• recently on twitter.com/dsamojlenko

    • Matisyahu crowd surfing in Ottawa:http://digg.com/u184lI #wheresmatis @matisyahu #
    • Bluesfest Day 4: Hey Rosetta! and Matisyahu – http://digg.com/u184oC #
    • Girl Talk! #
    • My legs are bluesfested out #
    • Bluesfest Day 5: scheduling screwup, New Mastersounds, Girl Talk and Joe Cocker – http://digg.com/u18Dm6 (incl. vid of Girl Talk spectacle) #
    • Good times at STP tonight #
    • NICE- vfest lineup includes:Ben Harper, The Pixies, Franz Ferdinand, Sloan, NIN, Pet Shop Boys,Von Bondies, Thunderheist! http://is.gd/1yAyC #
    • Gonna have to RACE home after work today to catch Arkells at Bluesfest! #
    • Bluesfest Day 8: TURN IT UP! http://is.gd/1zXBO #
    • SHOUT IT, SHOUT IT OUT LOUD! #
    • I believe that it is impossible to Rock and/or Roll in lawnchairs – leave ’em at home tonight Ottawa! #
    • Silent Disco is way funnier with headphones off #
    • TURN IT UP! #
    • I think the drummer just blasted off #
    • Shit’s blowin’ up! #
    • Bluesfest Days 6,7,8: KISS baby! http://digg.com/u18cel #
    • Wow, it actually feels like summer today… Nevermind the thunderstorm watch #
    • Shout Out Out Out Out! #
    • Wtf – busta’s 1/2 hour late #
    • Where’s Busta? #
    • Busted? #
    • Only an hour late! #
    • Booooo Busta #
    • I got too much time on my hands – and right down front for Styx/Gowan! #
    • I am the walrus! #
    • Styx! Hell yes! #
    • All kinds of awesome! #
    • Bluesfest Day 9: STYX! (incl. video of Gowan’s Criminal Mind!) http://digg.com/u18ksn #
    • CAKE was delicious #
    • Going to see Hollerado – second last day of bluesfest… 馃檨 #
    • Shit’s goin crazy at ludacris stage – he’s not even here yet #
  • Bluesfest Day 9: STYX!

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    Another great day at Bluesfest!! 聽Can’t believe it’s almost over… just a few days left!

    Day 9 kicked off great with Shout Out Out Out Out from Edmonton – these guys had me dancing before I even got to the festival grounds! 聽Those two drumkits could be heard from way up Booth Street and had my interest piqued right away! 聽These guys were a 聽total blast.

    The huge disappointment of the day was Busta Rhymes, who showed up an hour late for a one hour set on a main stage! 聽Which of course threw the whole schedule off – he got on and played a mere 25 minutes, pushing LIVE’s start time back by half an hour, forcing STYX to play over the last LIVE song, and still end up going over time at 11:00, no doubt sending those noise complainers into a tizzy!

    LIVE was great from what I saw, but I was pretty determined to be up close for STYX – Gowan was my first live concert experience ever and he’s singing and playing keys for them now, so I was all set for a nostalgia trip last night. 聽And they did not disappoint. 聽Good. 聽Solid. 聽Rock. 聽Show.

    We’re on Day 10, and my brain, body and spirit are getting worn down. 聽Sorry for the few words in this post – just take my word for it, this was one of the best days I’ve had at Bluesfest 2009, and that’s saying a lot.

    Included below is what little video I have of STYX performing Gowan’s Criminal Mind. 聽Unfortunately, they started playing it just as I was making my way back from bathroom/beer break, so I was busy fighting my way through the crowd (and covering myself with beer in the process) for the first half of it. 聽WHY, OH WHY did you have to play my song at that exact moment?!

    UPDATE: 聽Here’s a far better video (but crunchier audio) than mine from someone else at the show:

  • Bluesfest Days 6,7,8: KISS Army, baby!

    Well the past couple of days have been a blast – even though 6 and 7 lacked any mind-blowing performances, KISS more than made up for that last night.

    Day 6 was a strange day at Bluesfest – only one stage open, only three bands playing.聽 I only made it down for the second half of Gym Class Heroes, and I was wishing I’d caught more – those guys were a blast.聽 A little bit of rain didn’t dampen anyones spirits as the place started to fill up for Stone Temple Pilots.聽 Now I must admit that I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this show – I was a fan back in the 90’s, but that seems so long ago now, and I just didn’t have a lot of interest.聽 They put on a great show, and I’m interested to see what they turn out in their new album that will be coming out later this year.

    Day 7 there wasn’t anything I was particularly excited about either- Our Lady Peace just doesn’t do it for me.聽 We caught Ice Cube, which was a pretty big disappointment – first off, the volume was way too low – we weren’t even far back, we were at the sound booth – but bylaw was out in full force with their little decibel meters and the show suffered for it.聽 I also guess I’m just not a big gangsta fan, so what are ya gonna do.

    Other than Ice Cube, my brother and I just kinda wandered around the rest of the night – I kinda like nights like that, where you don’t have anything particularly invested in any one show, so you’re free to roam and check out whatever you want and hopefully discover some new stuff in the process. Our travels took us to Xavier Rudd, a Bluesfest favourite who I’d seen in a smaller more intimate venue to which the Bluesfest experience couldn’t compare.聽 Then to The Zombies for a few minutes, Toots & The Maytals at the Hard Rock stage, then over to the Spam Allstars at the Blacksheep stage.聽 All great performances, but there was one mad-dancing-fool at Spam Allstars that had us entertained for a good 40 minutes.

    And then there was Day 8.聽 It started off well enough with a showing by the Arkells who got us off to a great rockin’ start.聽 Then Beast on the Bank of America stage, who I didn’t really know anything about, but I actually bought their CD later on – wow, I haven’t bought a CD in a LONG time!聽 Then for a little fun over to Silent Disco, which is a lot of fun to watch with headphones off, and I can’t help but think would be a lot more fun with headphones on if it was a better DJ.

    And then there was KISS.聽 30,000 fans jammed onto the main field and the KISS army out in full force, these rockers turned out a 2 hour plus rock show of epic proportions!聽 There was fire, there were explosions, there was blood, there were wailing guitar solos and monster drum solos and Paul Stanley flew over the audience and Gene Simmons stalked the stage and flicked his tongue and if there was a roof to be blown off, they surely would have done it.聽 And for one night, Ottawa was ROCK CITY.

    I’ll save my whining about how the volume wasn’t quite where I’d have liked it, at least at the beginning of the show, and about how difficult it is to get a good spot when 30,000 show up to that venue for another time.聽 For now, I’m just basking in the afterglow that always follows a really great rock show.

    I’ll post some video later – didn’t get much.聽 Too busy rocking out.

    Up tonight:聽 Styx – or more specifically, Gowan their new lead singer.聽 Gowan was the first concert I ever went to, and while I know this will really be a Styx show, I noticed on their setlists that they’ve been playing one or two Gowan songs on this tour.聽 Memory lane, here I come baby!

  • Bluesfest Day 8: TURN IT UP!

    I haven’t written anything the past few days because I’ve been low on time, and low on enthusiasm – not much has really blown me away – I will write days 6 and 7 up later, but for now let me talk about tonight.聽 Tonight is a big night.聽 I have a lot of stuff to see, including the one that I think half the city is going to show up for tonight, KISS.聽 Apparently the lineups have already started at the gates – excitement is high – it’s going to be a wild show tonight!

    But here’s the thing, you Ottawa complainers:聽 you’ve already ruined half the shows with your incessant whining about the volume.聽 When Joe Cocker played the other night and I was standing just across the field from the stage, I didn’t know he had started until well into his first song because the volume was WAY TOO LOW!聽 Ice Cube’s beats yesterday lacked any kind of punch, I assume thanks to the bylaw officer standing in front of me taking his readings.聽 Sound bleed from other stages is worse than ever because of the decreased volume.

    Dear Ottawa, can we lighten up just a bit?聽 I know, we’re all sleepy public servants and all this fun is really starting to cramp our style, but can’t we all just learn to have fun for just one day? (or dare I ask for just one week?)聽 Let’s put away the lawn chairs and decibel meters and get bylaw off the speed dial and just revel in the fact that the legendary KISS is here and it’s going to be the most beautiful night of the festival, and tonight let’s just ROCK ‘N FUCKIN’ ROLL!

  • Bluesfest Day 5: Girl Talk!

    I am mighty pissed off about one thing from yesterday – as I walked onto the grounds and grabbed a daily schedule, I was informed of a schedule change – that Land of Talk would be switched with Jenn Grant and would play at 6:15 instead of 4:45. So we just kinda wandered around and caught some bits and pieces elsewhere, noteably New Mastersounds from the Uk, who were great fun and were not happy until everyone on the Hard Rock Stage hillside was standing and enjoying the show.

    Then later as we were making our way to The Black Sheep stage at 6:00 to see Land of Talk, we bumped into a friend who claimed she’d just come from watching them! That they went on at 4:45 as scheduled! I double checked, and sure enough, the schedule I had indicated a change, the schedule posted in the Wired tent indicated a change, but THERE WAS NO CHANGE!… angry angry.

    Then we spent the better part of the next hour trying to stay dry due to the rain (THAT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE!), and waiting for Girl Talk! I’ve seen GT before in Montreal, and while I’d say that show was better overall in terms of energy and vibe (Montreal crowds are just amazing), one thing I did appreciate was being able to be relatively close without the fear of being in an out-of-control pit (Montreal was insane – I stayed in the balcony).

    Girl Talk always puts on an amazing show – his live sets have become legendary for their energy and party atmosphere. He always says that he recognizes that he’s a laptop dj, and who wants to just watch a guy f’ing around on a computer, so he tries to take it to another level. With various projectiles and confetti and beach balls and giant ballons, plus the lucky selected group of people dancing on stage (in MTL, people just rushed past an overwhelmed security team and tore down railings to get up there!), the Girl Talk show is quite a spectacle, really something that has to be seen to be believed.

    The sound from the main stage last night was notably lower – damn stupid complainers in Ottawa! – in fact, we were at the far end of the main field and hadn’t even realized Joe Cocker had started playing until well into his first song. We stuck around for a bit of his set, but unfortunately were feeling a bit broken, on my part after 5 days of bluesfesting with two nights in a row of mad dancing to Matisyahu and Girl Talk, and the body just isn’t as resilient as it once was.

    So there were a couple of big misses, obviously missing Land of Talk was a huge disappointment, but we also didn’t get to catch Thunderheist at either of their performances yesterday – they were on at the same time as Girl Talk, so we missed them there, and then they were supposed to play Byward Blues later on, and we’d planned on making it down there, but as I mentioned previously, we were all feeling pretty broken and decided to rest our weary bones instead. At some point you have to accept the fact that you just can’t see everything!

    Tonight is pretty light – only one stage open and one headliner: Stone Temple Pilots. Should be fun. 7 days left!

    Included below is a bit of the mad spectacle that is Girl Talk.

    UPDATE: From what I understand, Land of Talk was initially delayed because the drummer was caught up at immigration and so they made the switch, but then problems cleared up at immigration and he ended up making it in time, so they switched back. My problem with this is that they had already distributed flyers with the change made, including the one that I got! I’m still really pissed off about this. I was looking forward to seeing them!

  • recently on twitter.com/dsamojlenko

    • WWIII propaganda posters: http://is.gd/1oVUQ #
    • may have a spare ticket for opening night of Bluesfest tomorrow (wed) evening – The Black Keys, Jeff Beck, among others… takers? #
    • Boooo lawnchairs and boooo umbrellas – Amos the Transparent is kickin it tho #
    • The Black Keys ROCKED! #
    • great night at Bluesfest – Sergent Garcia had the Black Sheep Stage hopping! #
    • My Bluesfest, Day 1: Amanda Rheaume, Amos the Transparent, The Black Keys, Jeff Beck, and Sergent Garcia – http://is.gd/1spoH #
    • RJD2 has been moved to Whisky bar tonight – guess Ritual hasn’t sorted out their Liquor License yet #
    • Also, Sergent Garcia has been added to the free stage at York Street tonight – go if you get a chance! #bluesfest #
    • so cool: http://is.gd/1swT0 #
    • Here we go, Holy F*ck! #
    • Missed Iron and Wine – oops – damn tight scheduling… Ben Harper, here we come! #
    • Under Pressure! Awesome! #
    • My Bluesfest, Day 2: Holy F*ck, Metric and Ben Harper – with video! http://digg.com/u17pBO #
    • The Stills! #
    • Now down to the market to see The Proclaimers and Arrested Development #
    • I want to see @matisyahu this weekend! Ottawa! #
    • Thanks @matisyahu – can’t wait! #
    • Arrested Development was awesome! #
    • Bluesfest Day 3: The Stills, The Proclaimers, Arrested Development, Jackson Browne and Peter Murphy: http://digg.com/u17xNN (inc. video!) #
    • Gettin wet with Hey Rosetta! #
    • Got me a spot nice and close for Matisyahu! #
    • Matisyahu was amazing tonight! #
  • Bluesfest Day 4: Matisyahu!

    Just a quick video post today – no time to write anything up. 聽Yesterday was Hey Rosetta! and Matisyahu, both great performances, Matisyahu being one of two shows I’ve most been looking forward to this week (the other being Girl Talk tonight).

    Speaking of tonight, the list is as follows: 聽Land of Talk, King Khan & BBQ Show, Girl Talk, Joe Cocker, Thunderheist, Mistress Barbara. 聽On my way there soon!

    Included below a video of Matisyahu crowd surfing during King Without a Crown. 聽The camera I’m using takes better video than my other one, but the sound is crap. 聽So what are you going to do.

  • Bluesfest Day 3: Arrested!

    What a day of music! 聽Started at 6:00 at the main festival grounds for The Stills from Montreal. 聽I’ve only recently gotten into these guys, but really enjoyed their showing here.

    Then we trekked across town to York Street for The Proclaimers who were great, but really I only know 2 songs of theirs, and they played them – so cool, I guess. 聽The big blowout performance of the day for me goes to Arrested Development. 聽What a blast – York Street was packed with people dancing their brains out. 聽This show made all the running around totally worth it! 聽I had a permanent smile on the whole show – the dancing, the singing, the rapping, the beats and the band, and what a party vibe it was!

    Then we hiked back over to Lebreton for some Jackson Browne, and I scooted over to the Subway (you’ll always be The River Stage to me) Stage for a quick look at Steve Earle. 聽Both shows were great from what I saw, but really nothing at this point for me could even hold a candle to what had happened at York Street earlier.

    That is until I hit Maverick’s at midnight for Peter Murphy! 聽I never really knew anything about this guy – other than he was with BauHaus, and had a track on the Pump Up The Volume (great movie!) soundtrack. 聽After a late start, due to some issues with the sound system which forced them to scale back the show a bit, Peter took the stage and had the audience wrapped around his finger for the hour and a half show. 聽That voice! 聽That sound! 聽The band was solid, and Peter’s vocal power and stage presence was just incredible. 聽I’m so glad to have gotten a chance to see him at such an intimate space. 聽Thanks to my good friend Jordan for the recommendation!

    Only missed one show that I really wanted to see, DeVotchKa. 聽The timing just didn’t work out – still, not bad for the amount of running around we did.

    Tonight will be pretty light in terms of schedule – Hey Rosetta! at 7pm and then one of the acts I’ve most been looking forward to, Matisyahu at 9:30! 聽I actually won two free tickets from Matis for tonight (I’m still blown away by the direct message from him over twitter!) – I’m so looking forward to this – I think I’m going to have to get right down front for a change!

    Below is a video of Arrested Development performing their hit Mr. Wendall. 聽Sorry for the shakey camera – hey, you try taking video on a still camera with no image stabilization and a party as rockin’ as this going on all around you!

  • Bluesfest Day 2: Relentless!

    Ben Harper blew us all away last night, and that’s just about all there is to say about Day 2. 聽Oh, except that Metric FUCKING ROCKED, proving that they deserved the upgrade to the bigger stage this year, and Holy Fuck was just, well, holy fuck they were good – I loved the garage sale of instuments they work with.

    I’ve never seen Ben Harper play live before, and to be honest, I never really even knew much of his stuff. I’ve known OF him for years of course, and I know some of his songs, but I just never really spent much time with his music. Well, with last night as an introduction, that’s sure to change. What a great performer – he laid it all out for us, and the crowd loved him and he was so appreciative and obviously loving every minute up there. Highlight of my night was the cover of Queen’s Under Pressure, one of my favourite songs.

    Emily Haines of Metric was in a super-chatty-good mood last night and was interacting a lot with the crowd. I only caught a bit of their show last year, but I think they benefited from the bigger stage and the bigger crowd due to the exposure from the recent release of their album, Fantasies. If nothing else (and there’s lots to love about the “church of” Metric live show), Emily is a lot of fun to watch, frolicking around the stage in an aerobic display of stage antics that takes the wind out of you just watching.

    Missed a few things I’d hoped to see – I got down to the site a bit later than expected, so I didn’t get a chance to catch my friend Marie-Josee Houle, and there was just too much overlap of good shows to catch my other good friend Ana Miura, or Iron & Wine. 聽I also didn’t make it down to see RJD2 as I’d hoped – was just too tired and couldn’t find a companion to join me for the show and wasn’t feeling like drinking alone.

    Tonight will be spent running back-and-forth between venues: The Stills at LeBreton, then The Proclaimers and Arrested Development at York Street, then back to LeBreton for DeVotchKa, Jackson Browne, and maybe a bit of Steve Earle and King Sunny Ade. Then if all goes well, back down to Mavericks for Peter Murphy. Phew!

    Included below is a video of Ben Harper and Relentless7 playing an amazing cover of Queen’s Under Pressure – I know, the video is piss-poor quality and really shakey and has terrible sound, but well, that’s what you get.

  • My Infinite Summer: Week 2 and a bit

    I was so proud of myself – for TWO WEEKS, I was right on schedule with my reading!聽 I was able to follow along on the Infinte Summer website, peruse the forums, I was doing JUST FINE.聽 Until this week.聽 I’m now 25 pages behind, and falling back quickly.聽 I know we’re only into the second day of Bluesfest, but I blame Bluesfest.聽 This 25 page gap wouldn’t be so bad if I could spend some time on the weekend catching up, but that’s SO not going to happen.聽 What’s going to happen is Bluesfest (BOOZEFEST), and that’s about it.聽 My life is music for the next 11 days.

    I am, of course, carrying the book with me everywhere, so any chance I get I’ll read what I can.聽 But I’m a slow reader at the best of times, and a page or two at lunch, and a page or two on the way to Bluesfest and on the way home, and at best a couple of pages before passing out of exhaustion each night, is just not going to cut it.

    I only hope that I’ll be able to get caught back up at the end of it!聽 Even if I don’t, I’m not going to give up – I will finish this book this time through, on schedule or no.聽 It’s just so much more fun to be able to follow along with everyone…

    By the way, I am really enjoying the book.聽 As befuddling as it can be sometimes, it’s always entertaining.