Saturday at Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival – S10E34 [Season Finale]

It was another exciting time at the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival. The lineup for Saturday’s concert was amazing to say the least. It consisted of Ottawa’s The Acorn, who I have been seeing a lot recently as Rolf Klausener and company released the new album, Vieux Loup. The album is also on the 2015 Polaris Music Prize long list.

Following The Acorn was Jeremy Fisher, who now lives in Ottawa. He had a good set and brought a lot of fun humour which the crowd loved. After Fisher was done, next was The Rural Alberta Advantage and they didn’t disappoint. They were rocking each songs and the crowd enjoyed it.

Last, but not least was Dan Mangan + Blacksmith, who I last saw back in February for NAC Presents. Mangan and his band returned to Ottawa for the Dragon Boat Festival. Also, his band mates were doing double duty as two of the members played as Peregrine Falls and they performed at Ottawa Jazz Festival prior to going to Dragon Boat Festival.

Dan Mangan + Blacksmith did not disappoint as they played tracks from their album, Club Meds and previous songs from Oh Fortune and Nice, Nice, Very Nice. The encore set had some favourites from Robots, Basket and a few others.

Overall, it was great attending Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival as I missed out from last year due to NXNE in Toronto being at the same time. What I love about Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival is that the concert series is all Canadian and it’s free. The organizers love and understand Canadian music. It was fun to hang out with some of the CBC Radio 3 fans as they were at the festival. It was a great to overcome my post-NXNE withdrawal. Marvellous job, Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival!

You can check out the photos over at Flickr by clicking HERE.

Friday at Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival – S10E33

After missing out on last year, it’s great to be back for Friday night’s opening ceremony of the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival. The opening ceremony began with the bagpipers marching and leading the dragon boaters to the main tent. Following the speeches was the lion dance.

Prior to the lion dance, I had a chance to check out Kalle Mattson as they were one of the opening act for Hey Rosetta, the headliner for the Friday show. It was definitely a fine Friday night to be out anywhere in Ottawa.
I can’t wait to check out The Acorn, The Rural Alberta Advantage and Dan Mangan + Blacksmith at Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival for Saturday evening.

As usual, you can check the photos over at Flickr by clicking HERE.

Mounties and Fresh – S10E32

There were a lot of events happening on Thursday night from Ottawa Jazz Festival to to several concerts like Murder Murder and Scary Bear Soundtrack at Rainbow Bistro. The Summer festival is full swing in Ottawa and so many things to do.

I decided to go to the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival to check out Mounties as I haven’t had a chance to see them live. Mounties consists of Hawksley Workman, Ryan Dahle and Steve Bays. They were an enjoyable band to check out as their stage presence was funny and engaging. Between in each songs, they kept bringing up funny banter and the crowds loved it. What a way to start the concert series at Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival. Unfortunately, I missed out on Jim Bryson and Yukon Blonde as I had to head over to Babylon Nightclub.

Fresh – June Edition
I went over to Babylon Nightclub for Fresh, it’s an event by DJ 2 Creamz of The Mix. There were performances by Missing Linx, Phoenix Pagliacci, Yusso & Junia-T. There was live art and display from Vincent B, Cinema, Mique Michelle, Alexandre Aimée, Robbie Lariviere, Jay Leblanc and Bradford Photo. As well, there were beat showcase by Bix and CircaBeatz and music by 2 Creamz himself and The Kid Gorgeous.
Lastly, it’s nice to see House of Paint as one of the supporters/sponsors for the event and keeping Hip-Hop in Ottawa strong.
Due to the time, I didn’t get a chance to check out Yusso and a few others but was able to take a bunch of photos.

It was good night to check out a lot of events in Ottawa. This weekend continues to be a fun time as June finishes up.

You can check out the photos by clicking HERE (for Mounties) and HERE (for Fresh)

Impossible Photos in Toronto (2015 Edition) – S10E31

For the third or technically second year, I have been bringing the Polaroid SX-70 camera to shoot some fun instant photos in Toronto. The first year was using a Fujifilm Instax.
Don’t worry, I was still shooting digital with the Sony a7 and the iPhone 6, there was a lot of juggling to do.

I know people will still call it Polaroids as I’ve been using The Impossible Project films to use it. It’s just fun to shoot analog photos and bringing a sense of originality. It’s more like a dying art but younger generations are using the Fujifilm Instax Mini. It’s the competitor to Impossible and is more stable with their instant photos.
I didn’t shoot Polaroids during live shows as I was not sure about using flash and possibly getting told by the security or the NXNE volunteers. It was better to use it to shoot with people outside of the shows.

During the CBC Radio 3 Unofficial Fan Picnic, I took a bunch or Polaroids and gave them away to people. There was no chance in scanning them to the Impossible iOS app. I was able to keep some that I took. On the first day, I gave away two round frames to friends and was able to scan it from the app.

Lastly, You can the photos from below. I’m making sure these are posted first to the blog and then onto various social media sites.
As the saying goes, film is not dead.

What I Checked Out on Saturday During NXNE – S10E30

As I’m taking the train back to Ottawa on Sunday morning, let’s recap what acts I check out on Saturday throughout NXNE. To start things off, the first event wasn’t NXNE related but had artists playing at NXNE. It was the 5th annual CBC Radio 3 Unofficial Fan Picnic and it was held at Trinity-Bellwoods Park. The lineup for the picnic were Murder Murder, Kathryn Calder, David Vertesi and The Acorn.

It was a fun event as it was a thrill to see other CBC Radio 3 fans from all walks of the corner and enjoy live acoustic music at a park.

Louise Burns at Handlebar
Throughout my time, I have enjoyed listening to Louise Burns but I had never taken photos during her performance (last time was at NAC as she opened for Hannah Georgas. I always enjoy her sultry dreamy sounds from her music. It was Burns’ second performance at NXNE as I missed her at Lee’s Palace from Wednesday night. The one at Handlebar made it up as I didn’t have plans on who to check out.
Burns played her usual songs from the album, The Midnight Mass and she played two tracks from her upcoming third album. It’s exciting to hear her coming out.
It was a surprise to see N2DS2W as they’re supporters and fans of Louise Burns and she also hosted on CBC Radio 3. It sure lifted my spirits up.

Friday at NXNE – S10E29

Friday was the start of the weekend and there were a lot of events happening during NXNE. The first event I went wasn’t part of NXNE but it was an important for myself because it was the Polaris Music Prize Long List panel at ACTRA RACS. Steve Jordan, the founder of Polaris was moderating and the panelists were Slava Pastuk (Noisey Canada), Nicole Villeneuve (AUX), Tabassum Siddiqui (Freelance) and Lana Gay (CBC Music).

The panel talked about the criteria of the music prize and who they voted for in the current list as well as mentioning past lists. Jordan brought up about having the longest list since there’s always debate and discussion on which albums got snubbed or left off from the ballot. It was a great event and always a treat to see the people behind Polaris.

CBCMusic.ca Showcase at NXNE Hub
As Friday was a jam packed event at NXNE in Toronto, the first event was the CBCMusic.ca presents: Music at the NXNE Hub. It was a free show at NXNE Hub. The hosts for the event were Grant Lawrence, Tom Power (of CBC Radio 2 Morning) and Jonny Harris (Murdoch Mysteries).
The performers consisted of the 2015 Searchlight winner, Orange O’Clock. Other performers on the list were Jane’s Party, Ben Caplan, Iceage (from Copenhagen, Denmark) and Toronto’s catl.
I was able to check out Orange O’Clock and Jane’s Party as I decided to head off to other venues. I did return for catl, which they played an awesome set.

Second Day at NXNE, 2015 Edition – S10E28

On Thursday night, Paper Bag Records host an event at Lee’s Palace to celebrate their 100th release and as part of NXNE. It was an evening of music from performers of the past, present and future who helped Paper Bag Records. The event was hosted by CBC Radio 3/CBC Music‘s Lana Gay.

Unfortunately, I didn’t stay for the whole night of fantastic music. I was able to check out DIANA (again), the 2015 Polaris Music Prize Long List nominee and Ottawa’s The Acorn, Nils of The Rural Alberta Advantage, the return of Rock Plaza Central and Alana Yorke. The best part was getting the #Paper100 bag with goodies.

U.S. Girls at The Garrison
The reason for leaving #Paper100 was to get to The Garrison to check out U.S. Girls. I have heard some good thing about this musician. Meg Remy, originally from America and based in Toronto, has been making music since 2007. Her music brings a style of Pop with some electro beats and funky sounds. Remy uses a reel-to-reel player for the unique mixing. A lot of dancing and energetic beats from her music.

Another reason to check U.S. Girls was Basia Bulat. She was there on the supporting vocals. It’s very different from her own music because I would say she’s having fun. There was a good turnout to those who checked out U.S. Girls.

Overall, it was another fun night to be at the venues and meeting the people I know.
Lastly, you check out the photos at Flickr by clicking HERE (for #Paper100) and HERE (U.S. Girls).

First Day at NXNE, 2015 Edition – S10E27

Arrived in Toronto on Wednesday afternoon and it’s the first time to attend NXNE during the midweek instead of the weekend. The funniest thing was bumping into people I know in Toronto and it’s not the weekend yet.

Even though, I didn’t have much priorities on who to check out this year, it’s going to be pretty random and spontaneous. On Wednesday night, I had the opportunity and a long walk to The Drake Hotel Underground to check out DIANA. It’s one of the bands I haven’t got to see live for awhile. Opening up for DIANA at the Drake Underground were ginla, Bernice, and Prince Innocence. All of the bands were amazing and ranged from soft to the loud.

You can check out the photos over at Flickr by clicking HERE.
There were a few photos at NXNE Hub and a photo of Cadence Weapon as he was DJing.

Keep up to date on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as I post some fun photos.

The Polaris Music Prize 2015 Long List – S10E26

Image – Courtesy of Polaris Music Prize

It’s that time of month where Canadian music fans anticipate the Polaris Music Prize long list. There’s always complaints about certain artists or bands not making it to the list and then when it get whittled down to the top 10, there’s more madness and fury. It’s all in the fun and excitement to finding out who made it and which obscure album got on the list.
Don’t forget that it’s compiled and determined by a jury of broadcasters, journalists, bloggers and programmers who choose their albums based on artistic merit. The winning album this year gets the $50,000.

Here’s the list of the 40 nominated albums for the 2015 edition of Polaris Music Prize;

The Glamour Fashion Show by Marcelle Benedicte – S10E25

Marcelle Benedicte presented a glamourous fashion show which was conveniently called Glamour. The theme for the event was inspired by the old days of Hollywood. The fashion show was held at Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts. Marcelle Benedicte has now presented five fashion shows in Ottawa.

There were designers that participated in the event were Sidow Designs, Peach Berserk (from Toronto), L’Hexagone Menswear, Aria Frances and lastly, Marcelle Benedicte. Each ranged from the elegance (Sidow Designs, Aria Frances and Marcelle Benedicte) to the contemporary (L’Hexagone) to the pop culture look (Peach Berserk).

It was an excellent night to enjoy the fashion show and chat with a few people. Kudos to Émilie Parisé, the founder of Marcelle Benedicte to keeping the Ottawa fashion scene going.

You can check out the photos over on Flickr by clicking HERE.