I went to see the Great Lake Swimmers last Saturday at Richards on Richards as part of a triple bill along with Basia Bulat and Final Fantasy. I hadn't heard Basia Bulat before, though was impressed, particularly by her voice. Final Fantasy, the headliner, I had heard before, was somewhat interested in seeing and quite enjoyed his live performance, which in turn should make me listen to him more. But the reason I went to the show was the Great Lake Swimmers, Tony Dekker really, who is the driving force behind the band. Okay, he is the band. I first heard him/them on CBC radio 3 earlier this year. Since then he/they have been my new favourite band and his/their 3 albums have been in near constant rotation for me, often each one getting multiple plays daily, though every now and then I'll fixate on a song and just listen to that over and over. It's beautiful, sparse, heart-wrenching music that strikes a whole lot of chords with me, among other reasons for its inherent melancholy. What can I say, I like my music to hurt a little bit. Anyhow, Great Lake Swimmers was who I was there to see and I was not disappointed. Actually, I was disappointed with all of the inconsiderate assholes that were talking throughout the show and the piss-poor sound mix, but I wasn't going to let those things get in the way of me enjoying the concert. And they did not. I loved it, I wanted him to play every song from every album, perhaps repeating my favourites a time or two. There wasn't too much innovative about the live performance but it was exactly what I wanted: live versions of songs I love and have listened to over and over. I guess I just wanted to see the man play and sing them. I don't know much about him, beyond what is in his music, but watching him perform I got the sense that he is a very intelligent yet painfully shy man. Enough so that I wanted to give him a hug and tell him that everything would be alright. I didn't though, because I didn't actually see him up close, but more importantly because I'd be afraid if too many people did that, he'd stop writing such heartbreaking songs. And I wouldn't want that.
22.10.07
Great Lake Swimmers!
I went to see the Great Lake Swimmers last Saturday at Richards on Richards as part of a triple bill along with Basia Bulat and Final Fantasy. I hadn't heard Basia Bulat before, though was impressed, particularly by her voice. Final Fantasy, the headliner, I had heard before, was somewhat interested in seeing and quite enjoyed his live performance, which in turn should make me listen to him more. But the reason I went to the show was the Great Lake Swimmers, Tony Dekker really, who is the driving force behind the band. Okay, he is the band. I first heard him/them on CBC radio 3 earlier this year. Since then he/they have been my new favourite band and his/their 3 albums have been in near constant rotation for me, often each one getting multiple plays daily, though every now and then I'll fixate on a song and just listen to that over and over. It's beautiful, sparse, heart-wrenching music that strikes a whole lot of chords with me, among other reasons for its inherent melancholy. What can I say, I like my music to hurt a little bit. Anyhow, Great Lake Swimmers was who I was there to see and I was not disappointed. Actually, I was disappointed with all of the inconsiderate assholes that were talking throughout the show and the piss-poor sound mix, but I wasn't going to let those things get in the way of me enjoying the concert. And they did not. I loved it, I wanted him to play every song from every album, perhaps repeating my favourites a time or two. There wasn't too much innovative about the live performance but it was exactly what I wanted: live versions of songs I love and have listened to over and over. I guess I just wanted to see the man play and sing them. I don't know much about him, beyond what is in his music, but watching him perform I got the sense that he is a very intelligent yet painfully shy man. Enough so that I wanted to give him a hug and tell him that everything would be alright. I didn't though, because I didn't actually see him up close, but more importantly because I'd be afraid if too many people did that, he'd stop writing such heartbreaking songs. And I wouldn't want that.
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They/He used to be into hardcore. Seriously, they/he liked (and probably still does like) Black Flag, Minor Threat, DRI, MDC, Misfits and so on. Muchacho!
Last time I saw them/him loud banter ruined it.
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