Darkness and Light

Last night, I went to the Earth Hour Festivities at Nathan Phillips Square and from my view, this is actually what it looked like. Since I'm only 5'-2", its hard to see live music at large festivals. I have to watch everything on the big screens, which I still couldn't see last night.

Earth Hour didn't seem so energy efficient to me probably because I was in the midst of a concert and shops were still open. Some people held candles, but maybe it made a bigger impact elsewhere. The biggest surprise of the night was that the Philosopher Kings are still together. I had thought that they broke up when Jarvis Church (aka Gerald Eaton) pursued a solo career. The Philosopher Kings are awesome. Rememeber that song "I am the man", where Jarvis Church wore a dress? Awesome. Anyways, the lineup from the time I got there consisted of Jarvis Church (solo), Fefe Dobson, Nelly Furtado and the Philosopher Kings.

Philosopher Kings - Cry (mp3)

Afterwards, we headed over to the Horseshoe Tavern to see Luke Doucet and the White Falcon. The Beauties and the Perpetrators opened and I'm not a big fan of Blue-grass-ish music but it was alot of fun. We were near the front and the people in front of us were about my height so we had a great view. The Perpetrators' singer had so much energy it was infectious, and the drummer (when he played guitar), must have lightning fast reflexes to play the guitar the way he did.

And then Luke Doucet and the White Falcon came out to play. The sound was clear, they band looked like they love their jobs, everyone was smiling and they played my favourites, including "Emily, Please". It was a fantastic show and highly recommended.

You'll also notice how the picture quality on this post gets progressively gets better through the night. I decided that I'm going to take a camera with me to shows from now on and it's a learning curve. At least a couple of photos turned out. The pictures from the Raveonettes show at the Opera House last week didn't turn out, and it's too bad cause the band is stunning in real life.

Perpetrators - Hollywood (mp3 clip)
Luke Doucet - Lovecats (Cure Cover) (mp3)

Music World Closing Sale

I went to Yorkdale mall on the weekend. This is one of the few malls in Canada where Music World still exists. On top of that, it happens to be more conveniently located than the HMV. So I approach the store, only to realize that they're having a store closing sale.

No! You can't do that! You're pretty much the only other CD/DVD store in Canada! You've survived alongside HMV and the internet for so long! I respected you because of that! You're the alternative! You're Canadian! Fight the power!

But I suppose we all saw it coming. I did some research and it turns out that Music World declared bankruptcy last month after losing over $9 million in the last year and being sold to new owners. I was just a little late to catch on. There's a chance that a few major locations may remain open, but the game is pretty much over when January hits us. Is anyone else reminded of the closure of Sam the Record Man in Toronto during the summer?

I went inside to join the other scavenging shoppers. According to the sign, you save 20% on the last ticketed price on all CDs and DVDs. I picked up a CD that I've been meaning to pick up for a long time- Luke Doucet's "Broken (and other rogue states)". He's a little bit country, a little bit blue, a little bit easy listening and quite a bit talented. He's a Canadian artist, so that already contributes to how under-rated he is, although I've seen two of his videos being played on Much More Music. Nonetheless, the only people I know that has heard his name is Edie, and two of my close friends that learned of him through me.

Luke Doucet - Emily, Please (MP3)
Luke Doucet - It's Not the Liquor I Miss (MP3)

I approached the cash register and was greeted by employee number 002--- (it says on my receipt, but I imagine it'd not be wise to toss his identity out like that.) He was appropriately dressed for his job in a music store, with a hoodie a depressing shade of blue, an eyebrow piercing, few-day-old stubble and a young look about his face. I thought as I placed the disc on the counter, he's surprisingly content despite the closing of his place of employment.


"Just a thought: I wouldn't be able to use my SPC card on top of the 20% discount, would I?" I asked, hoping to save another 10%.
"No, sorry." he replied with a bit of a laugh. "Since we're closing, we don't accept it anymore. But, I do like your hat."
"Thank you!"
He looked down at the CD as he scanned it.
"And I really like Luke Doucet! So I'm gonna give you another 10% off anyway."
"Oh, really? Thank you!... Wow, I didn't think I'd meet anyone that likes Luke Doucet."
"Yeah, me too! I saw his show a while back. He was playing at a film festival and had his wife and kid onstage with him. He did a bunch of Tom Waits covers, which was really cool."

And that's how employee 002--- made me a happy girl, despite the store's closure.

So if you've got some CDs you've been hankering to get, please visit Music World in its last days of life. They're having a sale to mourn their closing.

Semisonic - Closing Time (MP3)