Next we headed back home; both the man-thing and I had somehow forgotten our cell phones at the house before heading out *insert eye-roll here*, only to find a text from Kayla reminding me that her band the Seahags was playing downtown at Erotic Encounter Boutique. So we headed back out in hopes of catching their set. Luckily as things usually go, they were late getting going so we didn't miss a thing. We got to meet Kayla's friend and band-mate April. (She seems super nice in a 'not a phony' way) The Seahags were dressed for the occasion, rockin' a group costume of the Royal Tenenbaums. Timothy O'Doran and Friends started the evening out (I'd give you a link n all but I googled the boy and came up with not but his very private facebook-y page . . . no linky for you Mr. O'Doran) The boy can play but I have to admit the accompanying accordion was a trifle heavy handed and droning at times. Then the Seahags took the stage and they were pretty damn good actually. I don't go in for the gospel stuff, so maybe I could have done without that portion of the set; but I can see where these girls could really tighten up if they had the opportunity to devote more time to their art. They can really play.
If I had one constructive point of advise for them. . . .it would be to colour up their set by varying the tempo of the tracks. Toss in a slow number or two, throw in a harder take here and there. Riki took a fairly good run at Jolene for their closing number but I always find it hard to listen to a cover by someone as recognizable as Dolly. Unless you've really gone over the arrangement and made it entirely your own I still here the original in my head, and nobody wants to be compared to Dolly. ( Well maybe Whitney but that's another story. . . yikes) The White Stripes do an interesting version you can find here. Susanna and The Magical Orchestra gave it a passable try though it still seems to be missing something. In my head I guess I hear it as a mix of the two, the pared down breathier singing style married with the heavier hitting sound of the drums et al when the chorus comes in. Let the instruments take care of the 'power' instead of belting it like Dolly does, and convey the raw emotion, the desperation of the piece through the anguished sound of the singer's voice. Cover songs are dicey business.
In honour of that fact I'm gonna give you a little video of a truly great cover. . . .or two.
Billie Jean ~ Foy Vance. I've heard him do this better but this is the cleanest youtube copy out there.
Damien Rice ~ When Doves Cry. This is freakin' incredible. . .so listen to it quick before the audio gets pulled like every other copy I found posted up on youtube. He pulls off the most incredible segue mid-song, you just don't wanna miss it.
Anyway, Kayla. . .you kick ass girl! . . .and you're cute doin' it.
So today we took it easy, carved the pumpkin. . . .into a pea shooter from Plants VS Zombies!!!! . . .hunted around for a second pumpkin to carve into a zombie, to no avail; everywhere was clean sold out. Set it up outside and waited for the trick or treaters to come. Which they did not. We had like four kids show up, while it was still light outside no less. They didn't even get to see the full effect of our pumpkin. Is Hallowe'en completely defunct in Saskatchewan as well? WTF? Seriously! So very sad. . .luckily we have a very large bowl of candy for me to console myself with; but man, if I had known nobody was gonna show up I'd have bought some higher quality diggs! *super sigh* I'd post a pic of my carving along with his accompanying paper zombies but I totally lost all love for the event when I realized nobody was coming for my sweet, sweet candy. :(
So . . .I guess that about sums up Hallowe'ekend. So glad we got to see the Seahags play, and enjoy some derby action!
*I'd give you the link to the SRDL's website but it's been under construction for some time now and there just isn't a lot to see.
