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Thread: CBC Cowboy Junkies concert for free

  1. #1
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    CBC Cowboy Junkies concert for free

    Since this isn't a video, it doesn't go in the YouTube & Other thread. I hesitantly start a thread for one concert, but it is a free stream. Those who think they are some folk outfit will be caught a bit off guard. It is pretty funny whenever a writer/reviewer/ interviewer/website/magazine tries to categorize them. Whenever "folk" or "singer songwriter" gets typed, "influenced by Velvet Underground" needs to be added. Then it gets complicated.

    The second cut is Margo, the singer, explaining what this set is about. From the CBC Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto...

    http://music.cbc.ca/#/concerts/Cowbo...dio-2012-03-14

    BTW, Glenn Gould Studio and Recorded for CBC broadcast equals very good sound. The low volume for recording purposes reportedly muted the audience reaction. Margo has introduced the last song in less polite venues as the new Canadian National Anthem.
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


  2. #2
    Senior Member Krunchy's Avatar
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    Good Concert!

    I've only heard a few of their songs in the past (sweet jane in particular) so I really did not know what to expect, great band, very tight. I'm assuming the last few songs (except the very last one) were some of their older repertoire? I really liked the guitar playing, nice sound, seems like the band really likes/were influenced by the velvet underground. Thanks Clark, that was fun!

    This is a good month for you for live music!
    Just Play Music.

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    I love the Cowboy Junkies, discovered them a couple of years ago. I've got about 5 of their CD's but they have a lot more material. You def cannot pigeon hole this band. Some of it is folk but then you get some psychedelic guitar riffs .......

    I could not get the link to play. A lot of stuff gets blocked at work but it's after hours and they let more through after 5 PM. I think I'll go home and try again.

    ========================
    Didn't work in Firefox at home either, plays fine in IE. I seem to remember Firefox spontaneously disabled Java recently due to some kind of stability problem.

    Anyway, nice find. I like their new stuff, I have the first of the Nomad series.

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    Nice link, Thanks.

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    Just listened to the 4th in the Nomad series. Great stuff. I'm really liking my Spotify subscription, otherwise I would probably not get to listen to this. Thanks Ducatista47 for the great tips you give here.
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  6. #6
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    Hey guys, you're welcome. I am glad you enjoy the band. As for how good they are live, here is a quote from someone who recently recorded them for the radio.

    It was a thrill for me to once again record this band. The last time I had that privilege was when they played to a sold out crowd at Massey Hall. On that show, as a way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Trinity Session, they performed that breakthrough album in its entirety. At the time I was struck by just how good a live band Cowboy Junkies are.

    On this Up Close session, it was the same. Where many artists would need several takes to perfect a song, Cowboy Junkies took only one. They live in the moment with their music. Much more like seasoned jazz musicians than rock musicians. Confident in their skills and happy to live in that musical moment.

    They have been together and continuously active so long they are in a rarefied class, even for a family band. If there is any way to catch them live, don't end up kicking yourself. Just do it! The second leg of this tour starts Friday in Ann Arbor. I see them in a week. Starting to shiver involuntarily.

    And guess what. The CBC has released a downloadable podcast of the radio show they produced from the Glenn Gould Studio concert. It is edited and has commentary, but it is free and available on mp3 128, M4A enhanced and OGG Vorbis. http://music.cbc.ca/#/Canada-Live/bl...Series-PODCAST

    NPR is still sitting on a Tiny Desk Concert the Junkies did earlier in the year. Maybe they will put it up soon.
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


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    I'd love to see them live but the closest show is Nashville on a Wednesday night and I have to fly out of Greenville SC at the crack of dawn Thursday morning so that isn't going to work.

    They will be in Sudbury Ontario June 27, I'll be passing through there on July 22, probably as close as I'll get. They're opening for Mellencamp on that tour so probably wouldn't get get more than an hour of the Junkies anyway.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    Yeah, I just got lucky. It is only a two hour drive from here. Tonight I drove an hour and heard what might have been the best music I will ever hear. I'm having a great month. I did have to plan way ahead (time off and in tonight's case buying tickets months ahead of time), but still just lucky.
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


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    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ducatista47 View Post
    And guess what. The CBC has released a downloadable podcast of the radio show they produced from the Glenn Gould Studio concert.

    I always enjoy and respect your recommendations. I downloaded this one and the live Bruce Coburn concert on the same site. Now that I've joined the ranks of the iPod users, I don't use anything else in the car anymore.

    I don't recall ever having experienced the Cowboy Junkies before. Don't know how I missed them. Thanks for the nudge!
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

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    Senior Member DavidF's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BMWCCA View Post
    I always enjoy and respect your recommendations. I downloaded this one and the live Bruce Coburn concert on the same site. Now that I've joined the ranks of the iPod users, I don't use anything else in the car anymore.

    I don't recall ever having experienced the Cowboy Junkies before. Don't know how I missed them. Thanks for the nudge!
    I saw them on Saturday Night Live years ago. Singing 'Sweet Jane'. Couldn't make any cowboy connection but I liked the performance. That sparked my interest. Some would think their low key approach to the business probably works against them but I would disagree. They cultivate their fans and love the small venues where it's easy to connect with the band and performance. They were out here on west coast almost every year but not recently. Maybe family and too many long bus rides has them touring less.
    David F
    San Jose

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    Senior Señor boputnam's Avatar
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    Hi, Clark...

    There's a show wandering around on DirecTV somewhere, too - (Ch 14 in my zone). "Cowboy Junkies: Trinity Revisited", features appearances by Ryan Adams, Natalie Merchant, Vic Chesnutt and Jeff Bird. A splendid show. (It's available on DVD).

    I've long appreciated the band - their instrumentation is nearly identical to that of my crummy little band, but they went into genres we haven't.

    Thanks for the Link.
    bo

    "Indeed, not!!"

  12. #12
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    Sorry I haven't had time yet to post an impression of the Davenport concert I attended. For now this might do. It was exactly like this, except I was ten feet from Margo and Michael instead of camera position. And the sound was to die for. We were all as blown away as you would think we were from the experience. This band is more intense live because a studio does not capture the energy they endow their music with.

    And yes, Jeff Bird, the man playing the Gibson solid body mandolin, is one of those musicians who would be better with a broomstick and some fishing line than nearly anyone else with a Stradivarius. Mind you, that mandolin has a P-90 pickup. Single coil clarity with the power of a really good Humbucking. It does give a fellow something to work with.

    http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/QidLDq2l1mk/

    Clark

    PS Bo, thanks for the tip. I purchased Trinity Revisited. It is splendid. It is a DVD/CD combo.
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


  13. #13
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


  14. #14
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    Name:  Junkies in Madison, WIs.jpg
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    Here is an image a fan took recently in Madison, Wisconsin. The Davenport concert I saw was on a more constricted stage and there was no room for the leopard banner (the symbol for the Nomad series), my only disappointment of the entire evening.

    I arrived in town early, as planned, but was still surprised to find a parking spot on the street right in front of the place. A few feet from the tour bus, parked in an alley behind the venue. I was directed to the elevators to reach the second floor. I kept walking back until I found a single person standing by the club entrance. As we were talking, her husband joined her from the restroom (I think). So I was third in line. They were a very nice farming couple from near Macomb, Illinois, not too far. When we were wrist banded and walked in, we sauntered to the front row and looked it over. About ten rows of chairs, five on each side of a narrow aisle per row, had been set up in front of the stage at one end of the long, narrow club. The rest of the seating was at tall tables throughout the room and at a long bar that covered most of one wall. The couple chose the two seats to the right of the aisle and I settled in at the one on the left. That put me at the edge of the low - eighteen inches perhaps - stage between Michael, the guitarist, songwriter and leader, and his sister Margo, the singer. Directly back was Jeff Bird, mandolin, harmonica and percussion. Margo was between myself and her younger brother Pete, the drummer. I had a clear view to her left of Alan Anton, the bass player. The stage was so small, everyone was close to me.

    You can see from the photo that they bring nice rugs with them on the road. It relaxes them, and I was so close it relaxed me too. As DavidF said, the Junkies favor smaller venues where they can be more intimate with the fans. There was a lot wrong with this particular room, but from the front row it was perfect.

    The front row was also nice for sonics. The bass cabinet was a big Ampeg, probably two fifteens but could have been two eighteens. Don't know, never had an Ampeg rig. At any rate, I do not believe it was miked. The waves of low notes rolled effortlessly over the venue and were felt as well as heard. His sound was also very full. He plays a Fender Jazz Bass low on the neck, uses open strings when possible and plays a ton of double stops. One look to the sides and I knew the entire sound reinforcement was directed behind me. They had set up a small two way monitor on each side of the stage (no stands) so the front couple of rows could hear the miked stuff. They were almost like center channels for a home theater rig. They were not too loud, perfect in fact. Couldn't tell they were there, but heard everything. Lots of direct sound to my position as well.

    I could go on about the band, but I don't want to gush. They are as accomplished as musicians and as a band as their experience and their quarter century of unrelenting creating, recording and touring with the same lineup would indicate. In my opinion, they have been getting better with each passing year, and are not done yet. The last two years have been their most creative period so far. You won't find a band that will make you happier or give you a greater sense of satisfaction. If, like myself, you happen to love their take on what great music should sound like, the experience will not be "a great concert" or a "fun night." It will rock your world, ring your bell and keep on ringing it until you are too old to care anymore. They are all that, no shit. I hope the video link I posted of "Wrong Piano" gave the slightest sense of what it is like to experience them in person. When you go hear them you get that, up close and very, very personal.

    One other thing. Thru out their career, Cowboy Junkies have seldom if ever tried to make hits. As in love with their audience as they are, they create what they are driven to create and try to please only themselves. What you get is that rarest type of popular music. Completely honest music. They don't "put on a show" for you. They do what they would do whether you were there or not. Yes, they feed off the energy of the audience (Michael often notes that an appreciative audience of enthusiastic fans urges them forward and upwards), but that is to dig deeper, not to do a show business thing. In my case, the experience both thrills and humbles me.

    I have been looking for bands like this all my life. I have found my share of Jazz outfits who are good at this; Neil Young, a lot of Chris Hillman's bands and a few other Country Rock aggregations hit the mark too. Certainly Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, and the early Pretenders. Big Country left the same impression with me. But in the genres that the Junkies inhabit - and they are many because they are difficult to pigeon hole but very versatile - they may have the territory to themselves these days. A prime candidate for my favorite musicians working today. Yes, they have become my favorite band.

    Clark
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


  15. #15
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    The NPR Tiny Desk Concert has finally been posted.
    http://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


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