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Jacob thoughfully pointed out to me today that the Jimmy Swift Band is appearing live and in concert this Friday, January 28th at Maverick’s here in Ottawa. Leading critics agree that this is a great live band. You should all come out and see them.
Remember yesterday when a bunch of us CFS types went out on the Canmore town and had a skanking good time? Well, the same group ventured out again tonight, this time with Phil and Jacob in tow. Back to the “HO” in search of more of the same.
So, um , wow.
At first I thought it was just me. I don’t tend to get out that much any more to see live shows, so perhaps the previous night’s entertainment was merely an aberration…but everyone around me was grooving. Eric’s actually in a band (and he’s older than dirt 
so if he thinks the Jimmy Swift Band are “bloody amazing,” then I’m inclined to agree. I can’t recall seeing a better live performance in the recent past. A small note to the lead vocalist/guitarist: if you’re going to wail on your guitar like a madman, turn around and face the audience. Aspiring air guitarists everywhere want to see that shit!
I picked up their studio album at the end of the evening. It’s good, but as is always the case, it lacks the fire of their live performance. They have a new live album coming out next week(!) which I’m eagerly anticipating. If you get the chance to see these guys live, by all means do so!
I’m currently in Canmore for a CFS retreat. I’m pretty sure the drive up from Calgary last night would have looked something like this, had it not been pitch black outside.
It’s been a pretty successful trip so far on a personal level. Upon arriving last night, I had dinner at a local brew pub with one of my coworkers, Brian, whom I had never met before. We got along pretty well, well enough to reacquaint ourselves with the concept of offsales, if nothing else. I also got to meet Nic for the first time. I don’t think it’s actually possible to describe our working relationship, except to say that it has been every different type of crazy since he began last spring. Turns out he’s a pretty nice guy in person as well.
Lots of new faces here today, although everyone, new and old, seems to spend the time between sessions either staring out the window or hunkered down with their laptops.
After Peter declared us done for the day, Robert, Eric, Nic and yours truly headed downtown to decompress a little and check out the Canmore nightlife. We ended up at the Canmore Hotel — affectionately referred to as the “HO”, or so I’m told — and were treated to a great live dancehall set from NYC-based King Django, backed up by Winnipeg’s JFK & The Conspirators. I’ve been a closet fan of dancehall and ska since my university days, and for this I blame Reiss, of course. Heck, Guelph is even in the midst of a dancehall revival, if my recent bar excursions there are any indication.
I thought JFK et al. were quite good, although I do generally agree with Eric’s premise that having your drummer also be the lead vocalist is a bad idea. To the drummer’s credit, his dancehall style was very good, even if no one else in our group appreciated his frequent jabs directed at the T-Dot. King Django himself came on later and blew everyone away with his trombone stylings, although I was pretty bagged by then and couldn’t really get into it.
Who needs sleep?
When I’m in doubt as to how to title a given entry, I often find it helpful to resort to appropriately chosen rap lyrics.
For Thanksgiving this year, my family ventured out to Navan to have dinner with my Aunt and Uncle. Yes, these really are pictures of us swimming on Thanksgiving in their new saltwater pool. Well, OK, most of the pictures are actually of us sitting in the hot tub. We’re not that crazy.
While pining today for my wife who is still half a world away in the Magi…er, United Kingdom, I came across another great muscial find in the form of UK DJ, James Zabiela. By all accounts, his live performances are something to behold. The Essential Mix of his that I have managed to track down certainly backs that up, and I’m eagerly looking for more.
I concede that it is possible that it is just me, but “My My My” by Armand Van Helden is one of the dancin’est tracks I have heard in a while.
