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: Writing It All Down For You

Fri., Jan. 16
Elliott BROOD
The Ark, Ann Arbor

The Sadies w/Duende
The Loving Touch, Ferndale

It's not often, especially lately, we get two can't-miss Canadian indie shows on the same night. Happy New Year.

We've seen both these bands multiple times in a variety of venues and can say you're guaranteed a great show. We consider Elliott BROOD's Mountain Meadows (2008) one of the best Canadian indie albums ever made. It's perfect from start to finish. They've come a long way since we first saw them at the Majestic Cafe in 2009; so has their once literally brooding, edgy "death" country sound. They're all Work and Love (2014) now-- and Juno award-winning (Roots and Traditional Album of the Year, 2013). Listen: "Jigsaw Heart," from Work and Love.

Whether sharing the stage with Gord Downie-- and making our list of top shows last year-- or with family (Home County, 2013), The Sadies are Good. That would be Dallas and Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. They should be: they celebrated 20 years in 2014 of superb Canadian indie. Listen: "What's Left Behind" from New Seasons (2007)

The Sadies. Yes, they're as bad-ass as they look.
(Photo credit: Don Pyle)

M pour Montreal est merveilleux

When it comes to music festivals, we've been selective. NXNE and London's Home County Arts & Music Festival have perfectly suited our schedules, wallets, ability to travel and the way we like to consume live music. But after meeting M pour Montreal's Mikey Bernard at NXNE, we decided it was time to dust off our high school French, venture out of our comfort zone and head to M pour Montreal.

How we got there: Porter Air from Windsor to Toronto Island to Trudeau Airport. Reasonable price, and landing on a small island is pretty amazing. We even had time between flights on our way home to grab lunch at Wvrst in Toronto. Good to know: Budget $40 for a cab to and from the airport to downtown Montreal if you don't want to take the bus.

Where we stayed: Trylon Appartements at Ste. Famille and Milton. Except for incredibly lousy Wi-Fi-- a challenge not limited to Trylon, we discovered chatting with other M for Montreal attendees-- also very reasonable. Great staff and location, highly recommended. Good to know: Everything was within walking distance, although we cabbed it a few times because of the cold (around -9 C) on Thursday and Friday.

 Where we ate: Thanks to Montreal resident and fellow Radio 3 blogger Hedgehog Friend, we had the inside scoop on great iconic places to eat in the city, including Amelios (bring your own beer); Juliette & Chocolat; Schwartz's; Beautys; La Sala Rossa; and our favourite, spruce beer and tourtiere at La Binerie. We also had the best coffee (we ordered Americanos) ANYWHERE at Pikolo.

What we didn't do: We missed Betty Bonifassi's show and Py Py due to logistics; sad panda, because we love them both. We didn't have time to make our pilgrimage to Breakglass Studios or be tourists. But hey Montreal, we'll definitely be back.

(Click on a photo for the slideshow)

Who we saw:

Kandle Osborne of Kandle and the Krooks

Jeff Innes of High Ends

Le Trouble;  check out their CBC Beetle Roadtrip
session with Grant Lawrence at cbc.ca/beetleroadtrip.

Canailles. We were sold when we saw that the drummer
had a trash can lid as part of his kit.
They had the whole room line dancing.

Peter Dreimanis of July Talk.

Leah Fay of July Talk.

Banjo oh my darling Lisa LeBlanc

So, our beloved Parlovr is no more. But Alex, Jeremy and Louis
are still making music. We saw Alex's new
band, Holy Data, at L'Escogriffe. This is Jordan.
You might know him from Sunset Rubdown and Miracle Fortress.

This is Alexis Dionne

This is Reg Kachanoski

And this is Alex Cooper.

We never thought we'd get to see a Unicorn--
Alden Penner-- performing Unicorn songs.

Badbadnotgood was anything but.

Yup, supreme just about sums up their M for Montreal show.

Michael Feuerstack

Doomsquad @ Divan Orange

How Sad made us happy again at La Sala Rossa

Hilotrons were a hit with us.
Michael Dubue sang the vocals for Animal, Master

Alex Moxon / Hilotrons

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

Show Alert: Hilotrons, an M for Montreal highlight, play Windsor

Fri., Nov. 28
Phog Lounge ~ Windsor

We saw a lot of great shows at M for Montreal; Ottawa's Hilotrons at Casa del Popolo was one of our favourites. That's why we'll be seeing them again a week later at Phog. We loved the music, their musicianship, and how the very Zen guitarist Alex Moxon contrasted with Hilotrons founder Michael Dubue's mad genius.

We weren't the only ones. Anyone out there remember The Gold Dollar on Cass in Detroit? (Hint: it existed 1996-2001). We met former proprietor Neil Yee at the show, who now lives in Montreal, and he shared our thumbs up for Hilotrons.

Here's their latest, a single released in October (with guest vocals by Tara Holloway). Watch for a new album in 2015). You can hear more Hilotrons on their CBC Radio 3 profile page.

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

N2DS2W DOES M POUR MONTREAL

We love working weekends. Especially this one. 

Show Alert: The Rural Alberta Advantage and July Talk

Thu., Oct. 9
The Magic Stick ~ Detroit
$12

Don't let the name fool you. The Rural Alberta Advantage don't live in Alberta, and they're not a country band. Fueled by Paul Banwatt's precise and inspired drumming, the Toronto trio blends Nils Edenloff's plaintive voice-- who is an Edmonton native-- and Amy Cole's soprano with guitar and keyboards into alt pop/rock/folk that sounds like no other band. If you didn't hop the border to hear them at their sold-out show at Windsor's Phog Lounge in 2011, or Phog Phest 4 in 2012, now's your chance as they bring old favourites and new from their fourth album, Mended With Gold. Listen: "Terrified" from Mended With Gold.

Paul Banwatt

Nils Edenloff

Amy Cole

We saw July Talk with Sam Roberts Band in April at The Fillmore Detroit, and the audience gave them a lot of love. It's hard not to when the dialogue on stage is Peter Dreimanis' whiskey-and-cigarettes growl to Leah Fay's sweet and sassy melodies set to energetic and playful alt rock. Listen: "Summer Dress" from their self-titled debut album.


 Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

Show Alert: Alvvays/PONYSHOW/Loretta Lucas

ALVVAYS

Fri., Oct. 3
UFO FACTORY, Detroit, MI
Doors 7:00 PM

http://alvvays.com/
http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/Alvvays
https://www.facebook.com/pages/PONYSHOW/1474612212754852
https://soundcloud.com/lorettalucas
https://www.facebook.com/events/1499854176924454/?ref=22

Photo - Russ Gordon/N2D Images

The Inbox: Black Lady Soul

"We believe music should not be limited by conventional descriptors. They often fall short of justly illustrating the many variations and creations the human mind is capable of...

We heartily agree, Black Lady Soul. Even worse are the "If you like/sounds like..." comparisons. How insulting is that, to be told you sound like some other band? We suppose some bands are okay with it, but we suspect they don't include Toronto's Black Lady Soul. "We've melded elements of jazz, rock, and hip-hop, all tied together by Rai's striking lyricism and unique vocals. We look forward to sharing our experiences with you. Let us know what you think." We think it's pretty good.



Listen to their entire debut album on Bandcamp.

The Inbox: Blackburn Hall

We get a lot of nice notes from people making music in the N2DGmail box and decided it's time to help them out. After all, that's kind of what we try to do. This week we heard from Pete Hall of Hamilton, Ont. and his new project, Blackburn Hall. Check it out:



The album was recorded by Dale Morningstar with assistance by Mitch Bowden and Graham Walsh of Holy Fuck. It was mixed by Walsh, and mastered by Andy Magoffin and The House of Miracles. The entire album is available on SoundCloud.

You may also know Hall from Huron and A Northern Chorus.

Show Alert: PhogPhest 6

Show Alert: PUP

PUP 
WSG: 
Ponyshow 
Braided Veins 



Fri., Sep. 12 
Magic Stick Lounge, Detroit, MI 
$10/door

Toronto punk that you can dance to and scream along with.

We like it.

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

NXNE 2014: A Streetcar Named Wintersleep

Our last night at NXNE 2014 can be summed up like this: Wintersleep. On a TTC streetcar.

Yes, it meant we missed METZ again. (But you can read about their show, plus some pining for the good old days, in this report by our good friend Jo Innes for the National Post.)

 But we're pretty sure nothing could compare to lurching along Queen West to the astonishingly-- for being in a streetcar-- excellent sound of Wintersleep. Never again will we hear "In Came the Flood," "Oblivion," "Resuscitate," "Archeologists" or "Weighty Ghost" without being transported back to that streetcar. Thanks to MiO for sponsoring "NXNE's Most Original Venue" and Wintersleep for playing along, giving us memories for a lifetime.

(Numerous artists played the MiO Squirtcar over three days. Here's what it was like on the night Reggie Watts performed.)

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

NXNE 2014 Day 3, part 2: We are stuffed and stoked

We've had meals at NXNE as memorable as the music over the years. Pho at Pho Hung in 2012; breakfast at Aunties and Uncles and Cora. But there's no doubt this year tops the list: gourmet sausage and duck fat fries at Wvurst, superlative stone-baked goat cheese, spinach and bacon pizza at Pizzaville (surely one of Toronto's best deals, $4 for a huge slice we split), the dinner we had at the house we rented (steak salad with grilled potatoes and garlic scapes).

The evening of Day 3, Fri. Jun. 20, we wandered down College Street in Little Italy searching for a place to have dinner. Of course Italian restaurants were abundant, but none tempted our palates... until we found Hey Meatball. How could we resist a place with the tagline "You'll love the taste of our balls"? We're still dreaming of the silken polenta topped with pork meatballs, marinara sauce and a delicious dollop of pesto, all for the reasonable price of $13.

Afterwards, we stopped at a lovely garden around the corner from the Mod Club Theatre outside the First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Centre to finish a latte. A large orange tabby cat sauntered across the street and cozied himself on the bench between us. The end of a perfect evening? No, just the beginning.

Our musical menu began with Toronto's Alvvays. The best thing about Molly Rankin getting an official band and an official self-titled album is that you can now officially find her on the Internet and probably at a show near you. They're touring heavily this summer. The album is also getting a lot of love from listeners and reviewers. Between Rankin, her strong, flanging voice and the incredibly talented Alec O'Hanley alone, there's a lot of songwriting synergy in that band. Two definite gems on the album-- "Adult Diversion" and "Archie, Marry Me"-- prove the potential is there, but didn't quite make it onto the stage at NXNE.

We satisfied yet another long-awaited live performance from a band we've loved since our early days listening to CBC Radio 3: Culture Reject. Although Kensington Market's Handlebar had a decent-sized audience, we managed to grab a seat right by the stage and spent the show in rapt adoration. It's blissfully difficult to slap a label on Michael O'Connell's poetic yet completely accessible music; the influences are varied and global. We're not of the ilk that demands that a band play the hits, but it made our night to hear "Inside The Cinema" live. Who fucking loves Culture Reject? We do.

We barely got into the packed Dakota Tavern for Shred Kelly, Fernie, B.C.'s ambassadors of stoke folk. It's a self-affixed label they completely own. We've seen them several times-- in Windsor just a few weeks before NXNE, where we first heard new songs that promise to be every bit as good as familiar favourites--  and even when they're dead-tired from weeks on a train, they never fail to deliver. But the Dakota show was their best yet. The perfect combination of venue vibe and an audience completely swept up by the band's energy, it felt like more like a family reunion than a show with strangers. If you haven't been stoked yet by Shred Kelly, your life isn't complete.

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images