Entries Tagged 'Music' ↓

I was driving back up to work after doing a little pair programming at Tim’s place. I was just driving out of the parking lot when Telstar started playing.

Man, I love this song. Every day should start with Telstar – all things just seem easier with this playing.

DanO and I took off straight from work on Friday evening, and took off east towards Oshawa. Every time I go back, I’m amazed at how little it’s changed. None of the places I used to hang out in (except the Armoury) are there anymore, but they’ve been replaced by exactly the same kinds of things. And they all look like they’ve been there since the 60s.

After we got set up, my brother showed up with my sister-in-law and a couple of their friends. I hadn’t seen them since the summer, It was his first time seeing us do a full show including vocals. We sat around and chatted while I set up and during the sets of the first two bands.

It was an insane set, right from the beginning. Everything was gelling again. It sometimes takes a bit after a break.

The crowd was really digging in. It was a mixture of metal heads and gutter punks moshing around in various states of inebriation. It was probably skewed towards the “rat-arsed” end of the scale, now that I think of it. Hell, they were even going nuts to Wild Weekend and Red River Rock. It wasn’t a huge audience, but it was definately effective.

Early into the set, Steve’s amp gave out and we started playing the Fly (great broken string song) while he checked it out. Unfortunately, he’d blown something a little more substantial than a fuse, and had to play through a bass rig for the rest of the night. It sounded weird, but it worked and it was better solution than him getting charred into briquets on his ungrounded amp.

Good times.

There’s something in the water out there. I’m pretty sure that it’s in the air too.

We got called back onto the stage for an encore. We’d just launched into La Caza when I got bumped by Holly. I looked up and found that what I had thought was just an energetic mosh was actually a fight boiling over. People were being shoved into the monitors. People were falling over the stage. And here we were in a bar without chicken wire.

It looked like Holly was pushing the mass back. Two groups of women were going at it. I think someones hair extensions got yanked out. They don’t look as nice when they’re lying on the floor.

In all honesty, it was pretty small as far as bar brawls go. Really small, even.It might have actually only been two women, but with everyone trying to pull everyone off one another the place was boiling, and I couldn’t really see all that well. But I’ll never be able to the bridge to La Caza anymore without thinking about it. Surreal.

Sometimes you realise that there’s just no way in hell you’re going to top something. The set is at its peak, and the anything else you could possibly do would be anticlimactic. This was one of those times.

Exit stage left, and back to our beers and smokes.

Things calmed down a bit after that. If anyone was still fighting, they had taken it outside. I got to sit around again with my brother for a while before the bar closed. Everything was much more relaxed after that.

You know, there’s part of this town I really miss sometimes. The sketchy corners and the dirt. Deals going down in the shadows and folks pissing into the drains at the side of the street. Everyone partying like it’s the most damn important thing in the entire world. Sometimes it is.

It’s been a long winter, and we’re all itching to get back on the stage. Well, actually it’s been a really *short* winter with very little actual winter involved, but we’re still itching to get back up there.

We’ve got three new shows lined up for you at the end of this month and an all-out-no-holds-barred surf battle at the beginning of June.

As always, more information at http://www.myspace.com/vondrats

24 March 2007
John & Jenny’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Party with
The Brains
The Fallout
and
The von Drats

Cadillac Lounge, $8

25th March 2007
Bay Street Bruisers Roller Derby Fundraiser with
The von Drats
cougar party
Flying Eyes

$10 at the Steamwhistle Brewing Co. (7PM)

31 March 2007
April Fools Garage Weekender
The von Drats
The Solid Senders
The Machines
Velvet Claws

Smiling Buddha, I’ve got no earthly idea what the cover is – probably under $10

The sleep I’ve had over the last few nights is paying off in spades. Work has been going exceedingly ewll, and I have the majority of a new feature added. Tomorrow will be spent finishing it up and cleaning it. I’ll follow that by a good long test.

It’s also helped with creativity. I’ve got the skeleton of a song written. I like it a lot, but that might just be because I’m still very close to it. I’ll look into recording it sometime tomorrow and see if I still do. It still needs fleshing out and it still needs a stronger melody, but the rhythm is solid and dark and all the flesshing can be done in rehearsal.

All in all a good day, so now I will sleep.

I don’t normally do quizes or “memes” (The quotes are for you Squid_Pants), but I like this one. So, without further ado, I pick up the gauntlet tossed by Lee Chaos and present you with 6 (or so) Songs that mean something to me.

The Jam – Tales From the Riverbank
This is one from my high school days. I’m not too sure what it is about this song – it could be the brooding minor melody or the wistful lyrics – but this one’s lodged itself quite deeply into my psyche.

Toots and the Maytals – Pressure Drop or Scotty – Draw Your Brakes
I couldn’t choose here, but there’s a reason for that. The harder they come soundtrack is, far and away, the best compilation of songs I have ever heard. In any genre. Ya ain’t lived until you been in a heaving mass of people bellowing “Stop that train!”

The Sonics – Cinderella
Good ol’fashioned rock’n'roll. Taken to a frenzied extreme of course. Extremely simple, solid guitar riffs and solos. Extremely powerful as well. This is one of my all time favourite bands, and it’s songs like this one that make that way.

Booker T. & the MG’s – Green Onions
Not for the obvious reason, although Booker T. certainly knew his way around the Hammond organ. To me, this one is all about Steve Cropper. Just take a listen to that guitar – every note is placed perfectly. Small little perfect fills that never get clinical. It’s exactly that kind of groove and feel that really defines the Stax sound.

Animals – The Girl Can’t Help It
This is the song, above all others, that I’ve always aspired to. Eric Burdon’s voice is that persuasive. It’s pretty typical of 60’s era British blues revival, but it has an energy and life to it that shouldn’t be underestimated. Burdon and the boys had a knack for making covers their own.

Eddie & The Showmen – Squad Car or Fender IV – Mar Gaya
Once again, I couldn’t decide. This one has to be surf, but I’ve got no idea which one. I’ve been listening to surf almosty exclusively for the last few years. Surf with occasional forrays into garage. Sometimes (like today) I’ll blow the dust of the old favourites, but surf is where it’s at for me right now. It does mean that I have problems picking a favourite though.

So. No favourites. Just good songs that exemplify what I like.

Eddie Bertrand’s guitar work in Squad Car is superb and the song moves along at a great pace. It really shows off some of the things you can do with a reverb tank and some thick strings. The Fender IV only released 4 songs, each one of them strong and quirky. Mar Gaya is a drop-D tremolo pick beast of a song that really gets the feel of watching the surf roll in. Hell, in a couple places you can actually feel the bottom of the wave dropping away from you.

Honourable Mention
Outkast – Hey Ya
Every once in a while, a song comes along that breaks me out of my “Good music and New music are mutually excelusive” mindset. Not that often, but those moments do exist. This song really shone out.