Death Cab For Cutie w/Franz Ferdinand & Cribs
Ricoh Centre
04.18.04

What a great pre-birthday present to myself - seeing Death Cab live in concert again! This time the venue was at the Ricoh Hockey Centre at the CNE. It was a "less an optiminal" venue because of the horrid acoustics and disconnected concert layout.

The promoters originally called the show at the docks, but after selling out in a matter of minutes they moved it to this larger venue a few weeks later (hmm.. $$ callling?).

A northern England band called "Cribs" opened up the evening, followed by Scottish boys, Franz Ferdinand. FF are great entertainers. Their driving drums, explosively catchy rhythm guitar and heart-pounding bass amassed a tidal wave for Alexander Kapranos' vocals to ride ontop. "Take me out" finally awoke the pit and got the juices flowing.

Unfortunately at peak levels, the aggressive indie-rock sound bounced off all parts of the hockey area, resulting in a wall of chaotic sound resembling that of an Usher aircraft landing to thousands of screaming 16-year old girls named Tamara.

Given Death Cab's more melodic tones in comparison to FF, I hoped it wouldn't be as bad. And luckily it wasn't!

They started the set by blending 2 piano tunes "Passenger Seat" and "Different Names for the Same Thing" seamlessly. The rest of their set blended together as beautifully as the introduction. DC played tunes mostly from their last 2 albums, except for "Airplane" from their first album and "Photobooth" from the album previous to their mainstream breakout album, "Transatlantacism". Near the end of the set they did this a v. cool instrumental number that was full of texture, dynamics and dramatic progression. Closing my eyes I let it ride through me - I was in the palm of their hands. THIS is why I go to concerts!

Before I knew it, Ben was thanking the crowd for coming out. I honestly thought "wow, a short set" when I realized they'd been playing for 2 hours! Their encore was packed with 3 huge numbers, ending with Transatlantacism; probably their biggest song to date.

Overally the show surpassed expectations - If this was at a real concert venue (i.e. made for MUSIC, not ice hockey) it would have surpassed the previous DC show I went to. They're getting much more comfortable on stage, and tighter. Ben was less (but still) fidgety with his mic and earpiece, and the other band members even spoke to the crowd. There was even a false alarm bell (piercingly out of tune, btw) that they played quite well through as well. The management told them "This is a false alarm. We don't know how to turn it off - we have to wait until the firemen come". Brutal.

One last word: For all your music geeks who put their nose up at DC, I point my nose right back at your snobby jaded faces! If you don't like their music, fine, but don't tell me they're a sell out and how they "used to be" so good. These guys have been making music since 1998, and so far it appears to me that they're keeping true to their sound. Success was inevitable. I'm still shocked at their success only b/c the vocals are not of the "pop idol" model, and some of their music does stray away from typical pop melodies and verse/chorus templates.

Take care,

RE

"...'Cause there's no comfort in the waiting room
Just nervous pacers bracing for bad news
And then the nurse comes round and everyone will lift their heads
But I'm thinking of what Sarah said
that "Love is watching someone die"

So who's going to watch you die?" -DCFC

Today I had a photoshoot for an upcoming show for PushPULL dance. The weather was FANTASTIC, giving some spectacular lighting for us.

The purpose of this photoshoot was for an ad for their upcoming dance show, "Unspoken Conversations" in June. PPD is a dance company for working professionals who share a passion for dance, but are working in fields outside of dance.

I don't have an SLR camera (YET) so i enlisted the help of a co-worker of mine who is an amateur photo enthusiast. Although she only has a film camera and only does this on the side, her passion has been for photography for the past 5 years and was thrilled to be asked to help out here. Equipped with her camera + goodies (tripod, light deflector, lenses, bounce flash) we took photos of 2 dancers in typical "professional" outfits.

Taking from the "push pull" conflict these dancers with day jobs endure, the concept I have for this ad is to showcase the contrast between "dancer" and "working professional". The models will be staring at each other, engaging an "unspoken conversation", further expressed by a colourful ghosted shot of the same couple dancing in the middle. Show details will be added and the company logo too.

We shot a bunch of scenarios on the Subway, each time at opposite ends: Opposite ends of TTC escalators, ends of each platform (one going Nbound, one Sbound), or ends of entrance/exit of the entry ways. The live action shot will be fluid, vibrant and lively, again contrasting between the grey, structured and obtuse backdrop of the TTC and snarky working professional.

I hope that out of all the different scenarios we did, one or two great shots will emerge. Working with dancers was great b/c they knew how to frame their bodies and give the expressions that I wanted. Unfortuantely Vistek nor Henry's aren't open on Sundays, so i'll have to get it developed digitally tomorrow. Apparently photograhers don't work on Sundays! Then the real work begins when I have put the ad together!

Hope it works out.

-RE

April. The spring air is among us, and I'm excited to breath it all in. Already i'm seeing so many festivals, concerts, shows, more concerts, and patios opening. After hibernation in the winter (for me especially) I am ready to get back out there to enjoy what the city has to offer.

There's shows coming up like Joel Plaskett, Dave Matthews Band, Centromatic, Death Cab/Franz, Hip w/Sadies and Weakerthans, and i just came aross singer/songwriter Josh Ritter who is playing @Mod club next week... not to mention NXNE in June.

I'm already finding out of some cool happenings in the city, some of which i've just missed. For example, I just missed a theatre production of "Stan Won't Dance" touring from the UK, described as "brutally physical, confrontational dance work Sinner, based on the true story of the bombing of a London gay bar". I found out the last show 15 mins before it started. Bah. Speaking of theatre, there will be a 1-week production of RENT coming here this spring, which is another thing I need to jump on (thanks for the heads up SBF). Oh, and there will this year's Push PULL dance production in June too! This company is mostly comprised of dancers w/other professional careers who share of passion for dance. Last years show was super entertaining and i'm positive this one will be bigger and better!

Last year I missed Contact Photo Toronto, which appearly this April's showcase focuses on photography that reflects the dramatic increase in global interconnections over the past decade. Sounds like urban photograhy to me. I missed it last year, and luckily saw a posting about it.

Oh, and my bday is this month too (not to exciting.. but still an excuse to go out).

YAY SPRING

-RE

"eat drink and be merry"