Hey London Ont. It's been awhile, am I right? How's it going? Huh, what's that?! You're mad at me?!! Why?!!! I let you down? Wha...I... Oh, yeah, okay: I guess I have kind of dropped the ball recently in terms of being a "local music blogger" and reporting on shows happening in-and-around town. I've failed to take note of a couple of really exciting concerts this past month -- most egregiously my beloved Julie Doiron ft. my beloved Daniel Romano at the APK Live on March 10. I'm ashamed of myself -- I truly am -- but I had a lot of crazy things going on in my life in March (not the least of which was the release of my new movie, John Carter, in which I play the title character, John Carter) and I just kind of forgot to write about the local scene. I know, yikes! But, hey, we all make mistakes. Who amongst us hasn't intended to keep the local concert going public informed on when Julie Doiron was in town and then failed to do so because they were busy traveling the globe, promoting their new movie? And, seriously, that movie was supposed to have been my big breakthrough, but then then it just did nothing at the box office. To be honest, I kind of feel like I wasted my time with that whole thing.
Anyway, the good news is that April is a new month, and as a part of my New Month's Resolution I promise that Cigarette Tricks will try to stay more on top of local shows. And what better way to start than with news that Mark Sultan will play Call The Office this week! That's right, the prolific Montreal garage rocker, perhaps best known as BBQ in The King Khan & BBQ Show, though a member of literally too many other collaborative projects to name here (but some are listed here), will play the Office in just two day's time, this Thursday night, April 5th. Sultan most recently released the very rockin' double release Whatever I Want and Whenever I Want under his own name late last year. Thursday night's show at Call The Office seems to have come up last minute. It has yet to be posted on the club's website and no details as far as door cost or set times have been advertised. Regardless, the Facebook poster for the event is here and whatever the cost might be it's going to be worth it. Not only will the show itself be great, but being hungover on Good Friday is a great way to observe the fact that the Jesus was killed by the Easter Bunny, but not before he got in the line "You're just like all Easter bunnies; can't take a punch to the crotch." Or something like that. I think. Wait, what's this holiday about?
Moving on, though. Given my above resolution, I should also mention that the most recent line-up of ska-punk-reggae legends, The English Beat, are playing the Office tomorrow night, Wednesday April 4th. Details for that event can be found here, and there is also a link to a Free Press write up about that show here. And as if that wasn't enough, there's another show in town this week worth noting: Saskatoon's The Deep Dark Woods play the APK Live on Saturday April 7th. Tickets for that show are $10 advance, Guelph band Lowlands to open. Doors open at 9 pm.
***Update April 7: Some thoughts on the Mark Sultan show after the jump.
Two words: Ama Zing. Mark Sultan's show Thursday night was definitely the most kick-ass one-man band rock show I've ever been to and it definitely ranks among the top five shows I've seen in this town in the last few years. You would think a rock show where the performer was seated the entire time (he needs to sit to play the drums with his feet), and was armed with just a guitar and a bass drum, would be a low-key affair, but this was a genuine, certified rock show: a high energy performance of Sultan's style of '50s inspired soul infused-garage rock that was best responded to by dancing your pants off. It was just one guy, but if you didn't know any better you would have sworn it was a full band. But as excellent as his guitar/drum playing is, it is Sultan's voice that is his most powerful instrument. It remained soaring and soulful throughout the set (even though afterwards he complained of his voice being "gruff" on account of a cold; I didn't hear any fault with it). Unfortunately, I make a terrible concert reviewer in that I tend to drink a little toward the excessive side at most shows that I attend. Thursday was no exception. So I can't provide a detailed song-by-song breakdown of the show. I can say there were songs from throughout Sultan's various projects, and stand outs included, "100 Little Women," "I'll be Lovin' You," "Waddlin' Around" and "Third Ave" -- and a great cover of a really famous song by a really famous band that I remember being blown away by at the time, but which by the next morning I couldn't remember what song for the life of me. Yikes! Anyway, it was a great set where one song bled into the next, and the whole show -- though shorter than I would have liked it to be -- was one great party.
Sultan has an extensive list of tour dates ahead of him, so if any of these stopes match up with where you live, be sure to check him out. After the dates, a video of Sultan from 2006, opening up for the last Deadly Snakes show at the Horseshoe in Toronto.
3/30 Cornwall, ON - La Maison
4/5 London, ON - Call The Office
4/6 Toronto, ON - Parts And Labour
4/24 Tallahassee, FL - Waterworks
4/25 St. Augustine, FL - Cafe 11
4/27 Miami, FL - Vagabond
4/28 San Juan, PR - Abracadabra
5/2 Orlando, FL - Will's Pub
5/3 Long Beach, CA - Alex's Bar
5/4 Phoenix, AZ - Trunk Space
5/5 San Francisco, CA - The Hemlock
5/7 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
5/10 Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory
5/11 New Haven, CT - Cafe 9
5/12 Boston, MA - PA's Lounge
5/23 Detroit, MI - PJ's Lager House
5/24 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
5/25 Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club
5/26 Minneapolis, MN - Turf Club
5/28 Omaha, NE - The Slowdown
5/29 Oklahoma City, OK - Blue Note
5/31 Dallas, TX - City Tavern
6/1 Austin, TX - Scoot-Inn (Chaos in Tejas)
6/2 Houston, TX - Continental Club
6/4 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone
6/5 Nashville, TN - Zombie Shop
6/7 Cincinnati, OH - Motr
6/8 Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups
6/9 Cleveland, OH - Beachland
6/15 Montreal, QC - Sala Rossa
7/6 Moncton, NB - The Manhattan
7/7 Halifax, NS - The Seahorse
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