marching through the snow

Last Thursday, when winter was doing its best to hold off spring in Edmonton, Bohemia was holding a cozy local show. The Choir and Marching Band and 77 Superstars warmed things up for all the folks who braved the weather, and made it well worth the trudge through the snow.

The 77 Superstars started the show and immediately brought the audience back to the mid-70s in New York City. Fronted by Aaron Vincent, the sound, style, and attitude of the three piece harked back to the heyday of glam rock and early punk. Very importantly, the guitar solos were killer too.

Just in case that wasn’t enough, they even played the, uh, classic heroin addiction song first performed by the Heartbreakers, “Chinese Rocks.” I kept expecting Dee Dee Ramone to walk through the door. Or at least Richard Hell.

Another highlight of the show was when Vincent invited the audience to get closer to the stage, and even before he finished his request, Grant Stovel, the drummer for Choir and Marching Band, zoomed right up front.

Stovel was at the back of the stage once Choir and Marching Band were on it, helping launch into an ethereal set led by Trevor Rockwell.

The band’s newest release Superhot Body Only One Light Year Away debuted #2 on the CJSR charts a few weeks ago. Taking 5 years to make (which might have had something to do with Rockwell completing his PhD in Soviet History), it’s exciting his music has finally taken off like Sputnik.

Melodic and spacey, Rockwell weaved the audience through songs both new and old, and across genres. Funny enough, this distance was reflected in the movies screening on the Bohemia television during the gig- first it was Serenity, and then the Norwegian film Dead Snow. 

If you didn’t make it to the show last Thursday, Choir and Marching Band have a couple upcoming shows with great line-ups in May:

Saturday May 3rd – Filthy McNasty’s with Braden Gates.

Saturday May 10th – Starlite Room with Spoons, D. Trevlon Band, and Cygnets

And stay tuned for the official album release in the early summer!

In Defense of Nickelback or: How I learned to stop worrying about having credibility

When I started this blog, if someone had asked me what the last thing I’d ever write on here would be, I’d have quickly answered: “a post defending Nickelback.” Then the question-asker and I would have had a good laugh, do an awesome high-five and a jagerbomb, compliment each other on our great new haircuts, and then go back to talking about some obscure indie band that neither of us had actually heard of, but pretended to out of fear of being judged as less than cutting edge by the other.

The other thing I never wanted to do with this blog was write a run-on sentence with too many commas. As you can see, I’ve already done that. Now, here I go with the whole defending Nickelback thing. Of course, I understand if that means you’ll stop reading this post at the end of this sentence…

Short of Able proves that winning takes time

These days, a lot of importance is put on “the instant.” For inst…example, Twitter gives you instant access to Charlie Sheen. Facebook gives you up-to-date status updates from that kid you went to junior high school with…Even though you didn’t really like him and haven’t talked to him in about ten years. And of course, you’ve also got the instant music celebrities – and all that really takes is singing a song about the order the days of the week come in.

It’s getting rather rare to see musicians take their time, but that’s exactly what the gang from Short of Able have done. Their new album, Far Away and Out of Sight, was written and recorded over a ten month period. Coincidentally, it has ten songs. Just by using basic math, it is evident this LP wasn’t done in a hurry; the band was taking their time to do things right, and to learn.

Short of Able