Winnipeg, MB

Had a chance to see Jose Gonzalez perform live at the Park Theatre last night. The Park Theatre is an intimate and enchanting little theatre that can fit around 240 seats. I went through a Jose stage last year and was into both Veneer and In Our Nature. I was surprised, like most people, that the indie folk singer-songwriter actually resided from Sweden. I was also shocked to find out that his previous musical experience came from playing in a plethora of hardcore punk/rock bands. His music seemed so soothing and serene that you would assume he had a more folky/classical upbringing.

To be honest, I grew tired of Gonzalez’s sound. A lot of the songs started sounding familiar. For $25, I thought he was worth checking out. I’m glad I did. Frankly, I’ve never seen such a unique way of playing the guitar. Let me set the scene first. When I walked into the quaint theatre just before his set, all there was on stage was a yellow chair on a with a couple of smallish amps and two microphones. One for vocals and the other for the guitar. There was no keyboardist, no bassist, no percussion, nothing. I always thought there was two or sometimes three guitars when listening to his albums.

When he got on stage, he proceeded to tune his guitar, in what seemed to be an ‘Drop D’ tuning. He continually adjusted the tunings inbetween songs on his classical guitar for the remainder of the gig, which I liked because it was more spontaneous and intimate. It was just a guy and his guitar. The only “produced” part of the show was a couple of horns that were mixed in by the sound guy at the very end of two songs.

I was captivated by Gonzalez’s technique. He used his thumb to pluck the E-string for the base lines, and the rest of his fingers hammered, slid, picked, and strumed enthralling variations. By using a “classical-like” technique, he managed to create an arrangement that sounded like there was a bassist, lead guitar, and a rhythm guitar. His vocals only supported his mastery of the 6 nylon strings.

Below is some footage of the show I found on YouTube. The songs called “Hint”. If you get a chance you’ve got to check him out. ~TJK

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Wilco rocked Winnipeg’s Burton Cummings Theatre on May 2nd.. I would rate the show in my top 3 of all time. I recently found this clip of Cline’s guitar solo in “Impossible Germany”. They had to cancel their tour stop in Winnipeg last year due to Cline getting a bad dose of the chicken pox. They returned and played a 3-hour set with only songs that the Winnipeg fans voted for on the band’s website. Bravo Wilco! Bravo!
~TJK

Originally named “Manitoba”, Caribou, puts on a great show in my home town Winnipeg, ‘Manitoba’; The irony is overwhelming. Ha! But seriously, Caribou rocked it on Sunday night. I was curious as to how Ontario native, Daniel Snaith, would transition his dreamy indie electronic melodies off recently released gem Andorra, into a captivating live show. Snaith, who has a Ph.D. in mathematics, passed this test with an A+.  

The Fuck Buttons opened with a very loud and interesting set, but it was Snaith and new temporary recruit, Ahmed Gallab, who dazzled the Albert’s packed house with some fantastic drumming. Along with vocals, the guitar, the recorder, and what looked like some kind of sampler, Snaith played the drums along side Gallab creating fantastic beats that got the Winnipeg crowd revved up.   

In a BBC mini-doc showing how the Andorra was created, Snaith stated that he didn’t want to sound like the record was made on the computer. To combat this Snaith compiled about 670 sound tracks and layered them on to each other. He translated this onto the stage by brialliantly highlighting the drumming and vocals in the show, both of which are subdued on Andorra. If you get a chance try to catch Caribou’s show while they are still on tour, you won’t be dissappointed.

~TJK