TUNS- The Good Will, Winnipeg, November 26, 2016

Believe it or not, these are the clearest photos I took. You get the idea...

Funny how time flies...It's been almost 4 months since I recorded Tuns. It was before winter arrived and now we've passed day light savings time and spring is a possibility in the next month or so. Tuns was the third of my trilogy of concerts I attended last November and I apologize for the lack of posts and how slow I was to post this show. In fact, it was ready to post since a week after the show so be prepared to go back in time a little bit.

If you listened to alternative Canadian music during the 1990's, you will probably be familiar with the members of Tuns. They are Chris Murphy (Sloan), Matt Murphy (Superfriendz and Flashing Lights) and Mike O'Neill (Inbreds), a kind of Canadian indie-rock supergroup. They released their self-titled debut album, in August 2016 and this was their first visit as a band to Winnipeg. Playing at the Good Will Social Club, the band cruised through most (or all) of the songs from the album along with a couple new songs I don't have proper titles for. If you know the songs with the (?) in the setlist, please let me know. They closed their set with the classic, High School, from the Flashing Lights debut album. An amazing set from three very talents musicians with Chris Murphy on drums instead of his usual bass position in Sloan. The sound was top notch, thanks to the Good Will sound guy and the results of the recording are very good. I played this recording at loud volume recently in my living room and I swear to god it was just like being there, but without being squeezed, shoved and knocked about. Yes, I sat on the couch. Highly recommended!
Enjoy!

TUNS
The Good Will
Winnipeg, MB
November 26, 2016
AUD Master

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Tascam DR-07> USB> 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC> rar file

01. Back Among Friends
02. Mixed Messages
03. Throw It All Away
04. To Your Satisfaction
05. (new song) When your Ready (?)
06. Mind Your Manners
07. I Can't Wait Forever
08. Look Who's Back In Town Again
09. Lonely Life
10. Mind Over Matter
Encore
11. (new song) (?)
12. Lie Awake (?)
13. High School

TUNS- 2016-11-26 The Good Will, Winnipeg, MB FLAC Master. rar

Duotang- Hometown Reunion, December 26, 2014

As we near the end of 2014, it's time to reflect on the past year. One of the things that stood out for me was it seemed like it was the year of the comebacks and reunions. Even CBC.ca agrees with me, 2014: The year of the Canadian indie-rock reunion. Bands such as Constantines, The Smalls, Moist, Bum and Winnipeg's, Duotang all reformed either for new recordings, gigs and even tours. For Duotang, they've been on indefinite hiatus (except for the Mint X-Mas party in November) since 2006, so the idea of playing together again must have been daunting. Singer/bassist, Rod Slaughter has been active since in other projects such as Novillero, who achieved moderate success releasing three excellent albums from 2002-2008 and The Shallow End, while drummer, Sean Allum stopped playing live after Duotang. A Duotang reunion was a much anticipated show especially for fans of Winnipeg indie-music in the 90's and early 2000's. I saw Duotang at least twice in the mid-90's and a memorable show opening for The Smugglers and Mr. T Experience at Wellingtons in 1996 was amazing!! I believe I recorded The Smugglers and Mr. T sets on my old tape recorder (in case you're interested?).

Some interesting pre-reunion show reads in the local papers:
Winnipeg Free Press- Winnipeg bass-and-drums duo having a blast revisiting the 90's
Winnipeg Sun- Spend Boxing Day with Duotang

For a band that hasn't played much in the past 10 years, Duotang sounded tight. The sound was good at the Good Will and the hometown crowd was enthusiastic and appreciative. Angus Kirkpatrick (Grand Theft Canoe), who toured with Duotang (as a second bassist), guested during the later part of the set and encore finale, as well as Robert Dempster (Transonic) on backing vocals for Toast To The Life-Long Friends. The band closed the show with an ambitious cover of The Who's, A Quick One. An incredible feat for any band, but especially a band with 2 bass players and a drummer...sloppy, messy and a lot of fun!
Enjoy!

Feel free to share, but please do NOT sell or convert to mp3!

DUOTANG
The Good Will
Winnipeg, MB
December 26, 2014
"Reunion show"
AUD Master

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Tascam DR-07> USB> 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC> rar file

01. Smash Ships And Raise The Beams
02. Present Blind
03. Message
04. Thomas Green
05. Disaffected
06. Witch-Hunters
07. Friends
08. Review
09. Slow Down
10. Ghosts
11. Call Your Side
12. Don't Give Up, Just Back Off A Bit
13. Toast To The Life-Long Friends
14. Far From Heart, Deep In Mind

Encore
15. 10:15 Saturday Night (Cure cover)
16. King Of Beliefs
17. A Quick One (The Who cover)

DUOTANG- 2014-12-26 The Good Will, Winnipeg, MB FLAC. rar

John K. Samson at The Good Will 2014

I was trying to recall the amount of times I have seen The Weakerthans/John K. Samson live in concert and just based on ticket stubs, I've seen The Weakerthans 10 times and JKS (& The Provincial Band) once. The venues have varied from the larger/medium-sized halls (Burton Cummings Theatre, Le Rendezvous, West End Cultural Centre) to bars (Pyramid, Royal Albert) and at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. I may have seen John and/or the band additional times, but none were as small and intimate as John K. Samson's show on Sunday night at The Good Will. This was the first time I've been to this somewhat new venue (opened officially last month) and I have to admit it isn't bad. The room is long and narrow which means good sight-lines and the music is well contained and directed nicely to the audience. It was perfect for a solo acoustic show, but I'm skeptical whether the sound will be half as good for a loud electric rock show. I'll have to check back later.

This is not meant to be a review of the show (Anthony's review for Exclaim is here), so I have nothing but good things to say about the show. John, of course played songs from his band, The Weakerthans, as well as his solo effort, Provincial, but the bonus for fans (especially for a taper) was two new songs, Fellow Traveller and Oldest Oak At Brookside. Promising and likable, it will be interesting to see if they appear on a project in the future. Hearing all these songs in their bare-bones versions really showcase Samson as a master lyricist and very competent musician. The solo acoustic format allows Samson to highlight the song, closer to poetry set to music, than in the full band format, powerful, but in a different way. It's been a while since I've seen John play and this was a real treat.

This Winnipeg solo show was a warm-up for an upcoming solo tour starting later this week, that will take Samson across the Atlantic to Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the UK.

Unplugged! Not only is John hard to see, but he was also hard to hear.

The recording was recorded in the sweet spot, dead centre, near the back edge of the floor in front. The sound is near perfect, definitely one of the better sounding recordings I've done. Crowd noise wasn't an issue, though I did have a "singer" beside me that I tried to turn away from. I adjusted and lowered the levels during the second song, so you might want to turn up the volume after that one. It's always safer to set the levels lower than to have the sound distorted by heavy strumming and crowd clapping.
(Note: The last song (#19), Samson is at the edge of the stage, unplugged and off mic...turn it up!)
Enjoy!

JOHN K. SAMSON
The Good Will
Winnipeg, MB
November 23, 2014
AUD MASTER

solo acoustic

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Tascam DR-07> USB> 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC> rar file

01. Heart Of The Continent
02. Plea From A Cat Named Virtute
03. Reconstruction Site
04. Letter In Icelandic From The Ninette San
05. When I Write My Master's Thesis
06. Elegy For Gump Worsley
07. Pamphleteer
08. Time's Arrow
09. Fellow Traveller (new song)
10. Oldest Oak At Brookside (new song)
11. Relative Surplus Value
12. Hospital Vespers
13. One Great City!
14. Aside
15. Left And Leaving

Encore
16. Tournament Of Hearts
17. Bigfoot
18. My Favourite Chords
19. Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure (off-mic/unplugged)

JOHN K. SAMSON- 2014-11-23 The Goodwill, Winnipeg, MB FLAC. rar