You Me Him and Us

So if it's not already, it should be clear that I'm pretty new to this. New to music/culture blogging that is...I could go on and on about myself and my life for ages, and I have for the past 6 years on my two previous blogs. But this little gem will be my glory (I hope); it's all up to you babydoll. Hopefully you like what you read, and pass it on, until I'm the one with copious amounts of Facebook friend requests.
I think I have one of the best starts to this genre of blogging, an epic weekend of amazing Canadian (8/9) bands!

To start let's bring in The Whitsundays, Christian Hansen & the Autistics and Shout Out Out Out Out to the Starlite Room for Untapped Alberta's grande musical finale. All three bands are home grown Alberta beauties but all with their own unique take on music (I was a die-hard Christian Hansen fan, but hadn't seen them perform ever before, so the two other acts were going to be an extra special treat either way). I had never heard about The Whitsundays before this show, but they completely impressed me. They had a more flowing, melodic rock feel to their sound. Perhaps it was because of the overwhelming feeling of playing to a sold out venue, but their stage presence definitely seemed subdued, like they had so much more to offer the crowd but were holding back some. The vocals and instruments ran like a well oiled-machine; some members even (gracefully) traded instruments during the set (and, at one point, even in the middle of a song!)(Yes, I said gracefully).  No doubt that the highlight of the band's set was when the lead singer started playing the "theremin", an antenna-like instrument that is played without any actual contact from the musician. I'll find a picture of one, but it actually made my jaw drop. It's an eerie kind of sound, that increases/decreases/changes volume depending on where the player's hand is in position to the antenna! I'll admit I had no idea what it was, and just googled it now. As should you. Go on, I'll wait right here. Alright, back already? Life changed? Let's continue. Their set was shorter than the following two, but was to be expected for such a new up-and-coming band.

For anyone that knows of Christian Hansen & the Autistics, you know that even in their recorded vocals you can feel their enthusiasm oozing out of the speakers (their music videos just add to the effect). The show was their CD on overdrive (only in the good way of course). They played hard (no drum set in a band of four people was a surprise though), and they danced harder. Each of the four members of the band just get so into the song and into the lyrics (while singing "Calypso Hippo" Hansen threw coins into the crowd), that it's seemingly impossible not to do the same. Both of the guys and gals knew how to own the stage, albeit such a small one...Actually that made it all the more impressive when they danced without incidents. They were not only in each other faces but in the audiences as well. Christian Hansen played a shorter set just like The Whitsundays but it felt much longer because of it's never ending intensity.

On to the "headliner", or what I would fo sho call a headliner since the set was close to an hour, much longer than the other two....Shout Out Out Out Out. You might be asking your self is that many "outs" really necessary? Yes. Yes they are. Not only for the rhythmic and powerful chanting of "Shout! Out-Out! Out-Out!"  by the pulsing crowd, but because one or two shouts would not do a rock-electronica band like this justice. I suppose this band leads to a ton of questions in general, such as: Rock-Electronica, really?; Two drum sets, REALLY?; and how are they playing the theremin without it even being on stage?! ...REALLY?! But in response, respectively: rock-electronica = filthy,hardcore,awesome; every band should have two; and I *%$#ing wish I knew. Before the curtains were even drawn the band had started their set, it was difficult to tell when one song ended and another began, which was a part of their songs dance-ability, but in a way also shows how each song could sound just like the other...The continuous stream of music was definitely impressive, but also definitely hard to keep up with! I'd say I'm a pretty avid concert goer, but I was beat after just a couple of minutes. The audience was feeling the music, no question, by the way they were dancing...But I have to throw in that by this time a lot of the audience (at least towards the stage) had had quite a few drinks. It was entertaining, but of course distracted from the music. SO4 (My nickname for the band, not to be confused with sulfate of course...) was high energy throughout the entire show, but for the most part didn't interact with the crowd (given, it's pretty hard to do so when your music is a never-ending flow of awesome). When I had heard that the band was electronica I'll admit I wasn't really into it, but willing to take a listen, as usual. But the rock influences completely changed an ordinary genre-categorized band into something that's recognized world-wide (the band recently toured Europe heavily). The band came out to play an encore, and even then they kept the crowd pumped up (while one member, Jason or Jayce, went to use the "facilities"). Click here to take a look at what went on.

The venue, the Starlite Room, is one of my favourites for concerts. It's on the smaller side but that leads to more personable shows. The majority of the time you do get to actually meet the band at the merchandise table, or just walking around "the pit" (as I call it, I'm sure there's some technical name). Membership is required for each and every show played here, but don't panic! Memberships can be (and usually are) bought while in line between two massive buildings (yes, the entrance is in a narrow alleyway, but a nice one!). One membership pass costs only $5 and is good for 1 year, and good for two entries each time. I don't think I need to tell you that I've been a member ever since I first fell in love with the place. There are two "floors": one with all the dranks, the merch and the unconditionally loved and overused ATM. There's also a few tables and booths, along with coat check. Down a few (literally, only about 6) stairs is the "pit", that I mentioned above. It's basically where everyone crowds once a band starts playing; one issue is that the floor is tilted here. If you didn't have rock-hard calves coming in then you for sure will once the instruments stop playing, the lights come on, and the bouncers start giving you funny looks for hanging around.

So, I hope you not only enjoyed my first post for my brand new blog, but that you also print it, frame it, and hang it on your wall like I will. Only kidding, silly! I wouldn't do that! Yet. The posts for the Hollerado and Dan Mangan concerts will be up in no time, I promise. Those you can frame, maybe even include a gold star too?

See, the best is yet to come

You may want to ignore this post, it's just so that I have something...it will magically turn into a wicked awesome review of The Whitsundays, Christian Hansen and the Autistics, Shout out out out out, The Reason, Free Energy, Hollerado, The Crackling, The Burning Hell and Dan Mangan within a few days. Yeah...I totally did see all those bands within 4 days. Be epically (and increasingly) jealous.