Dunvegan’s Wagon Wheel

Old Crow Medicine Show @ Olympic Hall.  Halifax, NS  May 31st. 2013

It was hot as hell in Halifax this weekend; the weather wasn’t bad either.  Live music held the hottest tickets in town and I was one of the devilish denizens to partake.  Allow me to share with you my harmonious adventures.

Friday night, Old Crow Medicine Show rolled into Halifax for the first time on their tour bus adorned with a makeshift clothes line in the Olympic Hall’s parking.  An American string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, Old Crow are revered for their old-time bluegrass slash folk slash alt country flavor.  Most know them from the run-away adoration of ‘Wagon Wheel’ – there have been many a night in bars where that song became the sing-along anthems for beer slugging partiers; every night in fact.  But, OCMS are so much more than the vibe of one beloved song.

In his review in the Chronicle Herald, entertainment reporter Stephen Cooke said they ‘blow hot like a train whistle’.  Boy, do they ever.  Friday’s show, the Olympic Hall, decorated in strung mason jars and low hanging chandeliers, was sold out to an adoring crowd hell bent on whiskey and having a rip-snorting good time.

The seven piece band complete with banjo, dobro, mandolin, fiddle, upright bass and harmonies that put you in the stories their lyrics tell, had music lovers hooting and hollering, stomping and jigging.  There wasn’t a bum that wasn’t wiggling, I kid you not.

They played some of my favorite songs in their discography including, ‘Humdinger’, ‘Carry Me Back’, ‘Alabama High Test’, ‘Mary’s Kitchen’ and of course, they ended their infectious show with ‘Wagon Wheel’.  It was their encore though that garnered the most cheers and audience participation.  The boys returned to the stage and broke out into ‘Barrett’s Privateers’, a hometown staple, a song we’ve heard thousands of times but never as affecting and as awe-inspiring as their rendition.  They floored the already electrified crowd and for those few minutes we Maritimers were melded together in musical solidarity.  The heat may have been sweltering but the music was hotter.  Just ask anyone who was there, they’ll back me up.

I didn’t see a lot of the opening act, Shakey Graves.  He, Alejandro Rose Garcia, entertained the sold out hall, warming us up for the main attraction with bluesy honky tonk delights.  Just one guy, with an acoustic guitar and a kick drum and what I’m guessing are a lot of really great songs.  I wish I had seen more.

I had a blast getting sweaty, drinking beer, singing and dancing with my friends.  If you missed it, you missed out on something really special.  A little bit of bluegrassy fun is good for the soul.

The Stanfields, Casino NS.  Halifax, NS.  June 1st, 2013

If you think my Friday night was a time, you should have been at Casino NS with me for what may just be my favorite show of the year thus far.  The Stanfields are fast becoming, in my opinion, one of the best bands to ever emerge from the East Coast of Canada, right up there with Matt Mays.  I’ve seen them play a handful of times and each time I do they just get better and better and faster and more fantastic. 

The band from ‘up the hill’ sauntered casually on stage, strapped on their instruments and broke into a thunderous set of raucous rock ‘n’ roll fused brilliantly and meticulously with a traditional sound that they play effortlessly.  The Stanfields have an uncanny ability to open their audience up to an experience, to let loose, to get lost in the sounds and the energy that passes back and forth between the stage and the floor.  Their shows are interactive and if not for the ear splitting decibel of their rocking I have my suspicion their hardcore fans would righteously out-sing them.

One of the things I love most about any live show is the sing-a-long aspect.  I love when a room full of people so in love with a piece of music and the artist(s) who make them band together and just wail.  It gives me goose bumps because it always reminds me that in music there is much power; healing power, uniting power, confident power, and religious power.  So many shows feel to me what I imagine it must be like for some to attend church and cull their peace and praise from and for God.  Music is about feeling, movement of the spirit and contentment of the soul, and is just as easily derived from a piece of music performed by someone who radiates belief in their art as it is to attend mass.

The sing-a-long of the night award goes to ‘Crocodile Tears’ (which I am still humming from my work desk this foggy Monday morning).  The entire Schooner room full of Stanfield fans joined voices and swayed with their beers raised and their eyes closed belting out the heartbreaking break-up song with so much feeling I may or may not have wept a tiny bit.  That power, you know?

I have a lot of respect for The Stanfields.  They have worked so hard to achieve the successes they are currently enjoying and the ones they still readily deserve.  They are true, humble artists with a passion for music and the essence of rock in their guts.  Their show Saturday night left me smiling, with a happy heart and a ringing in my ears.  And, that I’m still humming this morning is a true reflection of the stellar time that was had.  I can’t wait see them again and if they roll into your town, go.  You won’t be disappointed.  They really do rule.  They will be world famous.

Opening for them were Town Heroes and Carleton Stone, excellent bands both.  It was my first time seeing Town Heroes and my second time seeing Carleton Stone.  I was quite impressed with the dimpled front man and his band.  I can’t recall my first impression when I saw them open for The Stanfields last year but they definitely caught my attention this time.  I look forward to hearing his/their new record.

In short, this weekend was amaze-balls.  Music rules. I hope however you spent yours it was just as inspiring and fulfilling as mine.

Happy Monday, folks.

In propinquity,

Nic

The Stanfields' view of the crowd.  Halifax rules.