Category: Live Recordings

Hannah Georgas @ SiriusXM

Published by haterhigh on January 18, 2021

Hannah Georgas

2020 was … unusual.

Gripped by a worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, relegated to stay-at-home orders and curfews, live concerts stopped being a thing. At least, in the typical sense of the phrase.

Pivoting to engage fanbases, generate income, and continue to spark creative drive, musicians began to take up live-streaming performances en masse. Like many live performances, the quality varied.

Usually, things like the venue, PA system, and sound person on duty were deciding factors on sound and visuals, but now it was the artists’ home studio set-up, internet upload speed, and network congestion. And to say it’s been a learning curve for everyone would be putting it somewhat mildly. However, as the year wore on, the quality by and large improved.

The new challenge arising as 2020 came to a close was not how much will I enjoy this live stream, and turned more toward how many live streams can I enjoy?

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The Autumn Portrait @ Cameron House

Published by haterhigh on November 28, 2020

. : : July 4th, 2012 : : .

Revisiting concerts from the better part of a decade ago has definitely proven to be an exercise in understanding just how poor my memory is.

I can’t say I remember a ton about this particular set from The Autumn Portrait. I do remember the songs being somewhat pretty, the band fighting to be heard over the nosier band performing in the next room, and a radio personality from the local classic rock radio station being in attendance.

Listening back almost eight and a half years later, it’s like I’m experiencing it again for the first time. The feeling is odd: the band is now defunct, but frontman Freddit Mojallal is still going at it, under the moniker Freddie Future.

Of course, with a name like Freddie Future and a former band name like The Autumn Portrait, you can probably get a pretty good idea of stylistic differences you might expect.

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Noel Johnson @ Cameron House

Published by haterhigh on November 2, 2020

. : : July 4th, 2012 : : .

I recorded Noel Johnson‘s mid-lineup set, book-ended by Colleen Brown and the Autumn Portrait, at the Cameron House backroom on a 4th of July evening back in 2012.

My memories of the night have faded with age, but I have lingering impressions of a solid night of music performed to an almost-entirely empty room.

I also remember being impressed with the sound and wondering why I hadn’t been to the well-known Cameron House before. Well, I haven’t been since either, but listening back to the recording while doing this write-up provides a compelling reason why I should (y’know, once going to live concerts is a thing that people can do again)!

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Royal Wood @ CBC Studio 211

Published by haterhigh on October 18, 2020

. : : March 2014 : : .

Royal Wood was one of my early Canadian Music Week discoveries. His powerful piano pop performances of songs Do You Recall and On Top of Your Love immediately made me a fan, and I ended up seeing him live 4-times in about 14-months spanning 2010-2011.

Alas! Other musical acts became a distraction, and he had slipped off my radar a bit when his follow up album, We Were Born To Glory, came out.

I did capture a couple of performances Royal did for CBC’s First Play Live program that aired shortly after the album’s release, but the station’s running interview tracks over top the first verses of the songs annoyed me to no end, and I didn’t give them the attention they deserve.

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Kathleen Edwards @ Massey Hall

Published by haterhigh on September 13, 2020

. : : May 4th, 2018 : : .

Concert-going wise, I have a few regrets.

Many of them either before I was old enough to afford my own tickets or after I started a family of my own, and expendable income became a distant, laughable memory or the past.

From the latter category: Kathleen Edwards, seemingly out of nowhere, was advertised to have an opening slot for Matt Mays at Massey Hall.

Now, I’m not gonna lie: I have no idea who Matt Mays is. I’m an admittedly horrible Canadian. But I do know Massey Hall, and I’ve written here before about how it’s probably my least favourite venue in the city.

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Kathleen Edwards @ City Winery, NY

Published by haterhigh on September 7, 2020

. : : January 31st, 2013 : : .

There’s something to be said about wineries.

Not content to merely be fancified drinking holes, North American wineries have diversified into premiere hot spots of arts and culture.

It is hardly any wonder that musicians, perhaps some of the greatest patrons of potent potables, seem to flock to them like moths to lamplight.

As a sober person, I can see and appreciate the appeal. It extends the relaxation and social aspects of concert-going throughout the afternoon. Or, if you’re there for the booze, you get to top your day off with a musical performance.

Because it’s not their primary purpose, these wineries are often smaller, intimate venues. The wine barrels give them warm, rustic ambiance. All-in-all, pretty great places for artist and fan to see a show.

City Winery is a chain of wineries throughout the US, and although I can’t claim to have visited one, “Keith from NY”‘s recording of Kathleen Edwards performing there in 2013 makes a strong case.

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Kathleen Edwards @ BBC Radio

Published by haterhigh on September 4, 2020

. : : June 7th, 2007 : : .

Bob Harris’ radio show for BBC Radio 2 co-sponsored the NXNE event that first introduced me to Kathleen Edwards. Harris was fond of the roots rock scene in Canada, and was known to promote it on the other side of the pond whenever possible.

It’s hard to say whether or not that concert — you know, the one that introduced me to Kathleen, Jim Bryson, Luke Doucet, Melissa McClelland, Justin Rutledge, Oh Susanna, etc. — would have still happened without his support and the Beeb’s agreement to record it for airing on his program. I like to imagine it wouldn’t have: it was a confluence of random happenstance that brought all these acts together, and me to that room.

I then have to give a lot of credit to Bob and the BBC for their part in my ~~obsession with~~ deep fondness of these performers and their music.

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Kathleen Edwards @ KCRW Studios

Published by haterhigh on September 1, 2020

. : : March 24th, 2005 : : .

How are you all enjoying the all-Kathleen Edwards end of summer special?

Hopefully, you’re finding something new in all the something old. I have a few more up my sleeve, starting with this set Kathleen and band performed for LA radio station KCRW on their famed Morning Becomes Eclectic show back in 2005.

KCRW gave the band space for a generous 7-song set and interview and they took full advantage. The group played about half of Back To Me — an album that was only three weeks old at the time, but recently celebrated its 15th birthday — a note-worthy version of Somewhere Else where Kathleen and original writer Jim Bryson trade off vocals, and Unknown Legend, a great Neil Young cover!

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Kathleen Edwards @ National Public Radio

Published by haterhigh on August 29, 2020

One More Song The Radio Won’t Like?

How about a couple dozen Kathleen Edwards songs that the radio obviously did like?

Here’s a compilation of performances for NPR, presented in chronological order, as captured by Manillo and shared on DimeADozen. As they are all FM-sourced and originally professionally recorded, the sound quality is excellent throughout.

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Kathleen Edwards @ Phoenix Concert Theatre

Published by haterhigh on August 26, 2020

. : : April 23rd, 2008 : : .

Of course, I remember being charmed by Kathleen Edwards‘ set at NXNE for Six Shooter Records Outlaws & Gunslingers showcase in 2007. I was introduced to a lot of great new music that night, so I don’t remember quite what it was that lead me to investigate Kathleen’s recorded music specifically shortly thereafter.

But I do clearly remember queuing up the Asking For Flowers album for the very first time. I remember the intimacy of the sound of the piano bench creaking under the sparse but powerful chords of Buffalo. I remember the drums and guitar kicking in, matching intensity with a literal and metaphorical storm chasing the song’s protagonist across the Canada-US border.

I was instantly and irrevocably smitten.

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