Kathleen Edwards @ Memorial Park

August 14, 2020April 22, 2021 by haterhigh

. : : August 12, 2017 : : .

Long time visitors of the site probably remember that I’m a big fan of Kathleen Edwards. If you’re one of those long time visitors of this site, the odds are better than good that you’re also a Kathleen Edwards fan. This blog built it’s reputation upon my recordings of Kathleen’s Drake Underground residency and Dakota Tavern shows.

So it would be redundant to tell you that, following the touring cycle of her 2012 album, Voyageur, Kathleen effectively retired from music, opened up a coffee shop in her hometown of Stittsville, Ontario called Quitters, and otherwise dropped off the proverbial map of Canadian musicians.

I, of course, was profoundly sad, but the last time I saw her at the Oakville Waterfront Festival, she played my request of Away as the last song of the night. I didn’t know it then, but the request was prophetic.

Whitehorse @ Memorial Park

July 19, 2020April 8, 2021 by haterhigh

. : : August 12th, 2017 : : .

Having seen Whitehorse about half a dozen times before, you’d think they wouldn’t be able to surprise me. Especially for a free outdoor show in Port Hope, a quaint town about an hour and a quarter east of Toronto with a population of ~16,700, put on to celebrate Ontario’s 150th birthday.

I’d seen the band perform as a duo using looping pedals to build their songs up from the ground. More recently, I’d seen the band performing as a traditional four-piece, a configuration that seemed to be the new standard.

It was that iteration of the band I was expecting on that summery August evening, but the band pulled out a card that completely caught me off guard in the best way possible.