Blitzen Trapper w/ Alela Diane @ The Horseshoe Tavern Feb. 21.2009.

(Blitzen Trapper ft. bizzaro Dirk Nowitzki and bizzaro Seth Rogan)

There were a crowd of us that went out to the (Legendary) Horseshoe Tavern last night... and I've come to conclusion that people from northern Ontario should not be allowed to drink. Kudos to Mr. G for organizing the tickets, etc. for last night.

Alela Diane (pronounced A-Leila) went on first and I wasn't really sure what to expect from her. What I heard on her myspace was pretty underwhelming, but her latest album, To Be Still (out now) got an 82 on Metacritic, which is pretty impressive. So, myspace - meh, new album reviews - good, either way I was interested to see her set and went in with an open mind.

She was really impressive... to the point where I would put her in the same league as Jenny Lewis, Neko Case, and Lurlene! She has this really cool Sarah McLauglin(sp? - I'm not looking this up)esque flourish to her voice, which provided a nice contrast with the kind of plodding sound of the band (which featured her dad!). And, while I'm there, who tours with their dad? Really? Doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of being in a band?

Great set. Really looking forward to hearing To Be Still.

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Things heated up for Blitzen Trapper. Literally. In a after-3-songs-I-was-drenched-in-sweat kind of way. At one point I seriously considered taking my shirt off, but I didn't want to distract people from the band... it would've been rude.

So, while BT isn't necessarily my scene, I had a great time (hooray for friends and not going to see a show alone!) and I def. understand why the party people in the 'shoe last night were really into the band. I mean, BT was a band that pretty clearly understood how to put on a show and put together a set-list. They spread out their most popular songs, they knew when to slow things down and amp things up, and they jammed, but it wasn't like we were at a Greatful Dead concert (although, there was at least one teacher candidate in the crowd that would've been really into that).

... apollo-geez for spelling/grammar mistake this morning, the Real World: Brooklyn has been really compelling this morning...

[mp3] Alela Diane - My Brambles (live @ the Horseshoe)
[mp3] Blitzen Trapper - Big Black Bird (live @ the Horseshoe)
[mp3] Blitzen Trapper - Stolen Shoes & a Rifle (live @ the Horseshoe)
... thanks Scott!

Adele Diane (and friends)


(Let's hear it for Mike Commodore on the drums!)




Blitzen Trapper