Our top shows of 2014

We hit a new low in 2014: the fewest shows we've seen in a year since before 2011. That wasn't the only thing that made last year unique. Only four of our top shows last year took place in Windsor or Detroit; yet overall, we saw more shows north of the border in 2014. And we noticed something: more and more people are attending Canadian indie shows in Metro Detroit. We hope that means more and more bands will put Detroit on their itinerary in 2015.

Even though our chain of show wrist bands didn't grow as much, there was no shortage of shows to put on this list. So here they are, our top shows of 2014, in chronological order. Where are the photos? Well, that's why this post is so late. When our new Toshiba Canvio external hard drive failed after only two months,  data recovery re-sorted thousands of photos. S2W is still trying to find them all, but it's been an arduous process.

1.  The Wet Secrets (Call the Office, London). First, they gave us a great show with music that has everything we like best. Then they made us put on a marching band hat and took our picture. We love these guys and gals so much.
2. Bend Sinister (PJ's Lager House, Detroit). Lager House owner PJ meant to stay just for one song.  He was so blown away by Dan Moxon and company he ended up watching the whole set. That alone made it a top show for us.
3. Zeus (The Pike Room at The Crofoot, Pontiac). FINALLY. So good, it just made us regret all the times we missed them even more.
4. Chad VanGaalen with Cousins (The Pike Room at The Crofoot, Pontiac). We were thrilled to at last experience Chad VanGaalen, one of Canadian indie's most creative, multitalented artists.
5. Doomsquad, (NXNE, Toronto). We saw them in their hometown of Montreal too, but this is the show that made our hearts Kalaboogie.
6. How Sad (NXNE, Toronto). Exactly the way we like our pop: Effervescent, a little frenetic, organic and not too sweet.
7. Shred Kelly (NXNE, Toronto). Just when we think a Shred Kelly show can't get any better, they prove us wrong.
8. Wintersleep (NXNE, Toronto). They've played St. Andrews Hall in Detroit, but we decided to wait until we could see them on a TTC streetcar. It was the best ending ever to one of the best NXNEs we've attended.
9. Octoberman (Phog Lounge, Windsor). It was a year for seeing CBC Radio 3 legends, including Andre Ethier and Culture Reject. Add the original and contemplative Marc Morrissette to that list.
10. Library Voices, Gord Downie and the Sadies (Festival of Good Things, Sarnia). When it came to music, the event should have been called the Festival of Sublime Things. The perfect end to summer.
11. Canailles (M for Montreal). Their brash music might be a mash-up-- Cajun, bluegrass, country and more-- but no band we saw at M made us feel more like we were in Montreal than Canailles.
12. Hilotrons (M for Montreal). Somehow we'd forgotten how irresistibly catchy Dubue's music can be. Thanks for the reminder, Hilotrons, and our last top show for 2014.

Show Alert: Good music at the Festival of Good Things

Sat., Aug. 30
Festival of Good Things
Point Lands, Sarnia, Ont.
11 a.m. - 6 p.m. FREE
After 6 p.m.: $40

Didn't make any plans for Labor Day weekend? We just made them for you. Take a drive up to Sarnia for the Festival of Good Things, which includes some good music. Don't have much to spend? Before 6 p.m., these bands are free:

• 11:00   The Silence of Ivory
• 11:55   The Woodlands
• 12:50   KASHKA
• 1:50     Serf Kanata
• 2:50     Lit'l Chicago
• 3:45     Small Town Get Up
• 4:45     Woodshed Orchestra

 After 6 p.m., things get a little pricier. But you also get a lot more for your money:

• 6:15   Craig Cardiff
• 7:10   Library Voices
• 8:15   Molly Thomason
• 9:15   Gord Downie and The Sadies

KASHKA
Kat Burns

LIBRARY VOICES

THE SADIES

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

Show Alert: Fridays at the Library

Library Voices
Fri., Jul. 13
Phog Lounge, Windsor ~ $15 at the door
w/ Frontiers (Windsor)

Fri., Jul. 20
Call the Office, London

Regina's Library Voices was the very first show review we ever wrote, and everything we observed then holds true now: in our humble opinion, they deliver one of the best live shows of any Canadian indie band. We love them so much, our Traveller's Digest includes spending our next two Fridays with them. We'll be tunneling over to Windsor tomorrow (as long as there isn't another bomb threat), and next Friday in London when we're in town for the Home County Folk Festival. The Summer of Lust lives on.

We need more drummer photos.  Here's a drummer photo.

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

Show Review: You Will Hear Voices

During last year's CBC Radio 3 Bucky Awards, one of the most hotly debated categories was Best Live Act. We'd seen three of the nominees: Rich Aucoin, Library Voices and Fucked Up. (We'll see the winners,  Arkells, on Mar. 2 in Detroit.) There was a lot of fervent love for Rich Aucoin, and with good reason. A Fucked Up show is an intense punk communion. But the majority of our votes went to Library Voices, for their gimmick-free performances built on the strength of sheer personality, musical and lyrical talent, enthusiasm and some of the most fun we've ever had at a show.

Summer of Lust, a second alt-pop gem featuring Mike Dawson's erudite lyrics (and on stage, his amusingly, sometimes alarmingly, tipsy keyboard stand), was still going strong when after a long 18-month wait, Library Voices returned to Windsor's Phog Lounge on Oct. 30, 2011 (read our first show review here). We've been fortunate to enjoy the band in this intimate setting when they're selling out much larger venues, which makes their traditional closing singalong, this time to Lennon's "Oh Yoko!", all the more like a house show. Already known for resilience-- they lost their instruments not once, but twice in one year due to theft and flood-- singer Carl Johnson more than embodied it that evening. He sang the entire set after pulling out a molar he'd broken the night before when he hit himself in the mouth with a mic.

Waterloo's Will Currie & The Country French opened, and what a difference a year made since we saw them in Sept. 2010. Certainly their previous show was good, but this performance was much heartier. Currie seemed shy before; this time he was clearly confident and at ease. Their first full-length album, Awake, You Sleepers!, is a familiar friend now, released in October 2011 after a long delay. The band is a bit hard to pin down genre-wise. Even their own artist page on Radio 3 uses five different adjectives: alt pop, retro pop, dancehall, indie rock and piano beat. Identity crisis? No, they're all accurate.

Show Alert: Lust for Library Voices

Sun., Oct. 30
Phog Lounge
With Will Currie and the Country French
Dave Russell and the Precious Stones



"Bring more Americans." That was the edict handed down by Phog Lounge co-owner Tom Lucier when we bought our tickets for the return of Regina's Library Voices and Will Currie and the Country French (Waterloo). So Awake, You Sleepers! and come Party Like It's 2012. Discover two great Canadian indie alt-pop bands (and get Windsor's Dave Russell and the Precious Stones for a three-pack) for only $8, less than the price of a movie ticket. Library Voices are touring in support of their latest release, Summer of Lust, the follow-up to 2010's Denim On Denim.

When we saw Will Currie and the Country French (Waterloo) at the Phog last October, the band was preparing for the release of their first full-length album. They had already been championed by Sloan (who will be in Detroit at St. Andrews Hall on Nov. 11) and signed to Sloan's Murderecords label on the strength of their first EP. It took almost another year, but Awake, You Sleepers! finally made its debut earlier this month.

If you do come over the border for the show,
be sure to let Tom, Frank or Joe know!