February:
- Hawksley Workman. He performed here in the Wheat City on February 24. I was a fan of his music for a while (When you gonna flower?!). I was surprised to hear that he was coming to the Wheat City for his only Manitoban concert. Most of the crowd that I talked to were from outside of Brandon, and assumed I was too. He put on a very very entertaining show. Personally, I wasn't a big fan of his music, but he really knows how to entertain a crowd live. Very funny guy and likes to communicate with the audience
March:
April:
- United Steelworkers of Montreal. While working in Quebec City, the United Steelworkers of Montreal were one of the many bands I saw live. I was blown away by the music ranging from sweet lullaby love songs to gruff trucker tunes. I was excited to see them perform in Brandon. They performed in Brandon on March 26. I was shocked by the attendance, including barstaff there was probably only 10 people there. I felt bad for the band. However, even with just the 10 of us, they still gave their all, and they were telling us how much they enjoyed playing there, they loved the acoustics and the atmosphere.
April:
- The Perms. This band is originally from Brandon, and I was communicating with the bassist of the band for quite a while. I learned that his mom grew up in my hometown. They were a very entertaining band, definitely a great pub rock type of band. They had their CD release party here on April 4th in Brandon, they'll be playing another show in a few months from now, I know I'll be going as it was a very very enjoyable time, plus you got to support your local music scene as much as you can! I hope CBC Radio 3 starts to play more of their music on the radio again, it's been pretty rare as of lately
- The Constantines. The Constantines opened up for the Weakerthans in Winnipeg at the Burton Cummings theatre on April 17th. They were much better than I expected, another band that's much better live. They had a treat for the audience.. they had John K Samson of the Weakerthans perform with them for a few songs.. wow, that really got the crowd moving!
- The Weakerthans. The Weakerthans were the main act at the Burton Cummings Theatre on April 17th. I saw them 9 months earlier in Quebec City, and personally.. I preferred the Quebec performance more. Perhaps it was because at the Quebec performance I was so homesick that the Weakerthans were the one thing to cheer me up, as well as I was surrounded by Manitobans at the concert, us Manitobans will travel in packs just to support our own! I was pleased to see Rusty Matyas accompanying the band as Jim Bryson was touring with The Tragically Hip at that time. He's a cool guy, he was the original bassist for Novillero, and is also the guitarist for the rock band The Waking Eyes, that guy is going far!
July:
- The Constantines. When I heard the Constantines were coming to the Wheat City on July 25, I was shocked. Why in the world would a great rock band from Toronto come to a small farm town in the middle of the prairies? They performed at the Folk Fest here in town. This concert was not a concert for me.. I didn't get to see the band perform as I was doing security backstage (I was pissed off, let me tell you). The concert sounded good, but I was in so much emotional pain that I couldn't enjoy the music. I did get to chat with the drummer of the band for a few minutes, he was very intrigued with some of the old buildings in Brandon.
- Volcanoless in Canada. I had heard of this band through friends before, but either than that.. nothing at all. This day was worse than the day of the Constantines show. Only a few hours prior to the show on July 26, I was physically assaulted on the street, so I was contemplating not showing up at the concert. I didn't know what to expect with Volcanoless in Canada, I knew they were an acoustic group but thats all. I was blown away by Volcanoless in Canada. They are an acoustic rock group from Saskatoon, and don't be fooled by that.. they rock the acoustic guitar as if they are playing electric guitars. They have found a way to successfully rock out (big time) with only acoustic guitars. Everyone at the concert appeared to be enjoying the band just as much as I was, and almost everyone was dancing! That's a band I'll check out again one day. I'm surprised they haven't received much attention yet, they deserve alot of success for the future!
September:
Western Canadian Music Awards. September 17 to 20th in Brandon, MB. I was very very pleased with how the Western Canadian Music Awards turned out. Not only did industry folk from all across the nation come to town, but also big musicians and general music fans came to town just for the heck of it! It's the first volunteer experience I signed up for where I actually enjoyed my entire time!
- The Sheepdogs. The Sheepdogs helped start off the WCMA festivities by performing the 2009 Brandon University Rock the Block concert in downtown Brandon, other performers included (but I couldn't watch as I was working merch from 8:30 to 2:30AM) Library Voices, Default, Mariana's Trench and State of Shock. The guys seemed like a very cool and mellow band when they were hanging around town, and their music is just as good! Their music is a mixture of hard indie rock meets The Allman Brothers/Southern Rock, I really enjoyed it as I always have time for a classic rock style show. They really rocked the show. I hope to see them again one day if they ever perform in Brandon again. They played in Brandon that weekend atleast 3 or 4 times, I hope they had a great time. However, after that performance, I had to work merch booth. It was an excruciating experience. I will never volunteer for merch ever again. I never knew what a merch booth person has to put up with. I was told that my shift was 4 hours or so, but it ended up going from 8:30 to 2:30. I felt unappreciated the entire time working there. I never got a single break while working there. When we were finished selling the merch, we got in shit from a band for short changing them for merch sales. However, they had sold an item of their merch for three different price points throughout the night, so the price changes were not accounted into the lack of funds. Then again, that band made very few sales as well. I will never volunteer as merch guy ever again. Phew.. now onto the next one!
- Adaline. Wow, I really enjoyed myself for this show. A few weeks prior a few people I knew recommended for me to check out this amazing musician from Vancouver named Adaline. Close to the concert date she was having problems to find a piano for the Brandon show, so a friend asked me if I could helped, so I tried. I saw her perform at the Double Decker, not knowing what to expect. She is an amazing girl, such a sweetie too. I was really blown away by her performance, her song Whiter/Straighter really caught my attention. She is a very belle femme who dresses up in a very nice 1930sesque style of clothing (I think?). This girl is going to go far! I chatted with her quite a bit that weekend (or probably annoyed her, ha! I kid). She's a genuinely nice girl, very funny, and she appeared to be enjoying her short stay in the city!
- Dan Mangan. Immediately following Adaline, Dan Mangan came onto the very small step of a stage that the pub had. I knew that Mangan was well loved on CBC Radio 3, but I wasn't entirely familiar with his music either than Robots. The pub was entirely packed for his performance, and I could see that a large chunk of Brandon came out just to see him (wow!). He put on a very solid acoustic set. Performed his great tunes such as The Indie Queens are Coming and Robots. For his song Robots, he had these group of guys he referred as those roudy bunch of farmers in the back join him on stage and sing with him, and he made sure everyone would sing along with the chorus. I didn't realize that these roudy farmers were actually the Edmonton rock/country band The Wheat Pool! I later realized that afterwards.
- The Wheat Pool. After a few years of loving their song The Geographic Centre of Canada, which I know is actually about Brandon, Manitoba, the Wheat City, the town they were visiting (no matter what you say!), I finally got to see them. There was a nice attendance for that show. They delivered a very entertaining set performing mostly new songs off their brand new album Hauntario (which hadn't been released yet at that time, but they sold it at that show!), but they also performed a few of the fan favourites like Geographic Centre. I was loving it! Throughout the show the band was giving shoutouts to CBC Radio 3.. this was actually the first time I have ever seen a band give a shoutout to Radio 3 before! A bunch of us Radio 3 fans roared! After the show was done I chatted with the band for a bit, got some merch and took some pics. They were great guys, really seemed to enjoy their time in Brandon, as much as I annoyed them over the weekend, ha ha!
- Quinzy. Another band I never heard of until that weekend. This band is from Winnipeg, and first thing I thought of them when I heard of them was a cross between Novillero and a few other Winnipeg bands, they have some really catchy songs. They will be getting more well known in the Winnipeg music scene soon enough. How can they not?
- Delhi 2 Dublin. We started off the September 19th concert experience by checking out this band from BC. I had never heard of them until the day before. Delhi 2 Dublin was possibly the most-wowing show for the audience at the WCMAs. Delhi 2 Dublin has a fusion of techno, music from Delhi, and some classic Irish fiddlin'. After the concert finished, there was a very long line just for people to buy the CD! I know many people want to see them booked for future events (ie Folk Fests and whatnot). Definitely an eye opener of a band
- Ali Milner. Ali is another musician that a friend recommended to me. I bumped into this girl while finishing up a panelist discussion session I was looking after. She was looking for her mom, she introduced herself and she was very very friendly the second I met her. I decided to check her out as I was recommended to in the first place. Like many other musicians, I didn't know what to expect. Ali has an amazing voice, very mature and very powerful, that plus the piano equal wow! Let's just say that Ali is the first musician I have ever seen that not only I enjoyed, but also MY SISTER enjoyed. Me and my sister hate each others musical tastes, but we both agreed that Miss Ali Milner put on a great show! I just wish she had CDs to sell at the show!
- Library Voices. Thanks to CBC Radio 3, I've heard Library Voices more than a few times in my life, so when I heard they were coming to Brandon, I had to go. The choice of the venue for the band was kind of weird.. a sketchy nightclub. However, they performed a very energetic show that everyone enjoyed.. minus a few sketchy drunks who were only there to get drunk on a Saturday night. The band consisted of what appeared to be something like an 11 piece ensemble. I loved it! But on the downside, the band looked fatigued by the time the concert began since they arrived to Brandon earlier than most people and they performed at the Rock the Block concert a few days earlier. Even if they were fatigued, they were still great live. It's just awesome to think that there's so much great live music just in your own back yard.
October:
- Trooper! Raise a little hell! They performed a concert at the Westman Place arena in the late evening on October 24. They were performing as part of the Wheat City Rodeo. Most years the Rodeo gets a country band (ie Corb Lund) to perform, but this year for the Saturday show they got the kings of Canadian party rock, Trooper to perform. This was the second time I have seen Trooper live, and I was more amazed this time than the last time I saw them! They played all the hits like We're Here for a Good Time, Boys in a Bright White Sports Car and of course.. Raise a little Hell! Trooper is a band that is guaranteed to satisfy the music tastes of the population of South West Manitoba, from the young to the old! I had a brief chat with the lead singer Ra McGuire after the show. As usual I got star struck when I met him, but that was eased quickly as he is a very friendly guy. We discussed current music trends in Canadian music, he really likes The Weakerthans and Wintersleep, and wishes for one day to collaborate with the Weakerthans on something, now that'd be the day!
Now for the future, as I have no job right now.. I don't know what my concert-going future will be like, I may travel to Winnipeg once every few months as I have done for many many years, or I may just refrain from concert-going until further notice.. who knows! I hope 2010 will be another enjoyable year of music, live and not live.
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