The Waterboys have been added to this year’s Bluesfest lineup. And while these days The Waterboys also answer to the name Mike, it’s still an interesting addition to the schedule. Also interesting was a preview in Saturday’s newspaper that trumpeted how The Waterboys “have influenced bands such as Simple Minds, Big Country and The Hothouse Flowers.” Sadly, limited space in the arts section meant the accompanying sidebar that explained to readers under 40 who Simple Minds, Big Country and The Hothouse Flowers were, had to be shelved. Continue reading
Category Archives: Ottawa
the Murdoch mastery
You never forget your first Billy Bragg concert. Especially if it was at Porter Hall.
This impressionable student was already a convert to the politically-savvy folk singer. And on that night, everything he sang seemed to ring true. Moreover, everything he said — whether mocking Joe Strummer’s sincerity, calling out international injustice or joking that The Smiths were targeting the pro-life market in the U.S. by renaming one of their albums Masturbation is Murder — rang true. Even the bit I didn’t fully understand at the time: something about an evil man seeking to control minds in Europe and on the verge of doing the same in America. The push for total control by this mysterious Rupert Murdoch character, our prophet in blue jeans explained, was at present being thwarted Stateside due to strict laws that prevented newspapers, radio stations and television stations in a given market from being in the hands of a lone owner. “Just wait,” Billy insisted. “He’ll get those laws changed.” Continue reading
one more cup of hot brown drink
Tomorrow evening, I plan to be at the NAC’s Fourth Stage for a musical tribute to my late friend Jacques Emond, to whom I paid tribute on this blog in the days following his passing, barely two months ago. Jacques’ death was a blow to those in search of — in need of — a little jazz in their lives. Few in this city knew jazz like Jacques. Those present tomorrow evening will attest to that — to his passion for the music and to his support of musicians local, national and international. Continue reading
the negotiator
Its impact is immediate. A jarring confrontation of the industrial age and the modern aesthetic, the sensory experience is disorienting and somewhat perplexing.
The Bridgehead location at the intersection of Preston and Anderson is a curious place. The interior is all modern sensibilities and open space, inviting the passerby to step inside and relax with a beverage and a ginger cookie. Once settled, however, the patron is frequently confronted by the unsettling, unrelenting intrusion of beans being ground. Polite conversation can be a challenge. Relaxation, more so.
Welcome to the factory floor. Continue reading
Filed under Ottawa, Visual Art
on the bus
Transcribed from thoughts scribbled in a notepad this morning during a bus trip from Bank and Sparks to Preston and Somerset…
Fun facts about popular music:
1. Heavy metal is the only musical genre that requires bandnames to be printed in a specific font.
2. If you play an antiquated instrument and encourage the audience to sing along, you might be a folk singer.
3. Hiphop has been dismissed as radical, inaccessible and “not music” by citizens over the age of 18… for 34 years.
4. It is nearly impossible to pick out the weak link in a free-jazz combo.
5. Classical music is the true alternative music. Certainly, no genre has spent more time outside the mainstream.
That is all for now. It was a relatively short bus trip, after all.
Filed under On the bus, Ottawa
Wig Bubbles 