Ottawa was
noisy this weekend! I'm sure--like me--most people had
cabin fever post-deepfreeze and were excited to be let out of doors. I'll chalk up the incessant chatter that prevailed through both nights of live music to that and move on.
Two Last Night's Gigs for the price of one on this Recession Monday!
First up: The legendary
Snailhouse with
Olympic Symphonium at the
Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield. The normally cozy Inn was not immune to Lady Winter. Man, she decided to
tickle this music-lover's toes and run her
icy fingers down my spine through both bands' sets. No matter, Fredericton's champions of dream-popscapes
Olympic Symphonium warmed the room with their graceful game of musical-chairs.
Kyle,
Nick, and
Graeme deftly switched instruments like triathletes jumping from event to event.
The jump continued into the headliner's set as
Kyle and Nick (pictured above) then joined
Mike Feuerstack as part of that night's incarnation of
Snailhouse. As if the
wickedly clever lyrics and
unexpected chord progressions weren't reason enough to love Snailhouse the
revolving Housemates means Snail lovers never see the same show twice. The Snailhouse I saw in
Dawson City this summer was completely different than the one I saw at a house-concert last winter. Neither resembled the
equally incredible contingent that took the stage at the Black Sheep Friday night.
Then along came Saturday night at Irene's Pub with
The Soiree,
Winchester Warm, and
use every part of the deer!
It was my first time seeing all three bands and as a
so-called Ottawa music maven I felt it my duty to get the hecks out and see if they were as great as they are on record!
Use every part of the deer were the first band up and probably the one of the three
I was most looking forward to seeing. As a country-music lover and fellow prairie compatriot I'm always keen to note who's coming out of the folds there.
Matt and
Susanna are both
Peggers doing PhDs in Ottawa. His
quirky voice was complemented at times by Susanna's
violin virtuosity and at other times by her
lovely vocal additions. (And always by her winning smile.)
The surprise of the night was dynamic duo
Winchester Warm. (I've messaged them to get on cbcradio3.com!)
Jon Pearce (
Poorfolk/
Soiree) on acoustic guitar/vocals and
Matt Godin on drums/vocals was all this band needed to produce a tight, full-band sound. Having only heard a couple songs online within minutes
I was smitten by their tandem vocals and emotive (but not mushy)
lyrical sensibilities.
Last up was Ottawa's heroes of
perfectly smart party-pop:
The Soiree. They had eluded my concert-going ways up 'til Saturday night. When they kicked off their set with the R3 hit "
Coast to Coast" I knew it was worth the wait. They were
punchy without being loud and
dynamic without being kitschy or tricky. If you want some solid pop-rock delivered, dial 1-800-The Soiree. My friend leaned over the table and said, "I wish these guys would've been first,
I would have been hooked from the beginning." She hadn't heard of any of the bands and of course it's all a matter of taste but The Soiree were evidentally to everyone's. Irene's
sold-out Saturday night was testament to that!
The photo of half an Olympic Symphonium was snapped by Meredith Luce. For more pictures check out our
Last Night's Gig flickr page.
