Monday Roundup #175

Concert announcements:

TONE presents (feat. S* Glass / Sailor Beware / Paul Dutton / Fleshtone Aura) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-06-02 (Sunday). $15. [more info]

Track Could Bend #92 (feat. Duo Cichorium [Jasmine Tsui/Louis Pino] / Tom Richards) / Wenona Lodge 2024-06-04 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Helpless Helpless Helpless Game Score Recording (feat. Erin Corbett/Naomi McCarroll-Butler/Marilyn Yogayrajah) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2024-06-06 (Friday). $pwyc

Miserable Weekend (FORMING [debut show]) / Houndstooth 2024-06-06 (Thursday). $free/pwyc. [FB event]

Tania Gill Presents (feat. Lina Allemano Four / Tania Gill Quartet) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-06-07 (Friday – early!) [FB event]

Transmit presents @ Do West Fest (feat. The Crime Family / Sap / Hobby / Julianna Riolino) / The Garrison Stage 2024-06-07 (Friday). $free, outdoors/all-ages/family-friendly. [FB event]

Transmit presents @ Do West Fest (feat. So Tired / Your Grandad / Accelerant / Pleasure Craft / Kali Horse / Silks / Night Lunch / Thermal / Teknicolor Raincoats / Annie-Claude Deschênes / Pixel Grip) / The Garrison Stage 2024-06-08 (Saturday). $free, outdoors/all-ages/family-friendly. [FB event]

Ghostlight Residency: Solstice (feat. Ghostlight) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-06-08 (Saturday – early). $10 suggested. [FB event]

Transmit presents @ Do West Fest (feat. Hieronymous Harry / Catholic Wilt / Rogue Tenant / Falcon Jane / Little Kid / Nora Kelly Band) / The Garrison Stage 2024-06-09 (Sunday). $free, outdoors/all-ages/family-friendly. [FB event]

Audiopollination (Diane Roblin/Jamie Eriksen/Anne Amores / Laura Swankey/Nilan Perera/Tliman Lewis / Patrick O’Reilly/Connor Bennett/Afraaz Adam Mulji/Patrick Booth / Stik Sharpi/Uisill Galar/Bri Clarke) / Array Space 2024-06-14 (Friday). $10 or PWYC (cash or card). [FB event]

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Tyvek / XV) / Monarch Tavern 2024-06-14 (Friday). $21.41, 19+. [more info]

Batuki Music Society presents Alkebulan: A Musical African Tale (feat. Djely Tapa/Seydina Ndiaye/Mambo Chivero/Memory Makuri/Fantahun Shewankochew/Melat Mengesha/Adama Daou/Aboulaye Koné/Salif Lasso/Zal Sissokho) / Theatre Passe Muraille 2024-06-22 (Saturday). $23 advance / $25 door. [FB event]

Brian Ruryk (Super Kill Me Now / Plastic Heart Surgery) / See-Scape 2024-06-25 (Tuesday). $pwyc

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Marker Starling Euroband [Marker Starling/Jay Anderson/Andrew Scott/Dorothea Paas plus special guest Eliza Niemi] / Houndstooth 2024-05-21 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

People Soup, Flavor: Alphabet Soup ["4 sets of poetry simmered amidst improvised music"] (feat. Nevada-Jane Arlow/The Small Poet/Nicci Pryce/Aiden Cotnam / teething / Trevor Flemings / Duo Cichorium) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-05-21 (Tuesday) [more info]

Secret Sign (Science International) / Ted's Collision 2024-05-23 (Thursday). $free/pwyc. [FB event]

Grocer (Heaven for Real / Triples) / Monarch Tavern 2024-05-23 (Thursday). $20, 19+. [FB event]

TONE presents (feat. Brodie West Quintet / Mira Martin-Gray) / Canadian Music Centre 2024-05-24 (Friday). $20, $15 students/arts workers. [more info]

L CON (James Irwin) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-05-24 (Friday) [FB event]

The AMBiENT PiNG presents Drone Day 2024: Afternoon Drones (feat. dreamSTATE / DRONE:KLUB:44 [live community drone session]) / Trinity St-Paul's Centre 2024-05-25 (Saturday – 2:00 p.m.). $free, family-friendly. [FB event]

Batuki Music Society presents (feat. Zale Seck) / Alliance Française Toronto – Spadina Theatre 2024-05-25 (Saturday). $18. [info/tickets]

TONE presents (feat. Brodie West Quintet / Steven Noronha) / Canadian Music Centre 2024-05-25 (Saturday). $20, $15 students/arts workers. [more info]

Sounds of the Shadows ["a narrative force of resistance directed by Aliyah Aziz that takes the form of an audio reactive projected shadow play, accompanied by experimental live looping soundscapes and compiled field recordings. Sets will integrate different compositions from a variety of work, both improvised and incorporating written poetry, as a response to the attempted privatization of Ontario Place"] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-05-25 (Saturday) [more info]

Annual Hirut Residency (feat. Eucalyptus [Aidan McConnell/Aline Homzy/Blake Howard/Brodie West/Evan Cartwright/Kurt Newman/Mike Smith/Nick Fraser/Ryan Driver]) / Hirut Café 2024-05-26 (Sunday). $15, dining available, family-friendly. [more info]

Gabe Girard presents (feat. The Jake Laur Trio [Ezra Schell/Yoshi Wall/Jake Laur] / Nobody Waved Goodbye [Joe Strutt/Mike Lynn/Marilyn Yogarajah/Gabe Girard] / D.B. Buxton with Special Guests) / The Dock Ellis 2024-05-26 (Sunday). $pwyc. [FB event]

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It happened this week...

• ...on May 25, 2017 at Array Space (Premieres VI – Keys Wind and Strings Edition).

Thin Edge New Music Collective - Puddles

• ... on May 26, 2017 at The Horseshoe Tavern (Spring Nationals 2017 – Night 3).

Rheostatics - Saskatchewan

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Rheostatics

Artist: Rheostatics

Songs: Queer + Saskatchewan + Horses

Recorded at The Horseshoe Tavern (Spring Nationals 2017 – Night 3), May 26, 2017.

Rheostatics - Queer

Rheostatics - Saskatchewan

Rheostatics - Horses

Back in Winnipeg, I saw Rheostatics twice in their 90's heyday. Once as part of the second "Another Roadside Attraction" package tour (where I went to catch all the early, cool bands and feel disdainful about the headliners) but more notably before that at the West End Cultural Centre. By now, I don't remember a lot of details about that night (I do remember being floored by their cover of "One More Colour", performed before it emerged on Introducing Happiness, and also encountering The Inbreds for the first time as their openers) but it was one of those shows that everyone who really loves music probably has at some point — a night so jaw-droppingly good that it redfines how transcendant seeing live music could be. A night where you're almost afraid to see a band play live again for fear it won't live up to that moment.

So — this night in 2017 wasn't up at that level, but it was a thoroughly-enjoyable experience. And, more importantly, it wasn't just an exercise in nostalgia. After skipping out on the band's endgame phase and their first "reunion" forays, for whatever reason I felt compelled to drop into this four-night stand at The 'Shoe, and was well-pleased to hear a handful of new tunes being thrown into the mix. (Otherwise, the setlist hewed towards Melville/Whale Music, the band's earlier days that overlapped with drummer Dave Clark's original tenure with the band: "P.I.N." from Night of the Shooting Stars was the outlier here and the night's pick from the deep cut file.)

New recordings were hinted at to go along with those new songs, but for now they were merely celebrating a tasty new archival release that had been added to the richly-stocked merch table. Although my understanding is that the band is to be considered an ongoing affair, live shows are probably going to be special events like this, given what is probably not only a logistical tangle to get all for core members together but also getting touring members Ford Pier (who came out from the West Coast, and opened this night with a solo set) and Hugh Marsh on board.

All that said, what does one get at a Rheostatics show in 2017? A couple hours of barely-contained chaos, with decades of muscle memory struggling against entropy, songs sometimes struggling a bit to attain escape velocity before occasionally soaring with ungainly beauty. There were a couple extended breaks between songs to refocus, giving time for stories, Margaret Atwood jokes, and five-handed amiable bickering. There were erratic, off-script moments, but that's way more preferable than a Slick Reunion Machine — and at their best, they still manage to sail their Big Dominion.

[I had a bunch of technical issues with my gear on this night, so do excuse a few imperfections (especially at the start of "Horses") in these recordings. You can find full videos of Night 1 and Night 2 of the four-night stand over on youtube.]