Feist at Capital City Music Hall, Ottawa, Jan. 19 2006

A couple years back, when Feist and Chilly Gonzales, her friend and music collaborator sat down at a diner somewhere in Europe, they argued about the sound of Feist's undecided-music-album, they made a deal: The album would not have any of Feist's preferred rock guitar sound, nor would it have any of Chilly Gonzales's preferred electronic beats. Which is why Let it Die ended being a delightful and surprisingly engrossing mixture of folk, soul, 70's disco and French Pop.

Well, Feist likes her electric guitar. She likes it a lot. To see her prowling the stage of the Capital City Music Hall in Ottawa, guitar in tow, and to see her stomping her feet as she cranked up the amp and delivered a more muscled show than would be suggested from her album, one could see that this was her natural state. On this night, the french chanteuse would have to make some room for the rock goddess.

And so, songs like When I was Young and Secret Heart were given a more aggressive, rawer treatment to good effect. Secret Heart was notable for the intro she gave when she pointed out her capo was like a portal to a different universe, one where Ron Sexsmith popped out. But at the risk of portraying Feist live as nothing more than a rock show, her showmanship and creativity was in full display when she was by herself on stage. Playing a couple of tracks to appear on the new album due to be recorded in a month's time, Feist was a one-woman show with her mixing of vocals sung on two different microphones, a main one and a amped-down one used for backgrounds, and guitar loops which she would record on a pedal mixer and use as background as each song grew in body. Each song is literally being constructed on the spot and while one is skeptical at first of what is about to transpire, the end product was music with an organic, primal need to be heard.

The price of going back to her roots in guitar-based music was that a couple of more poppy songs like One Evening and Leisure Suit were left off the playlist, and Inside and Out was given toned down to a solo ballad with the three guys from the band singing backup vocals to great effect. However it was a small price to pay for a whirlwind show that did not lack emotion, intensity, creativity and a dash of whim.

She concluded the show with a second encore performance that she , a song from Broken Social Scene, either 7/4 (Shoreline) or Windsurfing Nation I'm not sure, a raucous affair and perfect ending to a brilliant show.

It might have been the immediacy of the show or the fact that I got back to Kingston at 3AM and have had only 4 hours of sleep but I would say this could be the best show I have ever witnessed. EVER. Here's an updated top 10 shows ever (estimated year in parentheses give or take two years):

1. Feist - Capital City Music Hall (2006)
See review above

2. Sarah Harmer - Grant Hall (1999)
Her first big show. Hit the right notes at every moment.

3. Les Colocs - Plaines d'Abraham (1996)
St-Jean Baptist Day, thousands of quebecois and quebecoises, best Quebec band of the last 15 years, nuff said.

4. Coldplay - Corel Centre (2003)
Only big arena show I ever attended. Surpassed my expectations of what a Coldplay concert was going to sound like

5. The Weakerthans - Clark Hall Pub (2001)
Amazing display of musicianship and band cohesion

6. Sarah Slean/Tory Cassis - Clark Hall Pub (1999)
Great interviews, even better shows

7. Bran Van 3000 - AJs (1996)
Sadly this Montreal music collective is no more but at their peak, they could put a joyous, raucous show like no other.

8. Sloan - Jock Harty Arena (1998)
The venue could have been better but this quartet delivers pop rock bliss.

9. Stars - Grad Club (2003)
Torquil Campbell's slightly pretentious adoration of the Ideals and Amy Millan's raw guitar playing makes for a dangerous combination in the intimate setting of the Grad Club

10. Great Big Sea - Ottawa Tulip Festival (2000)
Best kitchen party ever.

Sarah Harmer at Sydenham United Church

I wasn't sure what to expect from the show because it was Sarah and her new acoustic band, she had just released a more bluegrass, folky album called I am a Mountain, and, well, it was in a church. I've been in many churches in my lifetime for various reasons (never for confessions as I have never done anything not virtuous in my life) but I had never been there for a concert. I imagined that the acoustics would be good but I didn't know how the seating would be. Would it feel like a wedding or like mass? Or neither. The Sydenham United Church has a semi-circular arrangement so that everyone had a great view of the musicians. There was even room for fans to sit down in front of the band and for toddlers to explore. The acoustics were nice and crisp and Sarah was in good form. She played a nice mix of songs from all her albums. Accompanied by Jason Euringer on the Standing Bass, Spencer Evans on clarinet/accordion/piano, Julie Fader on vocals and Keyboard, as well as other musicians on guitar/mandolin and a violinist whose name escapes me (my apologies), the band clearly enjoyed playing with each other and Sarah threw them for a loop a couple of times by choosing to play songs that were not on the setlist. That spontaneity really gave the show an intimate feel. On top of the songs from her albums, Sarah also covered a Shins tune and a John Hiatt tunes and gave it her own treatment.

The only thing to reproach Sarah was how long it took her to play Lodestar, which I believe is the best song that has ever been composed, by ANYONE (including Nena). In fact, I'm pretty sure that if it weren't for my friend Gregg Day requesting her to play "Lodestar for Tuan Bui", we might not have been blessed by this song. But she delivered and we were appeased. Gregg Day, by the way, is happily married to Larissa and that song has no autobiographical meaning between the both of us. Just thought I'd clear that up.

In the end, what impressed me most about the show was how much fun Sarah was having and the audience was clearly aglow from the show.

Jill Barber concert review

Jill Barber played last night at the Grad Club. She remarked that for the last year or so, she doesn't recognize any familiar faces when she plays in Kingston. It has been 3 years since she left Queen's and probably a lot of her friends have left for new adventures. Last time I saw her was at the Common Ground for a coffeehouse series, the first year they were open, some x years ago. Funny how I too didn't see any faces from the Common Ground show at last night's gig either. Ouch, I felt a wrinkle just pop up on my face.

Jill played solo and brought along her new axe, the Tennessee Rose. I think that if Jill Barber is going to get an electric guitar, the only name it could have has to be Tennessee Rose. Fits to a tee. Despite the presence of an electric guitar, Jill still delivered a nice, charming, understated set that has been her trademark. Though sometimes one would like to see her rock out, head banging and guitar struttin on the stage, just to satisfy some inner curiosity, there's something really enjoyable about a stripped-down, well grounded performance. She played a mix of old songs from her previous two albums and previewed a couple of new songs. I was curious to see how she would translate songs from Oh Heart without having the Cabaret undertones due to the absence of the piano but she pulled them off well. I wished she had played more songs from A note to follow so but I'm selfish that way. And I appreciate her efforts to get something out of the crowd but in my limited concertgoing experience, I find that Kingston crowds are very shy and willing to just soak in the music. Maybe they should spike the punch at the Grad Club

I'm actually not the biggest fan of live music because I have bad hearing (yes, music lover has bad hearing, oh the irony, well ask Beethoven about it!) and I usually can't discern vocals. And since I can't hear the vocals, I try to talk to my mates but we usually can't hear each other so the whole night is spent just standing at a show pretending to enjoy it. That's why I really enjoy shows from troubadours such as Sarah Harmer, Ron Sexsmith, and Jill, where you can hear them reveal themselves to you, one earnest word at a time.

P.S.: Hate to end it on a negative note, but if you're going to be taking pictures at a show and you have one of those damn fancy cameras that projects a grid of red lines onto the target, take a couple of pictures and end it! Half the time I thought Jill had paper cuts all over her face and body.