Posted inLive Recordings

Gregory Alan Isakov @ Lee’s Palace

Gregory Alan Isakov

. : : November 10th, 2011 : : .

It seems about ten years ago is when I started to get overwhelmed with sorting, editing, and posting live concert recordings, and a lot of them didn't make it online to the blog.

You may have noticed that I'm been picking away at the backlog with weekly updates for about 7-consecutive months now(!!), and luckily we're past the point of scratching the surface (but still plenty to go!).

This particular recording slipped away from me after being taped ten years ago this week. I was recently reminded of it when I was discussing music with a client at work. I asked who his current favourite artist is, and he replied, "Oh, you've definitely never heard of him."

"Try me," I challenged.

"No one around here knows who he is: Gregory Alan Isakov," He said with resignation at my presumed befuddlement.

"Oh, yeah! I saw Gregory perform like, ten years or so ago!"

I couldn't remember exactly who I saw him open for or where the venue was, but how do you forget a name like that?

Posted inLive Recordings

Dave Hause @ Lee’s Palace

[caption id="attachment_1592" align="aligncenter" width="500"]Dave Hause Dave Hause @ Lee's Palace[/caption]

. : : July 17th, 2015 : : .

 

Sometimes I don't know what I was thinking.

 

This Dave Hause recording has been sitting on my hard drive(s) for over five years, and even though the performers on either side of the night's line up -- Chris Farren and Rocky Votolato respectively -- have been posted to the blog, this one has been sitting quietly, unshared.

 

It was already transferred, EQ'd, track-split, and (like the Paula Perri tapeI posted previously) abandoned at the point requiring a bit of time and research: figuring out the set list and putting together the info.txt file.

 

It's criminal that so low a hurdle needed to be crossed for this recording to see the light of day. The quality of the tape is fantastic. The performance is great. I'd even posted an earlier set of his, so it's not like he was a complete unknown around these parts!

Posted inLive Recordings

Nicole Atkins @ Lee’s Palace

[caption id="attachment_1504" align="aligncenter" width="500"]Nicole Atkins @ Lee's Palace Nicole Atkins @ Lee's Palace[/caption] . : : February 17th, 2008 : : .  
There was something I loved about British girl-group, the Pipettes, that defied all logic.  
I mean, they were the product of everything I hated about those late 90-s girl-groups (and boy-bands); contrived, manufactured, and reliant on that grrl-powered gimmick that the Spice Girls perfected a decade earlier.  
Maybe it was the nostalgic 60s sound and matching costumes, or the infectiously cotton-candy sweet songs, but I just couldn't get enough of them, and was thrilled to catch them performing at Lee's Palace.  
I knew nothing of opening band Nicole Atkins and the Sea, and it was a clever (but risk-taking) promoter who teamed her up with the Pipettes. While the Pipettes were sugar-coated, 60's pop throwback with two-and-a-half minute, hook-filled pop songs, Nicole Atkins was orchestral-infused rock-teetering-on-punk with a voice so powerful it barely needed a microphone to be heard at the back of the venue.
Posted inLive Recordings

Chris Farren @ Lee’s Palace

[caption id="attachment_538" align="aligncenter" width="500"]Chris Farren Chris Farren @ Lee's Palace[/caption]

. : : July 15th, 2015 : : .

I remember I wasn't planning to tape Chris Farren's opening set that summer day in July of 2015 at Lee's Palace.

Although I understand now that they were quite successful, I hadn't heard of his earlier punk band, Fake Problems. I've never considered myself a great fan of punk music, and I definitely didn't do much in the way of seeking it out.

Without a pair of extra batteries and always nervous about depleting them, I figured: I can skip this one, right? ... wrong.

Posted inLive Recordings

Revival Tour @ Lee’s Palace

. : : April 1st, 2013 : : .

Upon disbanding his band, Hot Water Music, Chuck Ragan decided to pursue a very different sort of solo career. Casting off the punk rock genre that had defined much of the previous thirteen years of music, he focused on dabbling in acoustic / folk music.

OK, maybe dabble isn’t the right word? What would you call it when someone creates a large travelling show of punk rock singers sharing the stage as they perform exclusively on acoustic instruments? As per Wikipedia, Ragan “conceptualized the idea of The Revival Tour, a collaborative acoustic event featuring several punk rock, bluegrass, and alt-country performers [to bring music] to people in an extremely honest and grassroots fashion.”

Knowing little about Ragan or the vast majority of his guests on the 2013 North America rendition of the tour, this is the kind of event that would normally fly by unseen on my radar. That is, except Ragan brought out a little old singer/songwriter by the name of Rocky Votolato on these dates.

Posted inLive Recordings

Limblifter @ Lee’s Palace

. : : November 30th, 2012 : : . Limblifter reunited for a special performance at North By North-East in Toronto supporting of their self-titled debut being reissued on vinyl in June of…
Posted inLive Recordings

Blind Pilot @ Lee’s Palace

. : : November 10th, 2011 : : . I bought my Blind Pilot ticket to Lee’s Palace a couple of months in advance — a rarity for me, as I think I’ve mentioned before. But…
Posted inLive Recordings

Paper Lions @ Lee’s Palace

. : : July 20th, 2011 : : . Paper Lions‘ Trophies EP has been on frequent rotation since I saw them open for Dark Mean last month. Their brand of power pop fits firmly up…