[ *Fantastic!: Day Three ]
Windsor, Ontario
Saturday, October 13, 2001
My favourite part of the night was seeing Joel from Palomar Sky Survey hug his bass and snore the entire ride home.
[ DAVINA ]
Saturday night is going down as the Best Night Ever. The Press Club was so packed, they had to turn people away. It served as an "after party", in a sense, despite the fact bands were still performing. Good times. The social aspect of this festival rules!
[ JEN ]
[ The Redstripes ]
Daniel Patrick Kelly Theatre, 7pm
"The Redstripes could have used more cowbell." -Tom of the Low Tones
If there's one thing you'll notice about these guys is their harmonies are superb. But that probably has a lot to do with Dave practicing his singing on the morning announcements and playing in miscellaneous other bands, and Devin was in vocal jazz, I recall. (And no, we cannot write a review about the Redstripes without mentioning the morning announcements.) Their new songs were pretty great, and the audience especially enjoyed the Young MC "Busta Move" rap that was inserted in the finale song. I also enjoyed the "Rock" and "Roll" carved out in the two pumpkins on stage.
Celebrities spotted during this set: Renee and Joel Palomar Sky Survey, Tom Low Tones and Jen of jendavina fame.
[ DAVINA ]
[ Mellonova ]
Daniel Patrick Kelly Theatre, 9pm
"Since we played the 'Losing Today Festival' at the El Mocombo in Toronto the night before, we only had a chance to check out Melonova at the Capitol Theatre on Saturday eve. They were great as usual." -David of blueScreen
"They were good. Interesting. Toe tapping at times. Spacey....Yep. Rock." -Renee Palomar Sky Survey
"While many bands seemed to be playing songs at random, Mellonova played the most cohesive and best set of the festival. For 45 minutes, the band lulled the audience into a peaceful dream, slowly built to a climax, fueled by Matthew Cromarty's marvelous guitar work, only to slow it back down and do it again. You couldn't help closing your eyes and letting
Mellonova take you away. This dazzling set nearly brought me to tears." - Chris
More atmosphere rock. I found it calming to listen to, something good to listen to while studying. For some reason, by the end of their set I felt melancholy, but I can't figure out whether it was the music (eg. minor key, etc.) working on the masses or if it was just me. I found it amusing that in the first song, the drummer's right drumstick flew out of his hand, was replaced, and they cycle was repeated three times overall. I'd also like to note that these are really nice guys too. So was the record label guy they brought along.
[ DAVINA ]
[ The Pop Shove-Its ]
Joy Family Theatre, 9pm
"Detroit Rock Power Pop....That is good. Very good." -Alex from Grenadine Records
"Excellent energy--is that guy standing on his ankle?? If so, then you should go see 'em just because the bassist can perform this feat." -Eric from Grenadine Records
Go to www.popshoveits.com and download the three songs they have available. Imagine someone doing rock kicks at every appropriate spot during whatever song is playing. The Pop Shove-Its introduced me to the notion of double rock kicks, so throw a few of those in every once in awhile, especially during "Lipe". When the song doesn't call for a rock kick, imagine someone bouncing around the stage, hair flying everywhere, shouting out lyrics, and leaning back so far while playing, that all laws of gravity are seemingly ignored.
Now that I've described one person from the Pop Shove Its during a typical performace, you can just imagine what this trio is like. The previous paragraph probably justifies only about 10% of the Pop Shove-Its energy factor in a live setting. It goes without saying, then, that the band made a lot of new fans in Windsor. I'm glad they made the drive out from Ottawa, and I know I'm not the only one that hopes they grace Windsor with their presence again soon.
One final note: Mary Kate of Jacob Two-Two does an awesome impression of Rob the bassist.
[ JEN ]
[ The Heat ]
Joy Family Theatre, 10pm
"Both bands are so good, I just can't decide!" - Mike from the Redstripes, running between The Heat and the Two Minute Miracles performances
"The Heat are a very confident band, and for good reason. This Barrie, Ontario trio just flat-out rocked the Capitol Theatre with their blistering brand of rock n roll." - Chris
"The Rock The Roll The Heat" is what was often heard Saturday night. We were being brainwashed with sloganed t-shirts and Shannen Doherty adorned stickers. I wonder what Shannen would think if she knew she was the poster girl for The Heat?
Despite the distraction provided by the bassist's very bright red rockin sneakers, The Heat followed the Pop Shove-Its quite well - they, too, are all about energy and rock. Now that I've seen them live, it comes as no surprise that Matt Murphy signed on to produce their album. Also, the lead singer appears to have studied the moves of Joel Plaskett. Hell, he must have taken a course on Mr. Plaskett, because he also sounded a lot like him. Having both Joel Plaskett and Matt Murphy mentioned in the same paragraph as The Heat is the ultimate compliment, so no more is needed to be said.
[ JEN ]
Personally, this was my favourite act of *fantastic! They were all about rock along with the roll. And, as I'm sure everyone noticed, you can't help but think of Joel Plaskett when listening to them play. (I'd like to mention, on a sort of related topic, that Joel Plaskett's new album absolutely RULES! I just can't stop listening to it.) And how can you not love a band that has a clock for sale with the rest of the usual merch?
[ DAVINA ]
[ Two Minute Miracles ]
Daniel Patrick Kelly Theatre, 10pm
"Jen Ciliska said that the Two Minute Miracles were amazing. I agree. I was supposed to write something about them but I didn't want to stop watching them. They have a great mellow rock sound with but a pinch of old fashioned country in there somewhere. Loved every minute of it. NOTE * Please change the word "mellow" in my critique to "medium". Thanks. Mellow sounds dumb." -Devin Redstripes
It appears, in the indie world, the more you throw out the name "Andy Magoffin" and/or his recording studio "House of Miracles" in conversations or interviews, the cooler you instantly become. This is present in the recent *Fantastic! edition of Complete Chaos, as Andy's name is mentioned the most out of anyone's.
I met Andy Magoffin later that night, and informed him (Andy Magoffin) of my little discovery. He (Andy Magoffin) laughed. By the way, I wrote about Two Minute Miracles, Andy Magoffin's band, in the zine. (As you can see, I've taken note of this silent rule, and will practice it as much as possible for now on.)
The Two Minute Miracles band was at 60% capacity during this particular performance. It was almost 0%, as The Miracles were slapped with a court order for going speed happy on the 401 outside of Windsor. Thankfully, though, they made it, just a little later than expected. As stated above, this band is amazing, although, for some reason, I perfer the cd to the live setting. By the way, have I mentioned that I met Andy Magoffin yet?
[ JEN ]
[ Palomar Sky Survey ]
The Press Club, 11pm
Despite the fact Joel did not break dance on stage, as promised, I thoroughly enjoyed Palomar Sky Survey's set (as per usual). What I'm wondering, though, is where was Val's sparkly silver guitar, Joel's bass covered in stickers, and more importantly, the PSS roadie Rose? "Blue In One" (from the new cd, 'The Nightlife') just plain rules!
[ JEN ]
Everyone's favourite band... especially ours. Thanks for the ride, the Neil Diamond, and the goodtimes guys! I recognized some of my favourites from the first tape of their stuff I received in the mail, along with new songs. Jen was on cloud 9 when they played her request from breakfast that morning.
[ DAVINA ]
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