Romeo Dallaire fights to end use of child soldiers in new documentary

Romeo Dallaire

Canadian general Romeo Dallaire witnessed the slaughter of 800,000 people in 100 days when he was the United Nations force commander in Rwanda in 1994. Something like that stays with you, and he's now embarked on a global mission to eradicate the use of child soldiers -- who played such a big role in that genocide.

Dallaire's return to the war-torn region of Africa is chronicled in a book and new documentary that was shot last spring and is making its Canadian premiere this week: Fight Like Soldiers Die Like Children.

There are an estimated 250,000 child soldiers fighting in 30 conflicts around the world, and Dallaire says: "If we can make them cry as a child again, I would think that they'd want to get rid of the weapon and not want to play real life soldier anymore."

Children who are kidnapped and used as soldiers, slaves and bush wives are all too common in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Uganda and Sudan. And while the Joseph Kony-led Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is the most notable exploiter, there are many other militias using similarly despicable tactics since child soldiers are relatively easy to corral and they offer an upper hand to those who use them.

Dallaire visited several camps and talked to UN representatives, rebel commanders and, most importantly, former child soldiers and bush wives who were taken against their will but lucky enough to eventually escape. Shocking, however, is the estimated 25-per cent recidivism rate since many of these kids often have no better alternative awaiting them in their home villages since they're often mistrusted and viewed as bandits.

Fight Like Soldiers Die Like Children shows what's being done to try and stop kids from being used as tools of war, and features some poignant stories from people who've been on the front lines in one way or another. It also illustrates how some community groups are arming themselves and being trained to defend against rebel attacks, and we're introduced to a father and the two children he rescued from the LRA after they were kidnapped.

Dallaire admits that it will take years to achieve his goal, if it's ever to be attained, but one of the best sequences in the film is when two teens who fought each other in the bush for opposing sides become friends once they get out of it and are taken by helicopter to an ex-combatants' camp in DRC before they're reunited with their families.

Scenes like this leave some room for optimism, as did a conversation I had last year with a lovely young woman named Grace Acan who was kidnapped by the LRA and spent eight years in virtual enslavement as the bush wife a despotic commander before escaping. She's now getting a university education and using her horrifying experiences to try and promote the rights of children.

Dallaire has a fairly high profile through his past experiences and a previous Emmy Award-winning documentary he made with Fight Like Soldiers Die Like Children director Patrick Reed: Shake Hands With The Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire.

The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative is a global partnership committed to ending the use and recruitment of child soldiers worldwide by researching practical solutions, advocating for policy change and conducting comprehensive, prevention-oriented training. It works with military, police and peacekeeping forces and equips first responders and humanitarian agencies with the necessary tools and training to demobilize child soldiers and protect children at risk of recruitment. It aims to end this crime against humanity community-by-community and country-by-country once and for all.

Hopefully this film can mobilize more support for the initiative and others working toward similar goals.

Fight Like Soldiers Die Like Children will be screened in Toronto as part of the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival at 2 p.m. on April 29 at Hart House and at 5:30 p.m. on May 5 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. It will play more widely in major cities across Canada starting on various dates next month.

You can watch a trailer of the film here.

Terrorism victims get their turn to talk in Wrong Time Wrong Place

While North America's attention has been focused on the Boston Marathon bombings and the subsequent manhunt for the Tsarnaev brothers who are allegedly responsible for them over the past two weeks, a Dutch documentary titled Wrong Time Wrong Place examines victims of the much more deadly domestic terrorism attacks launched by Anders Breivik in Norway on July 22, 2011.

Breivik, a far right extremist, killed 77 people when he set off a bomb in the centre of Oslo and then went on a shooting spree on the island of Utoya. The 80-minute Wrong Time Wrong Place features interviews with survivors and loved ones of those who weren't so lucky to escape his wrath, and all of their tales are poignant.

Harald, who had recently lost a son to a base-jumping accident, describes what he went through during and after the bomb blast that rocked his office building. It left him almost blind, but he says he would have been beside Breivik's car bomb when it exploded and would have been killed if he'd gone to his office five minutes earlier.

A young, pregnant Ugandan woman named Ritah who now lives at a Dutch refugee camp describes her excitement about visiting a Labour Party youth camp at Utoya and the fun she had there before escaping death by hiding from Breivik in a bathroom stall. She still dreams of the faces of girls killed on the island and questions why she survived while others didn't. She named her son Michael after an angel who she believes helped save her.

The parents of a young woman named Tamta from the country of Georgia blame themselves for letting her go to Norway, and her mother talks of a prophecy which foretold her daughter's death. They talk of how she always refused to take swimming lessons, and believe she might have survived like some others who dove into the water to get away if she only knew how to swim. She was Breivik's final victim before his arrest and was shot twice from behind by the water's edge.

Tamta's friend Natia invited her to Utoya with her, and they saw it as a chance to go abroad and take on a challenge. She questions why she survived and Tamta didn't as she revisits the massacre scene and concludes that it was "by pure chance."

A young Norwegian man named Hakon was waiting for the ferry to Utoya when he saw a van pull up and a man in a police uniform with guns (which turned out to be Breivik in disguise) get out to board the ferry. He admits that he joked about checking his police ID, and says he was only on the island for a few minutes before the shooting began. He invited Ritah and another young woman named Hajon to hide with him in the toilet stall.

Finally, a Norwegian man named Halvor went base-jumping on that fateful day instead of going to work, avoiding the misfortune of his two colleagues who were killed in the bombing.

Ritah speaks accented English, while the other interview subjects communicate in their native tongues, so you have to pay close attention to the subtitles to appreciate the sad and moving tales they tell. While so much attention is deservedly focused on the perpetrators of horrific acts, it's also enlightening to hear from those who were impacted by them and how their lives will be affected until they draw their last breath.

If circumstances and coincidences were just slightly different for most of these people, that last breath would have already been taken.

The soundtrack to Mexico's drug wars

I had a great time travelling throughout southern Mexico for two weeks late last year, but you wouldn't catch me dead in the United States border city of Juarez. And that's because too many people are already turning up dead there.
 
Police in this city of 1.5 million people across the Rio Grande River from El Paso, Texas processed an already high 320 murders in 2007. Then the Mexican government launched a drug war against the cartels and those numbers increased to 1,623 homicides in 2008, 2,754 in 2009 and 3,622 in 2010, compared to just five in El Paso.

The violence involved in these killings -- including torture, disfigurement and beheadings -- makes the law-abiding people of Juarez fearful and the economic health of the already poor city has declined significantly. Narco Cultura looks at the harsh realities of Juarez through the eyes of a crime scene investigator named Richi.

While that in itself would make a compelling documentary, director Shaul Schwarz also profiles Los Angeles singer Edgar Quintero and his band, BuKnas de Culiacan. Quintero sings narco corridos -- songs that glorify the gangsters and their drug-dealing, mass-killing ways -- which have become very popular in the U.S. and several Spanish-speaking countries as well as Mexico.

Much of the music, based on Mexico's accordion-driven norteno mixed with other popular genres, is often catchy and danceable. But the lyrics, often about real people and events, are repulsive. Here's a typical example from BuKnas de Culiacan, which performs with a group member carrying a bazooka, while audience members happily sing along:

"With an AK-47 and a bazooka on my shoulder/Cross my path and I'll chop your head off/We're bloodthirsty, crazy, and we like to kill/We are the best at kidnapping/Our gang always travels in a caravan/With bulletproof vests, ready to execute/I'm number one, code name 'M1'/I'm backed up by El Chapo/My name is Manuel Torres Felix sending greetings from Culiacan."

The top-selling narco singer, El Komander, makes $45,000 per show playing in large venues and is sought for steady bookings across Mexico and the U.S. Mexican action movies based on narco corridos, with singers as their stars, are available in major American chain stores. These guys are, to borrow a cliche, "living like rock stars."

This film deserves kudos for effectively juxtaposing the adulation received by narco singers against the lack of recognition given to investigators who risk their lives daily while trying to solve and stop drug murders. 

But where the movie suffers somewhat is in ignoring how narco singers and musicians have also become victims as well as chroniclers in the wars between the vicious cartels. Dozens have been executed. If you're singing the praises of one gang, that makes you the enemy of another. And these grudges are deadly.

That topic could make an interesting documentary on its own. But Narco Cultura opens eyes in depicting ways of life that, thankfully, are virtually unknown in Canada.

The Manor opens Hot Docs Festival

The Manor seems like a bit of an odd choice to open the 20th edition of the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

Sure, it's Canadian and a world premiere, but I would have expected the curators to come up with something with a bigger impact to commemorate this milestone year. The Manor touches on several societal issues, but it leaves little lasting impression at the end of its 78 minutes.

The film is based around the dysfunctional Cohen family and its business, a Guelph, Ont. strip joint and low-budget, 32-room hotel that in better days was the home of early 20th century beer barons of the Sleeman family. Thirty-something director Shawney Cohen says (though far from boastfully) at the beginning of the film that his father bought him a lap dance for his 13th birthday and he's been on the fence about the place ever since he was a kid -- even though he's worked as a manager there for years.

The father, Roger, is a cigar-smoking, 400-pound Israeli immigrant who realizes his weight his negatively affecting his health. But instead of dieting or trying to exercise, he opts for stomach reduction surgery (shown briefly in graphic detail) which eventually gets him down to a far from svelte 300 pounds.

But it's hard to lose weight when your wife is constantly pushing large trays of food your way, even though Brenda weighs a mere 85 pounds and finally admits that she has an eating disorder toward the end of the film after her frail body can't withstand a fall and she breaks a hip.

Shawney's younger brother Sammy started working at The Manor right out of high school. He seems to enjoy the lifestyle and invites a stripper to move in with him in his parents' basement -- breaking two of his father's rules: you're not supposed to date staff or non-Jews. Sammy breaks up with her, even though she seems to be the most well-adjusted person on the screen, before the film is over.

Two other non-family members also play supporting roles, and they have their own problems.

Bobby is Roger's assistant and has been in and out of prison all his life. He admits to his boss that he's selling drugs and then he's jailed for assaulting his ex-wife. We learn at the end that the charges were dropped and he was released after a year, but he no longer works at The Manor.

Then there's Susan, the hotel manager who also lives there, who's rushed to hospital after what we're told is either a suicide attempt or drug overdose. Roger clears all of her stuff from her room the next day, but she's allowed to move back in a few weeks later after she recovers.

Roger is very anti-drug and converts the hotel to a halfway house for addicts and homeless people called Sue's Inn Support Centre. Meanwhile, he's shown insulting an overweight peeler that he's watching on a security camera at the club.

Business isn't as good as it used to be, which further stresses Roger and -- although the family seems to live comfortably in a large rural home with a gated driveway and backyard pond -- he refuses to pay for Brenda's counselling once she finally admits she needs help.

Brenda attends one session, but doesn't return for more, citing a lack of funds. Roger admits that he's grown apart from his wife because of The Manor, and Sammy says he resents his old man for treating her "like a piece of shit."

While The Manor is still going, Roger shows Shawney his plans to redevelop it into a condominium complex as the movie nears completion.

The film was shot over two years and, while real life seldom ties plot lines together neatly, The Manor leaves the viewer hanging in too many places without a resolution to any of them. That's the documentary's downfall. It leaves you wanting to know more, but not enough to warrant a sequel.

I wish the Cohens, Bobby and Susan well. They need all the support they can get.

A tribute to the legendary Stompin' Tom Connors

Dave Bidini and Chris Parson

I was honoured to be one of the volunteers who helped coordinate the April 10 tribute to Stompin' Tom Connors spearheaded by the multi-talented Dave Bidini, and it seems that pretty much everyone who filled the Horseshoe Tavern for it was as thrilled as I was with how things turned out.

Chris Parson was an adept organizer, Daniel Bradshaw made sure that things ran smoothly as artists rotated on and off the stage to honour Tom by interpreting his songs, and many other people made valuable contributions both before and during the concert that kept folks entertained and raised more than $6,000 for Street Soccer Canada and the Toronto Homeless Soccer League via ticket and poster sales, a silent auction and a draw.

Jokers Hockey Club

Tom Connors Jr.'s hockey team started the proceedings at 9:30 p.m. in typical patriotic fashion by singing "O Canada," something much more commonly heard before hockey games than concerts. But the sporting world was well-represented, with former NHL player Boyd Devereaux (who I interviewed six years ago about his love of music) and sports broadcasters Stephen Brunt, Sid Sixeiro and Dave Hodge all appearing on stage over the course of the three-and-a-half-hour show at the club where Tom played so often during his career.

Rheodinis

The grand-daughter of "Wop" May, "the top Canadian pilot of the day" who Tom wrote a song about, was in the house along with a musical member of parliament, Charlie Angus. They were just two people from a large cross-section of friends and fans of the man who passed away after a very full life at age 77 on March 6.

And of course there were the musicians, all of whom shared respect and appreciation for what Tom did in his career and how his maverick approach to the music industry indirectly opened doors for them. They freely gave their time to sing his songs and further strengthen that bond, even though the man in the black has has left us -- in body, but certainly not in spirit.

I shirked a bit on my normal note-taking since I was busy co-ordinating interviews and performance shots for CityNews, giving away ball caps from sponsor Labatt 50 and selling five-dollar souvenir posters, so this set list may not be quite complete, but it should give you a good idea of who performed and what they played:

Dave Robinson

Rheodinis: "Bridge Came Tumbling Down," "Gumboot Cloggeroo," "Wop May," "The Ketchup Song" and "To It And At It"
Kurt Swinghammer: "Snowmobile Song"
Shawn Creamer (The Beauties): "Ben in the Pen"
Peter Elkas: "Bud the Spud"
Steve Stanley (The Lowest of the Low): "TTC Skidaddler"
Dave Robinson: "Algoma Central #69"
Tom Wilson: "Old Atlantic Shore"
Charlie Angus: "Fire in the Mine" and "Reesor Crossing Tragedy"

Charlie Angus

Whiskey Jack: "Gumboot Cloggeroo," "Bud the Spud" and "The Hockey Song"
Mikey Chuck Rivers: "Peterborough Tuesday Night: A Stompin' Tome to Tom Connors"
Shiloh Harrison and Andrew DeVillers: "Red River Jane"
Elliott Brood:
Jose Contreras and Lily Frost: "Sudbury Saturday Night"
Paul Kolinski: "I Am The Wind"
Stephen O'Grady: "Streets of Toronto"
Matt James and Boyd Devereaux: "Tillsonburg"
Jen Cutts: "Muckin' Slushers"
B.A. Johnston: "Rubberhead"
Jerry Leger: "Don Valley Jail"
Doug Feaver: "Bud the Spud"
All performers: "The Hockey Song"

Thanks to everyone who came out and helped make the night so much fun. If you didn't make it out, there seems to be a groundswell of support for making the tribute an annual event, so you might still have a chance. 

Jeff MacNeil and Stephen O'Grady

Playing Tom's songs late into the night. I think he would have appreciated it -- and tried to keep it going until sunrise.

I raise a toast to you, my friend. I'll be keeping an eye out for small pieces of falling plywood just in case you find a stompin' board in the sky.

If you're interested, you can read some of my interviews with Tom here and here and here.

Blackie Jackett Jr., Scott Kempner and Glen Matlock bring Canadian Music Festival to successful conclusion

The 2013 Canadian Music Festival concluded on a high note for me at the Rivoli with a set from some young veterans and two from veteran veterans.

Blackie Jackett Jr.

Blackie Jackett Jr. is a traditionally influenced country-rock outfit formed by Finger Eleven rhythm guitarist Rick Jackett and lead guitarist/backing vocalist James Black that released its Whiskey and Tears debut album in 2009. I’ve interviewed the duo (which has filled out to become a full band) a couple of times and liked the 14-song album a lot, but it had been two years since the last time I saw it perform so I was looking forward to its CMF set.

“It’s time to get inebriated,” Black sang in the opening number, which set the tone for a show full of songs celebrating drinking and getting drunk and high. (I was sober, so there was no way that I'm mistaken that a guy with a ventriloquist’s dummy sat down beside me and started talking.) Sandra Dee offered a nice vocal counterpoint to Black with her contributions, and there were also more women in front of the stage than I generally see for a band of this genre.

The set included Whiskey and Tears’ title track as well as staples “Dorothy,” “Stuck in Rewind,” “Married to the Highway” and “Burned (Fuck Me),” as well as new single “I Got Stoned and I Missed It.” Hopefully it won’t be too long before I hear a new album and see more shows, since a night out with Blackie Jackett Jr. is a good time.

Scott Kempner

Scott “Top Ten” Kempner is a founding member of The Dictators and The Del-Lords and has been playing with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Dion DiMucci for years, so the man has a rich pedigree and wide-ranging musical knowledge. He looked every inch the pompadoured rockabilly dude when he sat on a stool by himself with his acoustic guitar and opened an impressive set with The Del-Lords’ “Livin’ On Love” from its criminally overlooked 1984 debut album, Frontier Days, which showed how well rock-and-roll could mesh with country, pop, blues and folk influences.

Kempner’s voice and guitar tone sounded great as he continued with Del-Lords favourites “Burnin’ in the Flame of Love,” “Cheyenne” and “Heaven,” the Latino rockabilly-flavoured “Listening to Elvis,” “Stolen Kisses,” a wonderful cover of The Reflections’ 1964 hit “(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet” and ending with The Dictators’ “Stay With Me,” which was dedicated to the ailing Tommy Ramone, who Kempner replaced on this tour with former Sex Pistol and Rich Kid Glen Matlock.

The Del-Lords have reunited and have a new album called Elvis Club coming out on May 14, so Kempner introduced “Flying” and “Damaged” from it. I’m happy to say that they sounded as good as anything from the band’s ‘80s glory days.

Kempner offered a few amusing anecdotes between songs and, after noticing that I was the only person standing in front of the stage and that I expressed more appreciation than anyone else during his set, he gave me his song list and we had a great conversation for half-an-hour at the end of the night. He’s a genuinely good guy with lots of interesting stories to tell since he’s seen and done so much over a music career that now dates back almost 40 years. I wish I had my recorder with me. Kempner said he’d be back to Toronto with The Del-Lords, and that will be a show that you shouldn’t miss.

Glen Matlock

Glen Matlock was the Sex Pistols' original bassist and co-wrote 10 of the songs on Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols, but he’s largely a forgotten man since most people think of Sid Vicious playing bass (or at least sometimes trying to) with the Pistols. I’ve seen Matlock with the Pistols during two of their reunion shows, but tonight was a chance to see him on his own with an acoustic guitar playing songs from throughout his career.

After a number of angry and confused senior citizens looking for Andy Griffith were asked to leave the premises, Matlock opened with “Somewhere Somehow” that prompted the still relatively modest audience to move forward to the stage. That was followed by “A Different World” and then The Rich Kids’ “Burning Sounds,” which was inspired by Matlock’s favourite ‘60s bands. Matlock asked the audience to clap out a rhythm for the Pistols’ “God Save The Queen.” The crowd sang along and, while I enjoyed Matlock’s acoustic take, it obviously didn’t have anywhere near the impact of the original.

The audience was asked to sing along to the chorus of “Hard Work” and Matlock performed “Ambition” (which he co-wrote and performed on for Iggy Pop’s underrated 1980 album Soldier) in a blues style. The Rich Kids signature song, “Ghosts of Princes in Towers,” was next and provided a small thrill.

Matlock’s cover of The Kinks’ “Dead End Street” was okay, but paled in comparison to Ray Davies’ rendition. The covers continued with Scott Walker’s “Montague Terrace (In Blue)” and the best of them, “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” (which has been done by Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Monkees, the Sex Pistols, The Farm and many others).

“Yeah Right” may have been my favourite from Matlock’s solo catalogue, but he also performed “On Something” and “Born Running” before ending with the Pistols’ “Pretty Vacant’ that left me feeling pretty much the same way as his “God Save The Queen” did. 

Glen Matlock and Scott Kempner

Matlock elected to do an encore and called Kempner up to join him on a cover of The Faces’ “All or Nothing,” which ended things on a high and continued my Faces kick that began a week earlier at the South by Southwest Music Festival by hearing The Split Squad cover “Sorry, She’s Mine” and then Ian McLagan doing “You’re So Rude.”

Rivals, Savages, Invasions, Eyeballs, Brews and more on Canadian Music Festival’s Friday

Kendel Carson and Dustin Bentall

Dustin Bentall is one of those artists who comes through Toronto once or twice a year and I mean to see but never do. That changed last Friday when he performed with his band at the Horseshoe Tavern as part of the Canadian Music Festival.

The roots-rocking, alt.country artist is the son of ‘80s and ‘90s Canadian music star Barney Bentall, but I’ll take junior over pops. He sings and plays electric guitar in front of his band The Smokes (bassist Del Cowsill, drummer Rich Knox and female fiddler Kendel Carson — who I found to be quite smoking), and they play country songs that sound authentic and rock numbers that are full of passion. I’d definitely like to hear a longer set when Bentall and company tour in support of their forthcoming full-length album.

Young Rival has been a favourite Canadian band since the days when it was called The Ride Theory early this century, but its performance at the Horseshoe was the first time I’d seen it since guitarist Kyle Kuchmey left and the group became a trio in late 2009. A short and sweet ‘60s sounding instrumental was tossed amidst hooky rock numbers with vocals like “Two Reasons” and “Authentic” that also harkened back to that era, and a cover of The Deadly Snakes’ “I Can’t Sleep At Night” fit in with the repertoire perfectly.

Young Rival

If you like vintage-sounding, guitar-driven rock-and-roll and power pop, Young Rival should be on your radar. There’s not a lot of dynamism on stage, but musically the group reminds me somewhat of Black Lips without the accompanying mayhem. Young Rival should be much more popular than it is.

Savages, an all-female band from England, caused a buzz the previous week in Austin, Texas at the South by Southwest Music Festival, and that followed the quartet to Toronto for its first Canadian show. The members were all clad in black, and most of their post-punk music was equally dark. Singer Jehnny Beth is very animated, even if she often turned her back to the audience during a set that included “Shut Up” and “I Am Here.” Savages needs more songs, but the four girls are still young and have potential. For now, the group comes across as a blend of Siouxsie and The Banshees and Killing Joke.

Savages' Jehnny Beth

It was time to move on to The Silver Dollar Room and, on the corner of Spadina and College on my way there, I saw club booker Dan Burke get into a car. I thought that was ominous.

Invasions was already on stage when I walked in at 11:15 p.m. I ordered a pint of Molson Stock Ale for $5.75 and the bartender, who I’d never seen before, swiped my $4.25 in change off the bar while I was reaching into my wallet to give her a more sensible smaller tip. I told her to bring my money back and tipped her a buck. I probably shouldn’t have. A lot of the Silver Dollar employees were wearing retro ‘70s blue Adidas tracksuit jackets. I couldn’t help but think that they must have been the result of a Burke “negotiation.” The Silver Dollar can be a sketchy place.

Invasions is a Toronto surf-garage rock band that stands out a bit from the pack because one of its members plays trumpet when he’s not pounding on the keyboards. A not so well done cover of The Kinks’ great “Dead End Street” was inferior to some of the group’s original tunes. Invasions has all the elements of bands I like, but it just didn’t present them consistently enough. Still, I’d see it again.

Invasions

In between bands, Burke ranted about the greatness of Michel Pagliaro and took over a pool table while proclaiming himself king. Then, as quickly as he appeared, he vanished.

Brooklyn, N.Y. band X-Ray Eyeballs was booked in for a three-night residency at the club, but the crowd thinned out a bit after Invasions. The quartet used dry ice and more of a light show than you usually see at The Silver Dollar, but I’d hoped for more musically. The two-male, two-female group lived up to its “new wave garage pop” billing in its 30-minute set, just not as adeptly as I had hoped for. It has a look and sound of something I’d usually be totally in to, but it lacked quality songs.

X-Ray Eyeballs

I hadn’t been to Sneaky Dee’s in about a year, and was disappointed that the beer prices had risen and the windows of the second-storey club had been covered when I arrived for Brews Willis’ 2 a.m. set. The Toronto trio is just what you want to hear at this hour after you’ve had a beer or seven. It’s fun, energetically melodic and slightly sloppy. It opened with “Sweaty Hands” and continued on with “Can’t Fight The Water,” “Hell No Fuck You” and a few others before ending with “Sun Burn Boner Boy,” which the band members continued to play as a friend came on stage and poured shots down their throats. It was an appropriate way to conclude the night.

Brews Willis

Stanfields were the class of Wednesday’s Canadian Music Festival

I arrived toward the end of the Collective Concerts-Ticketfly party on Wednesday to kick off my Canadian Music Festival. I missed the smoked meat sandwiches courtesy of Caplansky’s, but was in time to grab a couple bottles of Labatt 50 before the open bar closed at 8:30 p.m.

The Danks

That gave me time to reach The Silver Dollar Room by 9 p.m. to see The Danks, whose 2009 Are You Afraid of The Danks full-length debut was my fourth favourite album of that year. I hadn’t seen the Charlottetown, P.E.I. group (which shares members with Two Hours Traffic) perform, however, and had high hopes for this set.

They were soon dashed, however, as lead singer/guitarist Brohan Moore’s voice already seemed shot — which didn’t bode well for the rest of the band’s shows the rest of the week. Maybe it was Moore’s voice that threw me off, but I didn’t hear all of the power pop goodness that made Are You Afraid of The Danks so special.

“Die Young” was my favourite of the original songs and although The Danks tried to elicit bigger reactions from covering Devo’s “Girl U Want” and Pixies’ “Alec Eiffel,” it wasn’t in the cards. There was a lack of stage presence and little talking between songs as well, but I’m hoping that was just another part of a young band having an off night in front of a relatively small audience.

Toronto’s Rattlesnake Choir followed on the Silver Dollar stage at 10 p.m. with a roots rock and country set featuring Screamin’ Sam Ferrara on saw, cheese grater and a Slinky-like instrument to augment lead singer/acoustic guitarist/harmonica player John Borra, upright bassist Tony Benattar and keyboardist/accordionist Michael Boguski. The originals were perfectly decent, Handsome Ned’s “I’ve Come to Get My Baby Out of Jail” brought back fond memories and a familiar-sounding instrumental was also enjoyable.

Crazy Strings

Crazy Strings inherited the vibe that Rattlesnake Choir established and kept it going for a larger crowd that was looking to dance by opening with an excellent finger-pickin’ instrumental, covering Lefty Frizzell’s “My Baby’s Just Like Money” and capping things off with The Carter Family’s “I Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow.” These five guys certainly know their way around acoustic guitars, mandolin, banjo and upright bass, and their harmonies are nothing to sneeze at either. Humorous song introductions were the icing on the cake for a fun set from what may be Toronto’s favourite contemporary bluegrass band.

 

The best was saved for last, however, with a midnight set by The Stanfields at The El Mocambo. This Halifax quintet possesses both power and instrumental virtuosity and was riding high on two recent East Coast Music Awards, including the coveted entertainer of the year. This show illustrated why it won, as the crowd down front was dancing from the start to Celtic rock songs that tell stories and include both humour and social commentary.

The Stanfields

Passionate renditions of “Mrs. McGrath,” “Federal Hall,” “Run on the Banks,” “The Road to Guysborough,” “The Boston States” and “Invisible Hands” from last year’s excellent (and ECMA-winning) Death and Taxes sophomore album earned each band member a shot purchased by a fan. The group reached back to its 2010 Vanguard of the Young & Reckless debut for “Ship to Shore” and a rowdy “The Dirtiest Drunk (In the History of Liquor),” which ended the set and left the crowd roaring for more. It didn’t get it, but there was no-one in the room who should have left unhappy.

SXSW 2013 day six: Alejandro Escovedo and pals put on a party

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The final day of the South by Southwest Music Festival didn’t get off to a great start, as my Mixed Media Mongrels softball team had an influx of new and inexperienced players and we got smoked badly and were eliminated from the SXSW tournament after the first game. Luckily, there was lots of free and delicious barbecue from Ruby's to eat at the diamonds afterward and Alejandro Escovedo’s non-SXSW-affiliated show at The Continental Club provided a lot more thrills through Sunday night.

After licking my wounds and relaxing around the condo having a beer and watching Sixteen Candles, I trudged down South Congress Avenue and had a margarita at Guero’s outdoor garden stage while watching a local vintage boogie band getting couples up on the dancefloor.

I crossed the street to the Continental at 6:30 p.m., arriving in time to hear the last couple of songs from Rosie Flores — including one in which Kelly Hogan and other women sang back-up. Best of all, I found a seat. Standing at this show for 10 hours last year after a week of SXSW club-hopping almost did my legs and feet in, so the chair near the back of the intimate, 200-person capacity club was a godsend.

Mighty Stef, an Irish rock-and-roll quartet that’s better than its name, followed shortly thereafter. The audience sang along to “We Want Blood,” but there were no St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans like I’m sure must have been happening at other bars around the city. But colourful Halifax bar owner and former mayoral candidate Victor Syperek cut a dashing figure walking around the club in a top hat with feathers sticking out of the band.

I’d seen Willie Nile a couple of times before, but his 7:15 p.m. set was definitely the most incendiary I’d witnessed. The singer/songwriter/guitarist and his band opened in a big way with “House of a Thousand Guitars” and kept things pumping through a set that also included “Holy War,” “American Ride,” “One Guitar” (with Escovedo and two women singing harmonies) and a ripping cover of Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died” that had much of the room (including me) singing along.

I’ve seen Bobby Bare Jr. a few times in the past, but tonight I got to witness his namesake father, who was one of the biggest names in country music in the 1960s and ‘70s. He looks and sounds great for a 77-year-old, as he sang and played electric guitar in front of a five-piece band that included Jr. on backing vocals. He opened the set with his classic 1963 hit “Detroit City” that induced another sing-along. “Ride Me Down Easy” and a cover of “Tom Dooley” led to Escovedo’s “I Was Drunk,” with the night’s host walking out to share vocals. “Boll Weevil” and “John Hardy” carried the set through to a fine conclusion with Bare's 1974 chart-topper, “Marie Laveau.”

Austin sextet Pong was eclectic and amused me for a while, but I wasn’t sad to see its time on stage come to an end.

I’d first heard Barfield, "The Tyrant of Texas Funk" at Escovedo’s Continental showcase at last year’s SXSW and was pleasantly surprised. Mike Barfield has some interesting dance moves and his band definitely brings some rocking funk, including on one song that incorporated The Clash’s “Magnificent Seven.”

I’m not sure if Gordie Johnson and his bandmates in the reformed Big Sugar spend more time in Austin or Toronto these days. But the group, which got back together in 2010 and released an album a year later, reached back into its catalogue of Canadian hits and opened with 1996’s “Diggin’ A Hole” and ended with 1999’s “Turn The Lights On,” which included some of The English Beat’s “Rough Rider” in the middle. There’s a reggae vibe to more of the material now, not unlike what was found on 2000’s Alkaline side project album, and recent addition Friendlyness does a lot of toasting in addition to his keyboard duties. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.

Kurt Bloch and Peter Buck

R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Bill Rieflin and Scott McCaughey, along with Fastbacks guitarist Kurt Bloch, had been circulating around the club through much of the evening, but the time finally came for them to take the stage together for a 25-minute set heavy on songs from Buck’s self-titled debut from last year. Robyn Hitchcock was standing beside me when the band launched into “Monkey Mask,” and then a go-go dancer came out for “Give Me Back My Wig.”

The crowd got a particular thrill, and a chance to join in, when Mills sang the R.E.M. classic “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville.” A few more rocking and raucous power pop songs followed before things came to an end the same way they do on Buck's album with “I’m Alive.” Buck wasn’t a vocal contributor to R.E.M. and he’s hardly a pure singer, but his rough-hewn growl is suited to the primitive-sounding material he dished out with a large dash of attitude during this performance.

I hadn’t really heard from or thought much of Atlanta’s Drivin N Cryin in 20 years, and didn’t know it was still together, but the quartet’s performance was a revelation and rocked much harder than I was expected. The group is now issuing a six-song EP every 90 days and included a song about “Hot Wheels out of control” from its latest one that seemed as strong as its past material. Given who was in the room, the band’s R.E.M. tribute song was perfectly timed and Mills and McCaughey showed their appreciation from the bar.

Buck joined the group for “10 Million B.C.” from his album and stuck around for Drivin N Cryin’s “Straight to Hell,” with Mills also coming out to add harmonies on the 40-minute set’s final number.

Escovedo had been coming on stage in his snakeskin jacket and ascot to introduce each band throughout the night, but the Continental’s owner did the honour for True Believers — a rocking roots band which he said first played that stage exactly 30 years earlier and changed the Austin music scene forever — which was formed by Alejandro, his guitarist brother Javier, guitarist Jon Dee Graham, drummer Kevin Foley and bassist Denny DeGorio. True Believers have reunited and this performance would be the last of several it did during SXSW.

True Believers

The Escovedo brothers and Graham traded off on lead vocals throughout the 40-minute set, which I enjoyed but could see really meant a lot more to the locals in the crowd who seemed to worship the group. “Rebel Kind” resonated most with me until the last song, a cover of Velvet Underground’s “Foggy Notion” that was injected with accelerant. That wasn’t enough for the audience, however, which included Fleshtones/The Split Squad singer/guitarist Keith Streng. It demanded and got an encore, for which True Believers sounded even louder.

The $20 cover charge was a small price to pay for such great music but, even better, it was all donated to The Palapa Society of Todos Santos, A.C., a multicultural, non-profit civil association dedicated to developing and administering scholarship, educational, medical and environmental programs for the benefit of children and their families in Todos Santos, Mexico. Buck is a big supporter of the organization, and holds an annual music festival in support of it, and he walked through the audience with a bucket to collect additional donations as True Believers played.

It was almost 2 a.m. and time to make my final walk back up South Congress to our condo. It had been another great week in Austin, and I never spent a penny on food throughout the music festival, which made it even better.

Thanks to everyone who I spent time with in one way or another. Let’s do it again.

SXSW 2013 day five: Robyn Hitchcock, BP Fallon and their friends

I managed to get out earlier today, and my first stop was Mpressfest at Soho Lounge. I heard a couple of non-descript rock songs from A House for Lions and stocked up on free sandwiches and wraps to take with me on the walk down South Congress to the Yard Dog party.

The Split Squad

I arrived in time for “Aw Shit Man,” the last song of what I was told was a killer Minus 5 set featuring Linda Pitmon on drums. But I didn’t miss any of The Split Squad, which had thrilled me enough two days earlier that I went back for a second helping. It was a shorter set, but just as intensely entertaining, with guitarist Keith Streng once again up to his crowd-mixing antics. And this time he was joined by fellow guitarist Eddie Munoz, who was once again introduced by lead singer Michael Giblin as a great guitarist but a “terrible, terrible human being.” Pitmon was enjoying it from the side of the stage while dancing and playing a tambourine.

Watch part of The Split Squad's performance here, courtesy of Matzoh Ball. 

It was the same deal with beer as the day before. Pay three bucks for the first one and then just a dollar for refills if you kept your cup. This time I moved up in strength to Lagunitas Little Sumpin’, a hoppy, crisp and delicious ale that packed a 7.5-per cent alcohol wallop. Austin institution Allen Oldie stood behind me in line. I unfortunately didn’t catch his nostalgic band this year.

Ian McLagan

But I did see Ian McLagan and The Bump Band, who I’d meant to spend time with on past visits but didn’t. The 67-year-old former Small Faces keyboardist — who also sang and was accompanied by three excellent musicians — primarily stuck to solo material, including “Been A Long Time,” “Don’t Say Nothing At All,” “I Will Follow” and the closing “All I Want To Do.” But the blues-rock outfit also reached back into the Faces catalogue for “You’re So Rude,” which was the B-side to “Stay With Me.”

I had another Little Sumpin’ for Ian Moore and The Lossy Coils, who were joined on keyboards by Ken Stringfellow (The Posies, Big Star). Things began somewhat slowly and then picked up, and that back and forth pattern continued through much of the set, and my thoughts on it were also mixed. Scott McCaughey (The Minus Five, The Venus Three) joined on guitar and vocals for the final song.

The James Hunter Six

I made my way back north to the Auditorium Shores Stage, a large public space on the bank of Town Lake, to see The James Hunter Six. The nattily attired British singer/guitarist and his crack band (featuring upright bass, drums, keyboards and two saxophones) exuded class with their mix of soul, blues, rock and pop on songs including “One Way Love,” “Chicken Switch,” “Let The Monkey Ride,” “The Gypsy,” “Minute by Minute,” “Jacqueline” and “Carina,” which had a pleasantly surprising ska flavour. The 50-year-old Hunter ended a more than impressive set by playing guitar while doing a Cossack dance on “Talking ‘Bout My Love.” You try doing that in a black three-piece suit when it’s 35 degrees Celsius. Consider me a convert to this man and his band’s classic, timeless music.

Women standing sidestage during Hunter’s set were dancing along and signing the lyrics, which was appropriate since the Texas School for the Deaf was just down the street. It was a nice touch.

I dropped by The Agency party at Lambert’s for a couple of free margaritas and to pay my respects to a few people before stopping for a beer and some catch-up on my computer before it was time to venture out again to see Robyn Hitchcock and several of his friends at The Ginger Man at 7 p.m.

Robyn Hitchcock

I’d talked to Hitchcock earlier in the week for Spinner about this show, and other things, and this extended set was one of my anticipated highlights of the week. It didn’t disappoint. I found a seat at a table near the front with my Bear Racer 5 IPA, and Hitchcock walked out by himself with his acoustic guitar and opened with “Nietzche’s Way.” He put on the harmonica for “Only The Stones Remain” and acknowledged his recent 60th birthday by saying, “I’ve crossed the valley into senility.”

Hitchcock continued with “Dismal City” before Linda Pitmon (who rejected my marriage proposal at SXSW several years ago, but I’ve never held it against her) walked out to join him by adding percussion via maracas, tambourine and a shaker. R.E.M.'s Scott McCaughey (bass) and Bill Rieflin (percussion) joined shortly thereafter for “Be Still” from the new Love From London album. A Hitchcock rap about the new pope morphed into “Ole Tarantula,” with R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills adding his voice to all of the fans who sang along with the chorus. Another Venus 3 song, the rollicking “Adventure Rocketship,” followed.

Robyn Hitchcock, Bill Rieflin and Scott McCaughey

“Queen Elvis” continued the momentum, as did a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue,” which accompanied me to the bar to buy a pint of Texas-made winter stout whose name escapes me, and a cover of David Bowie’s “Soul Love.” Ken Stringfellow and Kelly Hogan joined the ensemble to add backing vocals and “Madonna of the Wasps” stung beautifully before Hitchcock’s long introduction to “(A Man’s Gotta Know His Limitations) Briggs.” Stringfellow played keyboards on “Airscape.”

A birthday cake was brought out and the audience sang the requisite song before Hitchcock strapped on an electric guitar, Rieflin got behind the drum kit and The Fastbacks’ Kurt Bloch came on with his guitar to join McCaughey, Pitmon and Stringfellow on three brilliant Beatles covers to end the 90-minute set: “I’ve Got A Feeling,” “Don’t Let Me Down” and “One After 909.”

Tijuana Panthers

I was sure nothing was going to surpass what I just saw, but there were still five more hours to fill before the clubs closed, so I moved on to a relatively uncrowded Maggie Mae’s Gibson Room to see Long Beach, Calif. garage/surf/punk trio Tijuana Panthers. I liked things more as the set went on, with a cover of Buzzcocks’ “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” and a song that sounded a bit like The Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks” standing out above the rest.

There was more garage rock happening at The Parish Underground, beginning with Subsonics at 10 p.m. The trio was fun, but not as special as I was hoping for, although it did become more energized as the set went on. 

Watch Subsonics perform "I Made You A Clown" here, courtesy of Matzoh Ball. 

The Ugly Beats' Jeanine Attaway

I wasn’t feeling particularly energized, but I found a comfortable seat and decided to be lazy and stick around for The Ugly Beats. I’d seen the Austin band at past SXSWs and enjoyed its brand of good-natured, hooky garage rock, and it was the same story tonight when the quintet crammed on to the small stage. Keyboardist/tambourinist Jeanine Attaway definitely isn’t ugly, but I’d probably think that Abe Vigoda was hot if he was playing an Acetone the way she was. “Throw Me A Line,” “Brand New Day” and a rocking instrumental were among the highlights that rejuvenated me enough to move on at the end of the set with new vigour in my step.

I arrived at Dirty Dog Bar before BP Fallon began his set and I briefly talked to the diminutive, soft-spoken, 66-year-old Irishman, who reminded me a bit of Charlie Chaplin in his black suit and bowler hat. Fallon has a dry, droll vocal delivery, but his group The Bandits had a lot of power behind him. The band is Blondie bassist Nigel Harrison and drummer Clem Burke along with guitarist Aaron Lee Tasjan, who played with the reformed New York Dolls. And Stooges drummer Scott Asheton even subbed in for Burke for a song.

Fallon opened with “I Saw Her Face” and worked through a thoroughly entertaining set that also included “Fond of Cocaine,” “Does Anyone Care What Anyone Says in Rock’n’Roll” and a killer cover of Van Morrison’s “Gloria,” where Fallon relieved the pressure on his pink Chuck Taylor-adorned feet by getting down on his knees to sing.

BP Fallon & The Bandits

In case you’re wondering how someone you’ve likely never heard of can attract such star power into his band to help record his Still Legal debut album at the age where most people are retiring, here’s a sample of Fallon's resume: He's an author and photographer who worked with the Beatles in the late ‘60s, was the publicist for Thin Lizzy and T. Rex and toured with Led Zeppelin in the ‘70s, represented Ian Dury, appeared in John Lennon’s “Instant Karma” video, DJed on tours for U2, My Bloody Valentine and The Kills, opened the Death Disco club with Creation Records founder Alan McGee, and was approached by Jack White to make his first seven-inch single.

I went from old to very young for my last band of the night, moving on to Latitude 30 to see British buzz band The Orwells. The punk-based outfit was good, but I’d hoped for more, although I was impressed with its cover of The Stooges’ “Now I Wanna Be Your Dog.” Give this band a few years and it should be capable of achieving big things.

I wound down at the condo with a couple of nightcaps, my friends and my laptop until the time felt right to hit the sack at 4 a.m.

Amount of money spent on food during SXSW thus far: $0.

SXSW 2013 day four: a Waco afternoon turns into a Specials night

It’s been my tradition since first coming to the South by Southwest Music Festival to cross Town Lake to the South Congress neighbourhood and the Yard Dog Gallery for the Bloodshot Records party and margaritas across the street with the Waco Brothers. It’s a tradition that was continued this year and I don’t see it ending as long as all the involved parties are in Austin.

I arrived at the Yard Dog at 3 p.m., where I caught Lydia Loveless’ last song. I would have liked to have heard more, since I’m a fan, but luckily I caught her in Toronto a few months ago.

Luke Winslow-King

Lagunitas IPA was selling for three dollars, but it was just a buck if you kept your cup for refills, so I ordered my first beer while waiting for Luke Winslow-King to begin at 3:15 p.m. He sang and played guitar and was accompanied on vocals by Esther Rose (who added percussion with both a rub board and by striking a horseshoe with a screwdriver) and an upright bassist. The trio had a rootsy, folky, down-home sound that was nice, but not particularly inspiring.

I went inside the gallery to check out its great collection of folk art and then back outside to the Bloodshot merchandise table where I bought both a Bloodshot work shirt and bottle opener for just five dollars.

Waco Brothers

I then went to Guero’s and bellied up to the bar for margaritas and conversations with old friends, new friends and all of my friends in the Waco Brothers. I was going to briefly check out and go down the street to Jo’s Coffee to see The James Hunter Six, but Wacos drummer Joe Camarillo had already bought me another margarita so I stuck around and chatted more until just before 5:30 p.m. when the band left to take the Yard Dog stage.

I don’t know if you’ll find a more entertaining rock and roll band than the Wacos, and this set featured a fiery set of original songs and choice covers. Jo Walston from The Meat Purveyors jumped on stage for George Jones’ “White Lightning” and Jon Langford reciprocated by jumping into the crowd during Johnny Cash’s “Big River,” but the boys were generally better behaved than at past Bloodshot parties. And yet another Friday at SXSW tradition was upheld when Craig Laskey kept drinking my beer.

Green Day

I made a pitstop back at the condo before it was time to go to ACL Live at The Moody Theatre to see Green Day. You can read my Spinner review of that outstanding show here.

When Green Day had finally finished after playing for more than two hours, I dropped my laptop off at the condo and went across the street to The Ginger Man to see The District Attorneys. Some friends are working with the band, and they should because it’s really good. The relatively young Athens, Ga. group features two guitars, drums, bass and keyboards, plays melodic alternative rock, and goes down fine with a pint of IPA. I’d be happy to be in court with these guys.

The Specials' Terry Hall

The Specials were playing again at Stubb’s at 12:30 a.m., and I got there early so I could grab a tallboy of Lone Star and get right up front where hopefully I’d encounter more real fans of the second wave ska kings than I did the night before. A few people spotted my Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice T-shirt and waved me over to join them. It was a similar set to the previous night, with perhaps a few more songs thrown in, but I was too preoccupied with moshing and skanking to take notes. The Specials once again left me on a high on the walk back to the condo for the usual socializing and debriefing.

Amount of money spent on food during SXSW thus far: $0.