recent music happenings …

music has been a focus recently:
– shannen and I both saw pearl jam in september; I in montreal, she in ottawa. great shows. pearl jam has been at it for so long that you half expect them to just go through the motions up there. it’s very obvious that they still love performing though. no big screens, no pyrotechnics, just a solid show full of some of their best known songs, some new unknowns (to me), and some amazing covers. my personal favourite was “trouble”, a cat stevens song that eddie did solo with his acoustic. I was very impressed, and delighted to cross them off my “list” of bands that I must see in my lifetime, joining such list removal greats as dr. hook and the medicine show (the only band that my dad and I both saw separately in our youth), and red rider, tom cochrane’s backup band sans tom cochrane (no link found).
– we were not one of the thousands who took in u2 recently. I tried to get tickets way back in the spring, to no avail. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the concert – you lucky few who attended know what I mean. any opportunity to see the arcade fire (who some argue should have had u2 open for them …) should not be missed.
– coldplay is coming back to ottawa on march 17. shannen and I saw their last show here, and it turned us from casual fans to serious fans. fantastic entertainers – catch them in your town if they’re coming through.
– shannen’s latest find, feist, is at the capital city music hall on january 19, 2005. tix are roughly $20. another fragment of broken social scene that has caught our eye … er … ears.
– I intended to get tix to dar williams on dec. 6th at the black sheep inn, but the date came and went without initiative on my part. rats.
– liz and mark saw ben folds recently … again … with the baltimore symphony orchestra. I am jealous. he remains on my aforementioned list.