years now and had hopes of going but it didn't happen, but when I'd seen the musical lineup this year which included amongst others, Broken Social Scene, J Mascis, Plants and Animals and Basia Bulat performing with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, I made up my mind quick to check it out. Somewhat serendipitously, I was clued into the festival and the music lineup by Basia Bulat herself who I'd spoke to briefly after her solo show in Mississauga at Celebration Square just a week prior to Supercrawl.

Taking over several blocks of Hamilton's James Street North neighbourhood, there was an array of artwork, sculptures, vendors, and music stages. While I was there primarily for the music, I was impressed with the art that could be found at different spots along the street - photographs, paintings, street murals, sculptures. As well there was an array of artisans selling and vendors selling their wares. In addition to that, there was a variety of food trucks, food vendor as well as local restaurants and cafes providing a variety of food choices for hungry Supercrawl-ers. But yes it was the music lineup that brought me out, and in short it was fantastic.

It was only by chance that I caught Toronto's Bruce Peninsula as I'd happened by their free show (a CD release at that for their new album "Open Flames" which comes out October 4) at Christ’s Church Cathedral. Apparently, Toronto's Snowblink had opened the show. Funny, but I'd never had seen the band live before, and have more than an ounce of regret after hearing what little I did that day. Within the sublime acoustics and environs of the church, the vibrant, vocal indie-folk of the band was mesmerizing. I'd only caught their last song and their encore, but it was enough to count me now as a convert. The band are in the midst of a tour and will be in Toronto on October 27 for a show at Lee's Palace.


Bruce Peninsula @ Supercrawl: photo by Michael Ligon

Having only seen Basia Bulat the week before, playing a solo show in Mississauga at Celebration Square, I was super excited to see her perform with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. With the Orchestra adding illustrious arrangements to Basia's tunes and with Basia herself changing the phrasing of her vocals somewhat, these versions were quite a bit different than I'd heard from her before. And yes it worked very well. As a Hamilton outsider, when I think of Hamilton, a symphony orchestra does not come to mind, but after this set, Hamilton has proven its cultural depth with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra's blissful performance with Miss Bulat.


Basia Bulat with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra @ Supercrawl: photo by Michael Ligon

As the sun went down and then set, after a long setup, Montreal trio Plants and Animals took the stage for a vibrant set of their tactile and jammy rock music. "Faerie Dance" with the audience participation of "la la la la la la la la la" was perhaps their finest moment of the night. Terribly disappointing that the band's long set-up time meant the band had to cut their set short, but otherwise it was a fine set.


Plants and Animals @ Supercrawl: photo by Michael Ligon

Who might Paley and Francis be? Well, the Francis refers to Black Francis - yes, that one, sometimes also referred to as Frank Black. But no this was not a Pixies set nor the Frank Black show. Francis and Paley (Reid Paley that is) took relatively equal duties on lead vocals, and the music drew a bit on the garage rock eccentricities of the Pixies though perhaps with a bit of a blues flavour. With the duo rounded out with a bass player and drummer, it was not as electrifying as I'd hope it be but still to see Black Francis was exciting.


Paley and Francis @ Supercrawl: photo by Michael Ligon

Shooting back to the mainstage I went, to catch Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis sitting on a chair, playing his acoustic guitar through an amp and performing some of Dinosaur Jr.'s more well known songs. Later on in the set, J would bring up Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew to sing along on "Not Enough". Musically I loved it and J tore through some fantastic guitar solos, although as a whole it was somewhat underwhelming to watch a solo set as the quiet crowd gazed towards him. Part of me wished I could have caught Junior Boys' set down the street, but that stage was too far to get to and I wanted to secure a spot for Broken Social Scene's headlining set.


J Mascis (with Kevin Drew) @ Supercrawl: photo by Michael Ligon

Broken Social Scene's show at Harbourfront Centre in 2009 was my favourite show by them ever, with the extended BSS family like Feist and Emily Haines popping out the woodworks to make it a very special show. Broken Social Scene are a much more streamlined animal these days with a core lineup of Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Charles Spearin, Andrew Whiteman, Justin Peroff, Lisa Lobsinger and Sam Goldberg making up the band. Kevin mentioned that this was their last show in Ontario for a long time, and with recent news of the band going on an indefinite hiatus, I'm glad to have caught the band this time. No special guests unfortunately for this how, but the band did seem to have a pep in their step as they played selection of favourites from their last three albums and apparently also including a cover of Modest Mouse's "World At Large". It was neither the band's best nor worst show but as a capper to the festival it was a keeper. I have no doubt the band will be back (and have not broken up). I think we've all started to take the band for granted, especially over the last several years, and I think now's the perfect time for the band to take a break, both for themselves and from us, but I think when the band eventually make their return, it will be monumental.


Broken Social Scene @ Supercrawl: photo by Michael Ligon

For my complete photoset of Supercrawl, check out the link below:

Photos: Supercrawl in Hamilton, ON (September 10, 2011)

Basia Bulat @ Soundscapes, Toronto (February 16, 2010)

  Basia Bulat: photo by Michael Ligon

Having treated fans to an apparently well-enjoyed show at the venerable Trinity St. Paul Church in Toronto back in mid-January, one probably wouldn't have expected London, Ontario singer-songwriter Basia Bulat to be back in these parts so soon. However, with a recently released new album "Heart Of My Own"[it's album cover, one of the loveliest things I've seen in a long time] to promote, I guess it wouldn't hurt to give fans another opportunity to see her live. Last Tuesday she played a well-attended instore at Soundscapes in Toronto. Most everyone sat on the ground which I'm grateful happened since I now had an unobstructed view and on a humourous note Basia said it reminded her of childhood storytime. Her stories of current though are of love and relationships, and Basia alternating from song to song between acoustic guitar, Autoharp, and a third stringed instrument played on her lap, used her expressive vibrato to communicate those tales. I haven't listened to her new album yet unfortunately but was quite excited to hear her perform "In The Night" from her debut album. She performed the whole set unamplified which made the set especially intimate. Ending the set with an accapella rendition of an old gospel spiritual(with the humourous occurence of her foot-stomping causing a few CD's on the shelves nearby to fall before she restarted the song by clapping and stomping her foot softer), I'd forgotten how wonderful musically as well as charming she is.

It's Not The Band I Hate, It's Their Fans has a rundown of the set as well as some photos from closer up. Another fan perspective of the instore from James Hong Conjecture who says her next show in Toronto will be in June.

Photos: Basia Bulat @ Soundscapes, Toronto (February 16, 2010)
MySpace: Basia Bulat
Video: Basia Bulat live @ Soundscapes, Toronto, February 16 2010 (highlights)

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ps. My review of the Mumford & Sons show at Lee's Palace on February 15, 2010 is now up. I'm now all caught up with all my show reviews from the past few weeks. Hopefully, I'll stay on track and post more timely. Hope is the key word.

This Life

concert review: Martha Wainwright, Basia Bulat @ Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Ontario), July 1, 2008

Martha Wainwright @ Harbourfront (Canada Day 2008)


It was a more low-key Canada Day party down at Harbourfront this year, and not just because it fell on a Tuesday. With past Canada Day Festivities at Harbourfront featuring such exciting headliners as Final Fantasy, The Dears and Feist, the excitement for this year's lineup seemed less palpable overall, though that's not at all meant as a insult to the quality of the lineup. Actually, the lineup of Martha Wainwright and Basia Bulat was as good a representation of the talent of Canadian music as one could ask for, but when you have two acts treading similar folk, pop-rock territory, the audience didn't so much rock in Canada's birthday as much as greet it politely. True Canadian fashion guess. You know if this were the US, there'd be some major fireworks and explosions (and ironically some fireworks in the nearby harbour were hardly spectacular, which Martha jokingly commented on).

I arrived a little late for opener Basia Bulat and her band whose string-embellished, vocal-harmony laden, folk-pop tunes never seemed to achieve more than a polite response from most of the crowd[who I assumed were passerbys], except for pockets of enthusiasm who I assumed were actual fans of Basia. It didn't necessarily help that the sun was still shining and that the low rumble of a chatty audience was audible. Musically, they were as tight as ever but an audience dead set on sitting throught the entire performance even during the faster tempo numbers doesn't exactly inspire excitement. The chattiness of the audience (at least those towards the back of the seating) spoiled the experience of the quieter numbers for those of us making an effort to devote our attention. Overall a pleasant experience. Perhaps, under the blanket of night it would have been better show such as experienced, in my opinion, during headliner Martha Wainwright's set.

I wonder if all Martha Wainwright's introductions by an MC involve them mentioning her more famous musical family members - Louden Wainwright III [her father], Kate and Anna McGarrigle [her mother and aunt], and Rufus Wainwright [her brother]. With such a pedigree as that, it's no wonder that Martha's just as talented, though perhaps is it a disservice to her that they be mentioned at all, as if she needs to ride their coattails. Martha proved her talent quickly alternating her vocals between a caress and a swoop, and proving that she's adept at many different styles of music including folk, pop, and cabaret. I remember a few years back that she used to do a residency at some bar in New York City performing her songs in stripped down fashion, and to me her set resonated most during her stripped down performances such as the cabaret pop number she sang en francais with the accompaniement of a keyboardist during her encore. The band numbers were performed compentently (including the help of her husband/producer Brad Albetta on bass) and while the instrumentation was somewhat a little polished for my tastes, the songs and melodies really lended themselves well to it. (And reading my review of Martha's show at The Mod Club in June 2005, it seems my compliments/criticisms of her live show have remained fairly consistent).

Martha maintained her charming and witty personality throughout her set. She said something along the lines that she wanted to write depressing songs like Leonard and Neil and that maybe she should produce a vignette for the CBC and the NFB. You know she could only get away with these Canadian references here. She also admitted to having her period backstage but fortunately she was wearing a red dress, though she continued that perhaps the 'period' could be become a way for women to express their Canadian patriotism. Forget what I said about about Canadian politeness above - we're as edgy as the rest of them.

More of my photos are over at my Flickr.

MySpace: Martha Wainwright

Soundscapes

Of no doubt interest to some of you regarding the upcoming Canadian Music Week festival, the Paquin Entertainment showcase at the Rivoli on March 6 will feature Julie Doiron at 9 pm and Jenn Grant and The Night Painters at 10 pm. If you don't catch Jenn that day you can catch her at the same venue on March 8 at 10 pm as part of the Music Nova Scotia showcase. Also, the venerable Murderecords label will relaunch with a showcase of it's own during CMW at Supermarket with Will Currie And The Country French at 9:20 PM, Pony Da Look at 10:20 PM, Meligrove Band at 11:20 PM, and of course label founders Sloan at 12:20 pm - tickets $12 in advance and $15 at the door(although I would not hold my breath for tickets at the door).

As Mike Feuerstack aka Snailhouse gets ready to release the newest Snailhouse album "Lies On The Prize" (which if I interpret correctly the current news item at his website that he's found a label to release the new album) he's lined up some select east coast gigs for March and April which will culminate in Toronto for a show(with Toronto's Sandro Perri) at the Tranzac on April 30. I'm assuming that some of the songs streaming at his MySpace listed as 'unreleased' will be included on the new album.

BlogTO interviews Soundscapes founder Greg Davis about the store's popularity with discriminating music lovers.

NME reports that several artists have been lined up for a series of gigs organised by iTunes live. The gigs will take place from February 21 to March 2 at AIR Studios, Lyndhurst Hall, London and will feature artists playing acoustic collaborations with selected guests. Check NME for the full lineup info but more excitingly look forward for the recordings to be available for purchase from iTunes in the future. (via Pitchfork)

To fill out the rest of this post, I thought I'd link to some choice musical YouTube finds as of late:

Basia Bulat performs a live cover of Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You In The End" in Chicago at Schubas on February 7, 2008. You can watch the video below. Just a reminder that she returns for a local show at Lee's Palace, along with Amos The Transparent, and Katie Stelmanis on March 29:

Video: Basia Bulat - "True Love Will Find You In The End" (live Daniel Johston cover at Schubas in Chicago - Feb 7, 2008)

Goldfrapp performs "A&E" live on UK television on Feb 16, 2008. Watch the video below:

Video: Goldfrapp - "A&E" (live on UK TV - Feb 16, 2008)

I was watching The Hour this evening. Host George Stromboloupolous is hosting The Hour from London, England all this week and reminded viewers that the Brit Awards will be broadcast on CBC television in Canada this Thursday and he offers his personal choice for British Single of the year which British residents can vote for. Strombo's pick for British single of the year(of the top five listed) is Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse and their cover of The Zutons' "Valerie". Sure, it's the only single of the five listed I'm actually familiar with(although I'm pretty sure I've heard that Mika song) but it's a damn fine choice nonetheless and it was one of my favourite songs of 2007. Gives me an excuse to link to the music video below which I hadn't seen until today:

Video: Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse - "Valerie"(Zutons cover - music video)

ps. Seriously, I'm becoming addicted to The Hour. Arguably the best thing on Canadian television at the moment.

La Da Da

concert review: Basia Bulat @ Yonge Dundas Square (Toronto, Ontario), September 12, 2007



Currently promoting her debut album "Oh, My Darling"(released earlier this year in the UK through Rough Trade Records, and recently released domestically on Hardwood Records), Basia Bulat and her band have been touring non-stop. Last week she made a surprise appearance with one of her band members singing back up for Rough Trade Records roster-matesThe Veils during their encore at the El Mocambo last week. She'll be playing an instore at Soundscapes at 6 pm on September 19[via Chromewaves]. Her Toronto CD release shows will be on September 22 at The Music Gallery with an early show at 6 pm and and late show at 9 pm, so there's no excuse for not catching at least one of them. This past Wednesday she closed out the Summer Serenade series down at Yonge Dundas Square. Her band compliment was about the same(drums, keyboard, back-up vox, violin) with the only thing missing being a cellist that I've seen as part of her band before. The open concrete environment of Yonge Dundas Square was hardly conducive to the intimacy of her mostly chamber-folk-pop set, but that said I also wish Basia performed a few more foot-stompers to get the crowd into it. For most of the set I was eating lunch and conversing with a co-worker near the back, only to approach closer to the stage towards the end of the set. Up close I only realize that it'd have been a perfect opportunity to put those Jumbotrons to good use - Basia's smile would brighten anyone's day.

More of my photos from the show here.

MySpace: Basia Bulat
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In other news:

Band of Horses have announced some Fall dates which include show at the Phoenix in Toronto on November 9. Maybe I'll finally get to see them live, after missing their last few swings through town. The band's new disc "Cease To Begin" is out through Sub Pop on October 9 - you can preorder it here[via Pitchfork]

Also via Pitchfork, The Walkmen come back to Toronto for a show at Lee's Palace on October 10.

Following in the footsteps of The Rheostatics, Joel Plaskett Emergency take up residency at the Horseshoe Tavern from December 10 through to the 15th[via Pollstar]

The Cure have rescheduled their Toronto dates for May 15 at Air Canada Centre.

You probably already know about this, but you can download a free live Great Lake Swimmers' set here. It's five live tracks from the Church of the Redeemer show in Toronto on April 14/07. The band returns to town for a show at the Phoenix on September 29 with opener Chad VanGaalen. It's an early show, FYI, and Chad performs later that night(Sept 29) at The Drake as part of the Nuit Blanche festivities(speaking of which I hope to check out this year!).