concert reviews

concert reviews / cool / music / rush — 4 Comments
14
Jul 10

Concert Review: Rush Molson Amphitheater, Toronto 07/13/10

Yeah, we were pretty far back.

Last night i packed up my air drums and headed into the city for Toronto’s very own Rush. Here’s the salient points:

- Neil Peart: he still has it, although damn he is looking old these days.
- Geddy Lee: the vox, the slappa da bas, the keyboards – BRILLIANT
- I now have an appreciation for the last 3 tracks on Moving Pictures (Camera Eye / Witch Hunt / Vital Signs)
- The older material was absolutely incredible, some of the newer stuff is good but it has a generic hard rock feel and is not as interesting as the more adventurous 70′s/80′s songs.
- The comedic videos throughout the show were fun, in particular the “i love you man” reprise at the end.
- Molson Amphitheater while fine once you get into the venue, is an absolute disaster to get in and out of in typical Toronto fashion.
- There is a sweet free parking area on the north side of the Gardiner Expressway just west of British Columbia on a side street.

concert reviews / music — 1 Comment
9
Mar 10

Muse, Toronto, Air Canada Center.

Best visuals i've seen at a live show in Toronto

Best visuals i've seen at a live show in Toronto

Last night i caught Muse at the ACC, the third time i’ve seen them in Toronto. Here’s why i love them so goddamn much:

- They can pull off their live show with 3 guys in the band. Yes, they tour with a 4th member, but i saw them before they were huge at the Kool Haus and had a 4th and it was equally impressive.
- Matt Bellamy’s pipes. The boy can sing live.
- Dominic Howard’s drumming. While it’s not technically too crazy, besides Chad Smith there are no other drummers in rock that get me as excited about what are fairly simple grooves.
- The Visuals. Lighting & risers that lifted them up & down choreographed with the music = very cool.
- They’re British.

GOOD TIMES.

bass guitar / concert reviews / cool / music / photography — No Comments
8
Apr 08

Concert Review: Victor Wooten @ Lee’s Palace


I think i was in grade 11 when i fell in love with bass guitar. A friend of mine introduced me to Blood Sugar Sex Magik on a school bus trip and that pretty much changed my life. I remember scrounging up the $30 or so to buy the bass guitar songbook for that album, borrowing a bass for the summer and teaching myself how to play.

I immediately got into all the bass virtuosos, including Victor Wooten – who is probably most well known for his work with Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. He is also probably the most impressive slap bass player i have ever heard, thanks to his mind boggling use of harmonics & ‘double thumbing’ technique .

Last night i had the opportunity to check him out @ Lee’s Palace in Toronto and was completely blown away (no big surprise there). Lots of great funk/soul jams and some seriously inspiring solos. I definitely want to start using some of his bass tricks in my own playing if i can.

I brought my SLR camera down and took some shots of the show – check them out here.