Last time I heard from Kishi Bashi was back in 2012, when he gave a great Tiny Desk concert. That is, of course, years ago. The multi-instrumentalist has released tracks and albums each year since that time, always with his signature dobos-torte-like multilayer offerings, orchestrating bewildering melodies, soaring choruses, and dazzling loop samplings.
“Hey Big Star” is something on the leaner side, however. While it’s still no slouch at filling in the silence (there IS none), it does so quite a bit more efficiently than its predecessors. When the choir chimed in at 2:30, it took me back almost 80 years to the opulent Mandarin parties on the banks of the river in Shanghai. Alas, failing to be alive at that time, where it really transported me was a karaoke bar.
Sonderlust, Kishi Bashi’s next album from which “Hey Big Star” issues, will be out on September 16th.
Bryan Adams playing his greatest hits on a perfect outdoor night in an outdoor venue. What more can you ask for? This man is a national treasure and has sold over 100 million records in his life. I was excited for this show and the man delivered.
Just look at this set list:
Do What Ya Gotta Do
Can’t Stop This Thing We Started
Don’t Even Try
Run to You
Go Down Rockin’
Heaven
Kids Wanna Rock
It’s Only Love
This Time
You Belong to Me
Summer of ‘69
When You’re Gone (solo acoustic)
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
On A Day Like Today
If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good
Back to You
We Did It All
Somebody
I’ll Always Be Right There
Please Forgive Me
Cuts Like a Knife
18 til I Die
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
ENCORE
Brand New Day
C’mon Everybody
All Shook Up
She Knows Me (solo acoustic)
Lonely Nights (solo acoustic)
Straight From the Heart (solo acoustic)
All for Love
Remember
Totally epic, my only complaint was that “Heaven” and “Summer of 69” should have been later, but one thing you don’t realize when you go to his show is just how many damn hits the man had. I found myself knowing the entire lyrics to “When You’re Gone” and “Back To You” even though I haven’t heard those tracks for twenty years probably. What kind of witchery is that?
The new tracks were surprisingly decent and they provided a breather in what otherwise was a complete singalong set. I don’t think I’ve seen so many iphones recording the show in the air as I did when he brought out the Robin Hood song.
The band sounded great and for a man who has been singing since the 80s, Bryan Adams sounded great live. The encore featured “All For Love,” the Three Musketeers song, Sadly, there was no Sting or Rod Stewart. More sadly though, Bryan Adams didn’t try to do Sting or Rod Stewart impressions when he sang their parts.
Nostalgia is powerful but what is even more powerful is simply good tunes. When you have both, it’s an unstoppable combination. This was Bryan Adams on a warm Tuesday night in Toronto.
Honeysuckle is a type of climbing vine or shrub with bright flowers and poisonous berries, in case you wanted to know. If three of said shrubs performed at the Newport Folk Festival, hippies might jump for joy, scientists could be similarly over-the-moon, and doomsday-preppers would turn-tail to stock their armoured trailers full of weedwackers. Sadly, only the part about them performing in Providence last year was true.
Just your plain’ole, progressive folksy humans from Boston, MA, Honeysuckle released their self-titled album earlier this year. The opener “It’s Getting Late” summarizes their approach quite well. Listen for the sweet yet honest three-part harmony. And the bright banjo that decorates the song like Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs, guiding you over the pessimistic lyrics to a hopefully cannibal-free ending.
Back when I first saw Shura at SXSW in 2015, I mentioned she was an artist of the cusp. Little did I know it would take another full twelve months before she delivered her debut LP. Here we are, in July 2016 and Shura has finally released her highly anticipated debut record Nothing’s Real.
I’m not sure if the record album’s visual pays homage to a certain 80’s music video or not, but it’s fairly fitting. Nothing’s Real is sun-drenched ode to the classic pop tracks of my youth. A perfect example of this is the title track. Makes me wanna chew bubble gum and rollerblade down a boardwalk.
