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Posts Tagged ‘live music’
Save animals – get this Calendar!!
Ottawa photographer Sean Sisk has worked for months to put together a gorgeous 18-month calendar called ‘Pets with Personalities’! For just $25.00, this calendar will make a great Christmas gift- and it will benefit the lost and abandoned animals in our community!
Here in Ottawa, we love our pets! And the ‘Pets with Personalities’ calendar highlights pet-lovin’ personalities and their best four legged friends. And there’s no better way to kick off a brand new calendar – than with a big bash! Join us next Sunday at D’Arcy McGee’s on Sparks Street, from 1 to 5!
There will be music, prizes, lots of laughs and of course the ‘Pets with Personalities’ calendar will be available for sale. I am thrilled to be the emcee for the afternoon, and I hope to see you!
Details here on the PWP Facebook page.
“Oh Jesus” Arrives in French Canada!
Skip to the end if you want the facts Or keep reading if you’re feeling readfull…
(to be read in anglicized “French Voice-Speak” a la mayor of wherever those last olympics were held)
”BOn Jour Tus Le Mond
Tu is Invit-eh ass le Spectacle de le “OH Jesus” (insert sound of totally fake interest)
Je Espair Q Too vas arriver Aaa Lee Spectacle sure le cette Vendredi, Martz le CINQ, a le KAFFE1870.
Les jeune de le mond tee reGArd MaintenAnt et le Canada Nes Pas come il eSt en Passer”
(to be read in the same crap-skill-level of the opposite language than that from above, in a more Celine accent)
“Allo Eve Rebody
You’s is all’s invites to de sho of dee “OH Jesus” (insert l’audio de l’interrest “fake”)
I Ope Dat Yous Will coming to the Sho, on da FriDAY, March Dee Five, At Dee KAFFE1870.
Dee Yut OF the Worl Watch Yous Now, AN Dee Canada be not the same as is it back then”
(to be read as a pair of commentators – reviewing the upcoming friday performance by Matt Ouimet)
-”Well it seems Ouimet has decided to try his luck with the long 45 minute program tonight “
-Yes Todd, It’s just MAgical isn’t it? one man… One Dream… One Hope….To Unite both Halves of his lineage…
-”you sure have a way with words don’t you Colleen? Here’s Ouimet Making a Move to the Mic”
-Ohh very disappointing start from his intricate starting position at the bar, a technically flaccid dismount from what should have been a shoe-in performance from Ouimet
-”well He’s only just begun and he has plenty of time to….. Oh No!!!!!! He fell doing a basic Cross-Over to the Guitar amp to turn it on… that is an automatic 3 poin/”
-T” Deduction from his Score.
-”don’t do that”
-what?
-”cut me off.”
-what do you mean?
-”don’t be coy asshat, You just Cut me off!”
-No I didn’t
-”yes you did”
-No I didn’t
-”yes you did”
-No I didn’t
-”Yes you did!”
-No I didn’t
-”Yes You Did!”
-screw you baldy, I’m outta here!
(insert sound of expensive camera being knocked to the ground by lady commentator)
please come to the Matt Ouimet Show This Friday night At Kaffe 1870 in Wakefield
sincerely, your hero,
Sidney Crosby
p.s. there isn’t an opener yet, ’cause i forgot to get one, but there will be, i swear….
The Magic of the House Concert
People shuffle to fold out chairs. A lone guitar sits in the corner of the room, lit dimly by a small orange lamp. Candlelight makes up the rest. The crowd goes quiet as the singer approaches the stage, wraps himself in the guitar and begins. Music fills this humble abode, echoing through small hallways, reverberating off the windows. There’s an unbreakable connection between the melody and the movement of the crowd, a bond experienced only by the songwriter and the people in front of him in that intimate moment.
This, is the magic of a house concert.
There are no waitresses spilling stale beer on you. No loud talkers at the next table. A small house cat sometimes weaves under your legs. We have all come here, performers and audience, for one thing – the music.
One of the most popular house concert series in Ottawa is Bobcat House Concerts, a monthly musical offering put together by Bob LeDrew and his partner Cathy in their home in the West end of the city. Each month, music lovers are invited to share in some food and drink, and hear music by some of the top folk/roots and blues musicians in the world. Past guests have included the likes of Penny Lang, David Gogo, Tony D, Suzie Vinnick, and David Ross Macdonald.
Toronto’s Corin Raymond and Jonathan Byrd, who hails from North Carolina, are no strangers to the house concert circuit, and their fondness of this type of intimate setting is not lost on anyone. The two have traveled far and wide, both together and with other musicians playing sold out shows in living rooms across Canada, the U.S. and Australia. The pair were the most recent invited guests at the Bobcat show. How lucky we all were to be sitting in front of them for a couple of hours the other night.
Corin started off the night with a set of music that can only be described as a journey of joy, sadness and nostalgia. Raymond is easily one of the most expressive performers and storytellers I’ve ever seen. He doesn’t just sing a song, he lives and breathes it through every cell in his body. The energy that radiates from this man is almost overwhelming – captivate doesn’t even begin to describe what he does to an audience. He draws you in with lyrics that rival Cohen, and melodies that echo of years past, love lost, and life lived. I was a fan from the first note of his performance at Bobcat last month with The Undesirables – I’ve since had their CD on repeat in my car for weeks. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a musician with so much passion, so much raw talent. I will not be at all surprised if, within a very short matter of time, I’m saying “I knew him when”.
I’d not heard Jonathan Byrd prior to this show, but I’d certainly heard of him – Bob LeDrew has been raving about him for months. Jonathan took the stage after Corin finished mesmerizing us, and continued the trend. Donning the coolest straw hat I’d ever seen, Byrd moseyed up to the front of the room and proceeded to spend the next hour or so weaving stories and song and masterful guitar playing into nothing short of an enlightening experience. He had the audience singing along, tapping, clapping and cheering within a matter of minutes. His music is reflective of his roots, growing up in North Carolina. He blends old time country with rootsy folk and blues and caps it with exceptional musicianship. His songs are sometimes funny, always touching and have a stickiness about them – two hours after the show I was still tapping my feet.
House concerts are the very definition of community. What people like Bob and Cathy do, by opening their homes to virtual strangers each month, is create not only a viable performance space for artists (at house concerts, the artists get ALL the money that’s collected at the door), but a space where people can come together and connect through a mutual love of music.
So, see you next show?
