earbuds & ticket stubs

Wow! What a stunning video for Bruce Peninsula’s “In Your Light,” from their sophomore album Open Flames. Kudos to director and animator Jesse Ewles.

EARBUDS & TICKET STUBS: BEST OF 2011

Part 3 of our year-end retrospective includes our favourite Canadian live shows from 2011. I’ve had the pleasure of catching shows across our fine nation, from coast to coast, this past year. As you know, live performance takes an artist from good to exceptional, and many tangible and intangible factors add to the magical glimmer of shows. Here are the stand-outs, with all available original reviews linked. You can also see the inventory of all the live shows I’ve attended in 2011 here.

Part 3: Top live shows of 2011

#1: Charles Bradley at Sappyfest - July 30, 2011 (original review)

You know, cameras never catch the best moments in life. So the fact that I somehow captured Charles Bradley, the screaming eagle of soul, in a blurry frenzy is more of a triumph than one may think. His soul wrenching, revealing, overfilling show was the highlight of Sappyfest 6, and in fact, tops my list for live shows in 2011. He held my hand and thanked us for being there. Wow. Even looking at that photo takes me back to that magical moment.

You know what, I could easily fill this entire list with Sappyfest performances. Let’s cap it at this. But some other notable performances during the late July/early August festival included Shark Attack (Arcade Fire’s secret headlining set), Daniel Romano, The Weather Station, Jennifer Castle, Apollo Ghosts, Little Scream and more. Take a gander through my original review and make sure you hit up sleepy Sackville once Summer 2012 rolls around.

#2: Born Gold (formerly known as) Gobble Gobble - May 22 and October 17, 2011

I was fortunate enough to catch this electro dance troupe and energetic powerhouse of performance twice in 2011, once at Wyrdfest in Vancouver and again opening for Braids in Fredericton. Cecil Frena wields the keys and commands his tutu-clad minions to dance. Neon lights, stilts, shovels equipped with gizmos, helmet bashing. You feel compelled to shake, to shimmy, to flail without abandon. I would love to see them perform a full set in front of an audience that wasn’t completely flabbergasted and rooted to their feet in 2012.

#3: The Sadies - June 29, 2011

Clad in leisure suits, the Good brothers and their fine compatriots mowed the audience down with killer musicianship and brought us back to life solely by the animating power of their own brand of psychedelic rockabilly country. They don’t talk much, but they sweat bullets of passion and dedication to the craft— and to the aforementioned suits, which no ordinary men would be able to keep on after even 2 minutes of the intensity of a Sadies’ live show.

#4: Danny Michel at Vancouver Folk Music Festival - July 16, 2011 (festival photo set)

Michel’s latest album Sunset Sea is drenched in tropical good times and Caribbean rhythms, inspired by his time on the coastal shores of Belize. Somehow, without the support of horns and percussion players, he managed to evoke that same feeling with his voice, loop pedals and his electric guitar on a completely different coast line. Combine that deftness and versatility with his natural Robert Downey Jr.-esque charm and Cheshire Cat grin, and you’ve got yourself a standout set.

#5: Bruce Peninsula at Pre-Pop Festival - October 21, 2011

This Toronto-based collective evokes powerful natural forces when put in a tiny space like Fredericton’s Capital Bar. Full band, three “choir” members, how did they all fit onto that stage? It’s not only the physical bodies, but rather the colours and textures and personalities, somehow meshing together like houses, fences and trees picked up in the gusts of a tornado— pretty awe-inspiring. Except you definitely want to be right up close to this swirling mass of energy when they roll through your city.

Thanks for your support of earbuds & ticket stubs for 2011! Lots of exciting music and news in store for our next spin around the sun. Stay tuned, and if you would like to partner with E&TS for 2012 and support this ad-free Canadian music scrapbook, please consider donating to help with the operational costs.

I’ve written a glowing review of the new Bruce Peninsula album over at North by East West. Go read it all and enter the awesome contest, courtesy of the band and Freshly Pressed PR, that includes a free album, T-shirt and 2 guest list spots to their upcoming tour.

You can download “In Your Light” (right click, save as), which is also streaming above.

About ten seconds into Open Flames, you’ll note that this won’t be a politely quiet album. Toronto’s Bruce Peninsula has made a name for themselves by being larger than life, both in their live shows as well as their membership. With a formidable choir that has called Taylor Kirk (Timber Timbre), Katie Stelmanis (Austra) and Casey Mecija (Ohbijou) members, Bruce Peninsula is a difficult group to contain and classify. And with Open Flames, the group stomps, claps and hollers with a controlled strength, like waves crashing against a cliff, or a hoard of buffalo, recalling animalistic force and wild beauty. It’s one thing to comment on a singular singer-songwriter’s control and creativity, and a whole other ball game to witness the unique vision that’s united this diverse, oft-morphing collective to stunning effect. … (read the rest here)

Bruce Peninsula have announced Fall tour dates supporting their upcoming album Open Flames, which is due on October 4. See a teaser video for the album above, and tour dates below.

August 11 - Toronto, ON - Lower Ossington Theatre 
September 09 - Sarnia, ON - The Story
September 10 - Hamilton, ON - Christ’s Church Cathedral *
September 15 - Guelph, ON - Ebar * ^
September 17 - London, ON - OH Fest
September 18 - Waterloo, ON - Waterloo Park / Grist Mill *
September 22 - Kingston, ON - Chalmers Church * #
September 29 - St. Catharines, ON - Mansion House
October 01 - Peterborough, ON - The Attic *
October 05 - Montreal, PQ - Casa Del Popolo ^
October 07 - St. John, NB - Pepper’s
October 08 - Sackville, NS - George’s ^
October 09 - Halifax, NS - Khyber
October 12 - Cornerbrook, NL - Backlot ^
October 14 - St. John’s, NL - The Ship
October 15 - St. John’s, NL - The Ship
October 16 - Port Rexton, NL - Two Whales Cafe ^
October 20 - Riverport, NS - Confidence Lodge 100
October 22 - Halifax, NS - Halifax Pop Explosion
October 26 - Sherbrooke, QC - La Petite Boite Noir - 250 ^
October 27 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace 550
* w/ Snowblink
^ w/ The Weather Station
# w/ The Gertrudes
+ w/ Olenka and the Autumn Lovers