e in a while a CD comes along that just infects your mind. You can’t get the
of your head, you need to listen to it all the time, your friends and family

  
  
   
    
  
  
 
   
   
   
 
   
 
  

bt worried, etc. The Decemberists’ latest CD, Picaresque, did just that for me.
n I heard the band was coming to town, after being forced to reschedule
hal date when their touring trailer with most of their instruments was stolen,
in attendance.
icipation truly started to grow as I waited at the front of the stage watch-
truments being brought out. Everything from a violin and standup bass to
on was added to the normal rock-band fare. What the relatively small
re audience was treated to was an hour and a half of storytelling, charm,
times rarely experienced at concerts nowadays. While many pick on The
ists for having shallow lyrics, there is certainly a high level of artistry and
each little story told. It’s fun to sit back and listen to even the songs you
y as each has something about it that draws you in and enchants you.
is difficult not to have a stupendous evening when the whole band is just
happy the whole time they are on stage. Rarely in all my concert-seeing days
essed a band that looked to generally elated to be on stage together and in
appreciative crowd. This was further emphasized in their encore number
ner’s Revenge Song,” which tells the story of a man seeking revenge on his
tiller. The man finds revenge finally when both he and the killer are the only
f an attack by a giant whale; the mariner tells his tale to his soon-to-be vic-
im within the whale’s gut. At the appropriate moment in the song the band
had the whole audience scream and moan as if they were being eaten by
a giant whale, all the while thrashing around on stage having a joyous
time. Excellent show.

 

: Winnipeg Jets shirt.) From John K. Sens perma- -smile, to the birthday cake
» en and balloons for guitarist Stephen Carroll, to the gigantic finale with all the mem-
me! BOGE fe bers of the Constantines—few bands seem to enjoy themselves more than the
g* , is, Weakerthans on stage. All this, and the crowd was able to sit back and enjoy the
Yan a band’s unique brand of not-quite-pop rock that only the Weakerthans seem to do
a ee a am well. Perhaps it’s the subtle but not overpowering punk influences, or perhaps it is
IWUaQtIvViliCs -S Samson’s understated vocals—it remains a mystery...but a good mystery.

 

      
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
   

 

‘Blasi Luna, April 27

The Mesa Luna sacks. It’s hard to see, you can’t take a good picture, and natural
_ light rolls in until it gets dark. Thus any bands that can make this venue enjoyable
get kudos from me. And so, I must officially give kudos to the bands on this bill.
In fact, they get bonus kudos for being a perfect cross-section of the areas of
= Canada I have lived in.
2 Every band had its own charms. Martied to Music, while certainly not my
= favourite type of music (lots of heavy guitars and nonsensical screaming), never-
theless won my heart with the lead singer/guitarist’s penchant for leaving the stage
to fall over and bump into people in the crowd. Plus, any man who finishes a set
playing guitar in the men’s room gets props from this music fan.
The Constantines delivered a different type of enjoyment. Hailing on my
birthplace of Guelph, Ontario, these boys have been turning heads for theit sweet
mix of arty, oe song construction with oe old-fashioned sore: ut. Ie

May 11/2005 www.theotherpress.ca | 13