November was an usually good month for concerts in Ottawa. I went to three, but could have happily gone to several more.
Concert #1: Kid's Show
The first concert we saw was definitely the most fun. It was our 19 month old's first concert and lucky for her, it was given by her favourite kid's singer: Connie Kaldor. If you have kids and they like music, I strongly recommend her CDs. The lyrics are great and the music is catchy - it's definitely a cut above most kid's music. Zoe has both "A Duck in New York City" and "A Poodle in Paris".
The best part of the show was watching Zoe's reaction to it. She went absolutely bananas dancing. At first it looked like she couldn't believe that the music she knows and loves was coming from a person on a stage instead of a stereo system, but once she got over that she really let loose. She didn't stop dancing for over 45 minutes. It was exhausting (but hilarious) just watching her. After her favourite song ended, and the applause stopped, she yelled out "Again! Again! Again!" at the top of her lungs so that all the audience could here her. The crowd loved that. There is no-one as uninhibited or joyful as a child. It's sad that we lose that lack of self-consciousness so soon in life: the 7 year-olds in the row in front of us were embarrassed by Zoe's zeal. Sad.
Concert #2: Sarah Slean
Sarah Slean is a great Canadian singer/songwriter/musician. Like most female Canadian singers, her name is Sarah (think Sarah Maclachlan, Sarah Harmer, etc.)...
...After more than two weeks, I will try to finish this post (for the third time!). Things have been very busy lately...
...Anyhow, Sarah Slean was fantastic. I try to avoid strong words like "fantastic" since they are usually gross exaggerations. This time however, the moniker is appropriate. Ms. Slean was is sparkling form. Her voice was near perfect and her piano playing was even better than her voice. She played in a nice old church in downtown Ottawa for about 300 blessed souls. Her lyrics are far from virtuous so she made many jokes about being struck down by lightning while playing in such a venue. To make a long story short: if she comes to your town, go see her!
Concert #3: U2 and Arcade Fire
This concert was the icing on the cake - a perfect way to end a super month of music. I have been a fan of U2 for over 20 years now. That's a long time. I had never seen them before so I figure I was due.
I was actually even more excited to see the opening act: Arcade Fire. They are from Montreal and they are great. Maybe they will be the next U2... Last year, my Montreal-based-budding-rock-musician cousin gave me their first and only CD for Christmas. I hadn't heard of them at the time but she told me they would be famous. They are now! I love their CD so I was over the moon when I heard they would be opening for U2. I had had the U2 tickets for almost six months before I found out Arcade Fire were the opening act.
Sadly, my dream concert became a nightmare thanks to a travel delay and the most disastrous parking lot known to humanity: the Corel Centre parking lot. Our departure to the concert was delayed by 1/2 hour thanks to our daughter, Zoe, sustaining a split lip right before we were about to leave her at my mother's house. Rowdy Raffi music, bouncy couches, sharp speaker corners and 19 month-olds are a volatile mixture.
Despite heavy traffic, we managed to get to the Corel Centre at 7:30 when the concert was supposed to start. However, we had not counted on it taking over one hour to park our car. That's right, from the time we were 20 metres from the first lot to the time we parked was over 60 minutes. Whoever designed the parking lot and roads there should be shot.
As a result, I saw a grand total of 30 seconds of the Arcade Fire before they left the stage. Perhaps the most annoying part was that over half the seats were empty during their performance. All the #$#^&%#& people who were in front of me for parking went straight to the hotdog and beer stands and didn't even bother watching the opening act. I was very, very sad. Not a good start to an extremely overpriced evening of entertainment.
Thankfully, U2 surpassed my expectations with their performance. They were truly memorable. I worried they might seem tired and old. Instead they were fresh and captivating. Their old songs and their new songs all sounded good.
All in all it was still an enjoyable evening. Had I seen the Arcade Fire, it would have been a super evening. [sigh] Maybe next time they come to Ottawa I'll get to see them. As long it is not at the Corel Centre...
I like your taste :)
I was able to catch the Arcade Fire play earlier this year with Sarah Slean openning :) (Hillside Festival). They do have an EP that was released before Funeral but I haven't picked it up yet. A video recording of them playing with U2 at the Montreal or Ottawa show was posted on the arcarefire.net forum.
Back to Sarah, great advice. She really is fantastic. I post news on her @ http://littleslean.com
It will probally be sometime until she has another Canadian date outside of Toronto.
Lastly, U2. I saw them play at the ACC as it seemed like one of things you just had to do. During the openning act (Dashboard Confessionals) I would say the venue was less then 20% full. I don't really blame them for this show but had it been the AF, shame. I found that the U2 had some good moments on stage but fell short of amazing. Some of their DVDs/tv spots seemed to have displayed more emotion.
Sorry for the long comment, you had me thinking about some great music over the last year.
Posted by: Cameron | December 21, 2005 at 09:55 PM
"And the ruddy geese, and the gallinules and the ducks and the karandavas and the plavas and the parrots and the male kokilas and the herons in confusion flew in all directions, while some proud elephants urged by their mates, as also some lions and elephants in rage, flew..." -THE MAHABHARATA
VANA PARVA, SECTION CXLV
send my regards to shirley, mary, bob and john. (RLR-733)
Posted by: m.visaya | December 30, 2005 at 07:52 AM