Merry Ho Ho From LM Photo

Last Night I Met an Angel-A Review of the Julie Doiron, Ladyhawk, Constantines Call the Office Blowout

After a long break from the hallowed ground of the live music venue, I returned to form Friday night with a long anticipated trio of Canada's heavy hitters conveniently wrapped up in a handy little package and spit out from the beautifully tarnished stage of London's iconic Call the Office.
Ladyhawk was a completely fresh experience, with only a MySpace briefing and a recommendation from a friend to crutch my ingoing bias. Their avid fans where quite obviously in attendance and the front of stage quickly became a well packed deck of cards, my jack of spades wedged between the stage, wall and some fun loving (and pissed) girl from Fanshawe:-) Hitting there stride about 2 or 3 songs in, these guys genuinely rocked, bassist Sean Hawryluk a spitting rendition of early 90's J.Mascis Dinosaur Jr, t-shirt and all. Not taking shots at the look alike contest, lead singer and guitarist Duffy Driediger freakishly reminded me of Sublime guitarist Eric Wilson, sweat and all. Joking about how C.T.O. had been negligent adding an 'e' to Ladyhawk on the marquis out front (Ladyhawke is a New Zealand outfit led my sexpot singer Pip Brown), they definitely laid to rest any misconceptions over who they where, playing a searing set and reeling in those not already converted into there lyrical world of fuzzed teen angst.
I had seen the Constantines on 2 separate occasions in the past, the virgin flight being from the main stage of Hillside in there hometown of Guelph, where they kicked my ass so much that I added a powerhouse image of crazed bass player Dallas Wehrle to my small personal gallery. Taking the stage around 12:30am, they wasted no time in getting down to what they do best, opening up a sonic fire on the pressed and already well fed awaiting audience. Dallas sporting a full face winter mask, which he wore for most of the show. As always, the Constantines where anything but a mystery, ripping through their ever growing retrospective, timely and poignant anthems. With Kensington Heights, they have taken it up another rung and become one of Canada's most important bands and if Friday night's 10th anniversary show is any indication, the boys from Wellington County aren't stopping anytime soon.
On a night as solid as this, it is hard to pick favorites, but Julie Doiron, formerly of legendary East coast Noise-Grunge-Rock-Avante purveyors Eric's Trip and Wooden Stars, who took the stage first and blew me away with her shear energy and a power chord jabs a la Neil Young (the entire evening actually had a Crazy Horse rocker vibe sitting stage left, but then again, this is Canada, eh:-)). I had never seen her live and expected a much mellower vibe, after extensive listening to 2 of her studio albums, 1997's Loneliest in the Morning, and this year's college chart topper I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day. What I got was a girl in her late 30's that worked the stage with shear exuberance, style and power that made you think you where looking at a 20 year old Julie encapsulated in the heady days of the early 90's, giving the audience everything she had. When she played, the exuberance and pleasure she took in she gave out, her show wonderful, rough and ecstatic, each song finished with a grateful thank-you to not only to the audience, but the headlining bands with the nuance of a girl not jaded by years of touring and the storms of career wanes and prominence, with her years on the road roughly 10 years their senior. Working her own merch table with the enthusiasm of a fledgling bar act and during both the Ladyhawk and Constantines set she turned into fan mode, either crammed behind the monitor leaning fans, or singing and dancing side stage and taking the stage with the Constantines. Julie Doiron, as a person and as a musician was the star that stood out for me, not just for her stage hip, but for what she represented, a sketch of music for the love of music, a beautiful ageless spirit dressed in dusty boots black nylons and plaid skirt, her long pigtails swinging with an urgency lost in today's commercial jungle. Amen to that:-)

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