So, here's a blow-by-blow account of last night's ECMA gala. I can call it blow-by-blow, 'cause it was a hit!
Trailer Park Boys hosting again = awesome. Who else could call a cat Shitrock on CBC and get away with it?
Joel Plaskett rocks. Great performance of "Nowhere With You", and great awards for such musicianery. That's a new word. Like it?
Rex Goudie, go home. You're no good.
Jill Barber did "Hard Line". Good tune. Good looks. Good award wins. Good golly!
George Belliveau sang something. I have a major issue with this guy. He dresses like a trucker, sings country - in FRENCH - and sings in a SOUTHERN US ACCENT. How does this happen? Why do people encourage it? Make it stop, someone. Tell him what's up.
The Divorcees played "Boonies". Good old-style country you could drink to. This I liked. Plus, Rose Cousins sang backup again, after doing the same for Barber.
Next was a songwriter's circle, with some up-and-comers. My province's own Catherine MacLellan sounded good, but watching her perform is like watching a bowl of mini-wheats. Sweet, nice, wholesome, but not too exciting. David Myles was way more upbeat with "When It Comes My Turn". I liked him. Up next was Rose Cousins' "If You Were For Me". She sounded great but is only moderately more entertaining than Catherine. Her looks kinda throw me off, too. Not bad, just off-throwing. Ending the number was some young guy, looking like he's from some Dickens novel, called Old Man Luedecke (the guy, not the book). He did some fancy banjo-pickin', and I was won over.
More Trailer Park Boys tomfoolery before a commercial. Good stuff.
Next was a ginormous tribute to some recently-deceased local legends, Denny Doherty, Dutch Mason, and John A. Cameron. Shaye sang "Ocean of Sorrows" nicely. Angelo Spinazzola, Charlie A'Court, and JP LeBlanc did a too-short version of "Baby, Please Don't Go". Then, Dave Gunning, George Canyon, Doris Mason, and Shaye did a medley of "Monday, Monday", "California Dreamin'", and "Dream a Little Dream of Me". Again, with the country... why does George Canyon sing with that affected voice, sounding like he's from the Southern US? If a Brit or some non-English person can sing in plain unaccented English, how does this happen? Why? Someone fix it please. JP Cormier, Stuart Cameron, and Gordie Sampson did a little instrumental medley, followed up by the Barra MacNeils & Fiona MacGillvary, after which the newlywed Ashley MacIsaac came out to play with the JP, Cameron, and Sampson. Nice to see Ashley and Stuart play together again. Good stuff. Then they all did a grand finale of "Lord of the Dance".
Classified did some Atlantic hip-hop. It was OK. I liked the first tune with the accordion sea-shanty sample. A bit weird, but local. I liked it.
One of the eve's highlights was next. Bubbles did "Kitties Are So Nice", complete with real kitties, strings, and a choir. "I found Daisy in a storm drain covered in liquor and glue / I took her home and cleaned her up with baby shampoo." Does TV get any better than that?
Ron Hynes then won for best solo male performer. Awesome. Well-deserved. Everyone should hear his recent CD.
Then Peter MacKay forgot what town he was in, referring to the place as Tor... Ott... HALIFAX! He was swiftly and appropriately booed. Measha Brueggergosman said, "Someone should tell that guy to stick with the teleprompter." Then she made a couple of mistakes of her own, including mixing up a dead performer with her sister. Take your own advice, there, Measha! She did a song well, but opera's not my bag.
Just after this,Mary Walsh came on to introduce Ron Hynes. Along the way, she made reference to Peter MacKay's flub, and called his political party "arselickers of Satan up in Ottawa" that didn't know what town they were in. Classic.
Ron Hynes did a solo acoustic (the best way to hear Ron) version of one of the more powerful and autobiographical tunes on his recent CD. Great performance of "Dry". Wish I could have this and others on a CD!
George Canyon won something, and mentioned God first, just like the rappers. What is it with Country and Rap? They always thank deities first. Like, are they linked somehow? Maybe it's the gunplay. Or drinkin'. Maybe it's the drinkin', which leads to gunplay, which ends up with Fitty Cent getting shot for another nonoctonal amount of times, which makes Fitty mad, which leads to prayin' on both sides. Oh, Jebus, who knows?
In-Flight Safety, who are on ol' musical galpal Emm Gryner's label, and who are 50% from PEI, won a few awards, and got to close the show with a great tune of theirs I kind of know. Unfortunately for them, CBC fudged the sound, so it all sounded like it was going through some kind of underwater-vibrato-warble microphones. Unlistenable, which is sad. Good for them makin' strides, though.
Great show again this year! I saw some faves, saw some new stuff I liked, and got to watch my Sunnyvale Trailer Park neighbours ham it up.
AWESOME photos of the whole shebang can be found here. I just don't have enough vertical space to cram them all in!
Trailer Park Boys hosting again = awesome. Who else could call a cat Shitrock on CBC and get away with it?
Joel Plaskett rocks. Great performance of "Nowhere With You", and great awards for such musicianery. That's a new word. Like it?
Rex Goudie, go home. You're no good.
Jill Barber did "Hard Line". Good tune. Good looks. Good award wins. Good golly!
George Belliveau sang something. I have a major issue with this guy. He dresses like a trucker, sings country - in FRENCH - and sings in a SOUTHERN US ACCENT. How does this happen? Why do people encourage it? Make it stop, someone. Tell him what's up.
The Divorcees played "Boonies". Good old-style country you could drink to. This I liked. Plus, Rose Cousins sang backup again, after doing the same for Barber.
Next was a songwriter's circle, with some up-and-comers. My province's own Catherine MacLellan sounded good, but watching her perform is like watching a bowl of mini-wheats. Sweet, nice, wholesome, but not too exciting. David Myles was way more upbeat with "When It Comes My Turn". I liked him. Up next was Rose Cousins' "If You Were For Me". She sounded great but is only moderately more entertaining than Catherine. Her looks kinda throw me off, too. Not bad, just off-throwing. Ending the number was some young guy, looking like he's from some Dickens novel, called Old Man Luedecke (the guy, not the book). He did some fancy banjo-pickin', and I was won over.
More Trailer Park Boys tomfoolery before a commercial. Good stuff.
Next was a ginormous tribute to some recently-deceased local legends, Denny Doherty, Dutch Mason, and John A. Cameron. Shaye sang "Ocean of Sorrows" nicely. Angelo Spinazzola, Charlie A'Court, and JP LeBlanc did a too-short version of "Baby, Please Don't Go". Then, Dave Gunning, George Canyon, Doris Mason, and Shaye did a medley of "Monday, Monday", "California Dreamin'", and "Dream a Little Dream of Me". Again, with the country... why does George Canyon sing with that affected voice, sounding like he's from the Southern US? If a Brit or some non-English person can sing in plain unaccented English, how does this happen? Why? Someone fix it please. JP Cormier, Stuart Cameron, and Gordie Sampson did a little instrumental medley, followed up by the Barra MacNeils & Fiona MacGillvary, after which the newlywed Ashley MacIsaac came out to play with the JP, Cameron, and Sampson. Nice to see Ashley and Stuart play together again. Good stuff. Then they all did a grand finale of "Lord of the Dance".
Classified did some Atlantic hip-hop. It was OK. I liked the first tune with the accordion sea-shanty sample. A bit weird, but local. I liked it.
One of the eve's highlights was next. Bubbles did "Kitties Are So Nice", complete with real kitties, strings, and a choir. "I found Daisy in a storm drain covered in liquor and glue / I took her home and cleaned her up with baby shampoo." Does TV get any better than that?
Ron Hynes then won for best solo male performer. Awesome. Well-deserved. Everyone should hear his recent CD.
Then Peter MacKay forgot what town he was in, referring to the place as Tor... Ott... HALIFAX! He was swiftly and appropriately booed. Measha Brueggergosman said, "Someone should tell that guy to stick with the teleprompter." Then she made a couple of mistakes of her own, including mixing up a dead performer with her sister. Take your own advice, there, Measha! She did a song well, but opera's not my bag.
Just after this,Mary Walsh came on to introduce Ron Hynes. Along the way, she made reference to Peter MacKay's flub, and called his political party "arselickers of Satan up in Ottawa" that didn't know what town they were in. Classic.
Ron Hynes did a solo acoustic (the best way to hear Ron) version of one of the more powerful and autobiographical tunes on his recent CD. Great performance of "Dry". Wish I could have this and others on a CD!
George Canyon won something, and mentioned God first, just like the rappers. What is it with Country and Rap? They always thank deities first. Like, are they linked somehow? Maybe it's the gunplay. Or drinkin'. Maybe it's the drinkin', which leads to gunplay, which ends up with Fitty Cent getting shot for another nonoctonal amount of times, which makes Fitty mad, which leads to prayin' on both sides. Oh, Jebus, who knows?
In-Flight Safety, who are on ol' musical galpal Emm Gryner's label, and who are 50% from PEI, won a few awards, and got to close the show with a great tune of theirs I kind of know. Unfortunately for them, CBC fudged the sound, so it all sounded like it was going through some kind of underwater-vibrato-warble microphones. Unlistenable, which is sad. Good for them makin' strides, though.
Great show again this year! I saw some faves, saw some new stuff I liked, and got to watch my Sunnyvale Trailer Park neighbours ham it up.
AWESOME photos of the whole shebang can be found here. I just don't have enough vertical space to cram them all in!
posted by Steve | 9:47 pm
1 Comments:
DON'T be dissing my Rose, Steve. Them's fightin' words.....
Off-throwing??
WTF???
:D
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