the bad kind of Certs that taste so good...

Eels
@ The Phoenix. Saturday June 25

my thoughts:

wow, what a show! "E" (the lead vocalist and songwriter) sauntered in wearing a tweed suit of sorts, and sporting his trademark bushy beard and post-nerd glasses. he lit a large cigar in the otherwise smokeless concert theatre, the effect of the smoke as immediate as it was powerful ... the lighting was perfect ...

he was surrounded by six other wonderful multi-instrumental musicians: one of the best upright bassists i've seen outside of the jazz scene; a guy alternating between creating rhythmic heaven with only a stick and a saw, and the tapping out of percussion magic with an additional stick, a suitcase, and a modified trash can; and a four-person string section, playing in a variety of styles ranging from classical and picking, to awkward jerks worthy of the Eels songs they accompanied ...

the sound was perfect .... the music was perfect ....

they played an encore ... the house lights came on afterward .. a CD started playing ... the crowd persisted in clapping and screaming for five minutes ... the band came out and played a second encore ... again, the house lights were turned on completely and a CD started playing ... some people left ... the rest of us hooted and hollered for a full fifteen minutes while the crew started clearing the floors ... the band eventually came out again, this time wearing their casual clothes, E already in his pajamas! they were floored by our response, thanked us profusely, and played one more song ....

the second disc of their latest double-album is quickly becoming one of my favourites of the year ... listen to the tracks "hey man (now you're really living)" or "if you see natalie" if you have a chance ....

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Modest Mouse
Broken Social Scene
Metric
Do Make Say Think
@ Olympic Island, Sunday June 26

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Billy Corgan
@ The Carlu. Saturday July 2

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Jimmy Eat World
Green Day
@ Molson Park. Friday August 12