Lauren Mann & TFOF album stream

Indie-folk band, Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk are streaming their new album, Over Land and Sea.

"In case you missed it, last Tuesday we released our brand new album Over Land and Sea. We spent 7 weeks in the studio in mid-2011 recording with Aaron Marsh, former vocalist of Copeland, and finally after many long months of hard work the album is out! We're so proud of it, and are really excited about the response that it's gotten so far!

That being said, we still know a lot of people really have no idea who we are (maybe some of you reading this are in that boat) so we though, why don't we stream our new album online for a while to give people a chance to listen to it before buying it.

So if you'd like to check out our full album Over Land and Sea, it is currently streaming here:
CLICK HERE TO STREAM THE ALBUM

I was surprised to see that LMATFOF had recorded a cover of the August Burns Red song "Redemption".  It's fantastic check out that track and the rest of the album too.

Lauren and the rest of the band are on tour and heading towards Ontario next week.  For those living near Peterborough, Ontario, head to The Parish, 746 Park St. S (meeting at St. John's Catholic School).  Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk will be performing Sunday June 27th church service at 10:30 AM .

Lauren Mann & the Fairly Odd Folk, 2012 edition

Don't let Lauren's photo frighten you she's actually quite sweet

Indie-folk band, Lauren Mann & the Fairly Odd Folk made to Peterborough during their Ontario leg of their North American "From Here to There" tour. Wednesday night, Feb 22, they filled The Garnet.  I'm talking about a really small venue, but it was filled nonetheless. Tickets were a bargain at only $5.

Lauren and her husband Zoltan are the core of the band, but they've fleshed out the Fairly Odd Folk quotient of the band by adding a full time drummer (Aaron Fraser), guitarist (Mike Pardy) and bass player (Hammer Clark).

The concert had a late start at 10pm which may have contributed to a smaller turn-out.  The late start was helpful to me however, the band was able to join me for a live interview at Trent Radio prior dashing down the road to get to the venue on time.

Lauren has been performing indie folk music since her teens and has honed her craft by playing a huge number of dates recently.  During 2011 the band played 200 shows in both Canada and Europe. major festivals have also taken notice of her talents as she's performed at the Cornerstone Festival in Illinois and the Calgary Folk Festival in her home town of Calgary.

I've seen Lauren Mann & the Fairly Odd Folk play a several of times in the past and I've never been disappointed.  Last Friday she played a number of songs from her 2010 CD Stories From Home such as Stow Me Away and Lost in the Sound. She also added some new tracks from the upcoming album Over Land and Sea.  They were able to use the talents of producer Aaron Marsh (ex of the band Copeland) to polish the signature Lauren Mann & the Fairly Odd Folk sound. The band has offered a teaser on Noisetrade by offering three free tracks from the new CD.

The finale of the night was a stand out, absolutely killer track, I Lost Myself from the new CD.  You have to hear this song.

Lauren Mann & the Fairly Odd Folk are continuing their musical odyessy as they continue to cover the rest of Eastern Canada before head to the States for the rest of the tour.  Be sure to check out both their tour schedule at http://www.facebook.com/laurenmannmusic

Lauren Mann & the Fairly Odd Folk Peterborough concert

Indie-folk band, Lauren Mann & the Fairly Odd Folk are currently on the Ontario leg of their North American tour. For Peterborough, ON locals the band is performing in town this Wednesday night, Feb 22.  You can see them at The Garnet  231 Hunter St. W.  Tickets are a bargain at only $5. Show starts at 10pm.  Prior to that they will be joining me in the studio at Trent Radio, 92.7 FM between 9 and 10 for a live interview on The Antidote.  

Concert photos

Peter Furler and band

Building 429

Me In Motion

Hello Kelly concert review

I had a chance to both see and interview Hello Kelly in Toronto at Lee's Palace last Friday. Hello Kelly had its beginnings in 2004 with the release of their EP, Modern Day Nostalgia.  Many changes have taken place with the band line-up over those intervening years, but the pop rock feel to the music remains the same.  It's been said that every single person in Ontario has seen HK play at least once.  This was time number twelve for me to see the band and they didn't disappoint.

You'll be able to hear the complete interview with Hello Kelly on a future broadcast of The Antidote.

The audience at Lee's Palace spanned not decades, but generations. Fans ranging in age from late teens to early '70's, were actively singing along with the band during their numbers.  I've often said that Hello Kelly has an appeal from tweens, to Mom and Dad's, to Grandma and her dog.

Hello Kelly's only original member is lead vocalist and guitarist Francois Goudreault. He's been joined by Travis Wilbourn...guitar, vocals, George Wong...bass, vocals, and Ben Mahaffey on drums, over the past two years.

Hello Kelly bounded onto stage with their opener "Pressure & Poison" from the new (EASYFORYOUTOSAY) album.  To me this is the outstanding track on the album.

Song two, "The Communication Breakdown", is a particularly poignant song for HK's lead vocalist.  It recounts Francy's trials of having a fairly severe stutter that makes it difficult for him to speak in public.  However he carries his vocal abilities on with extreme clarity on stage.  I asked him about the difficult role he has been cast.  To respond it was necessary to text one of his band-mates and for them to read it back to me.

Next up was a cover of the Cutting Crew song "(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight". It wasn't a surprise to hear a cover. Even though Hello Kelly has a wealth of their own material to draw on, they will often cover other bands music such as Tom Petty.

The performance of the new song "Brighter Days" came with a bit of a shock.  I didn't even recognize this extended version of the song.  The band took the pop/rock song to the extreme, giving it an angst edge and almost psychedelic rock flavour.  Francy delivered the final verse with falsetto vocals. HK should pursue this avenue, as they handled it with acute ability.

"Better Now Together" had the audience participating in the refrain:
"Hey, here we go, here we go again
Scream our lungs out forever
Hey, here we go, here we go again
We’re better now together"

Even though Hello Kelly was not the headline band, they took the stage back for an encore with a song from The Modern Day Fades Away.  "Favourite Arcade" has always been a crowd pleaser and it didn't fail this time either.

HK can no longer play Ontario venues with their past frequency as they now call Nashville home.  If you get the chance check them out.  A great band to see live and don't forget to ask for a sweaty group hug after the show.

Find out more about Hello Kelly here

Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk concert

Clear skies and swarms of late summer killer mosquitoes greeted music fans as they gathered to see a backyard performance by Handsome and Gretyl of Nashville and Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk from Calgary.  Both indie/folk bands were very kind to come and play at our home in Millbrook, ON.

Pre-concert festivities included Nerf football and our pastor, Aaron, deciding that the fastest way out of our house was through our patio door screen.  Aaron was unscathed but the patio door screen didn't fair as well.

Handsome and Gretyl

Handsome and Gretyl started the evening playing songs from their new EP Hold On Tight Love.  The band's music carried over the streets with Gretyl's beautiful clear voice. Both Gretyl and her husband, Brett handled guitars.

Darkness fell and the mosquitoes disappeared as Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk stepped onto the stage (or I should say grass).  Handsome and Gretyl accompanied Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk to give a full sound to the band.  Zoltan showed his talents by playing tambourine, keyboards, xylophone and melodica. Brett picked up the guitar sticks, Gretyl on guitar, while Lauren gave us her vocal  and keyboard talents.

Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk

A great fun night.  Hopefully we will be able to do something similar in the future.

If you didn't have a chance to visit Millbrook, check out both bands tour schedule here.









Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk performing
"Stow Me Away".  Please excuse the video quality but at least the audio is OK.

Skillet at Wonder Jam

Since 1996, Skillet has been entertaining audience with amazing live shows.  Their concert at Wonder jam was no exception.

This was the second time I had seen the Skillet play live, the first time being 2007 at Soulfest in New Hampshire.  Much has changed in the interim. Ben Kasica former lead guitarist has left and been replaced by Seth Morrison.  Lori Peters was replaced by 21 year old drummer/vocalist, Jen Ledger.  In additon, a new album, Awake, was released in 2009.

Rarely do bands, either Christian or secular, stay at the forefront of their field for this length of time. Skillet has that ability. With the exception of John Cooper's bass guitar skills and raw vocals, the band is not known for it's abilities, nor are they know for writing profound lyrics.

"Better Than Drugs"

Feel your every heartbeat
Feel you on these empty nights
Calm the ache, stop the shakes
You clear my mind

You're my escape
From this messed up place
'Cause you let me forget
You numb my pain

How can I tell you just all that you are
What you do to me

You're better than drugs
Your love is like wine
Feel you comin' on so fast
Feel you comin' to get me highYou're better than drugs

Addicted for life
Feel you comin' on so fast
Feel you comin' on to get me high

What Skillet can do is combine their abilites with catchy tunes and dynamic lead vocals by John Cooper.

The June 25th concert started with a stage blackened by a giant Skillet banner. Twin spotlights come on highlighting touring musicians, Jonathan Chu and Tate Olsen on violin and cello respectively.  Both performers are wearing white ties and tails with Venetian masks.  The sound of the string instruments flow out over the crowd.  As the music builds, the backdrop banner falls away revealing a huge, multi-level stage with the rest of the band in place.  John Cooper on bass and lead vocals, Korey Cooper (John's wife) handling keyboards
and syntesizer plus some vocals, Seth Morrison on lead guitar, and Jen Ledger taking charge of drums and backing vocals.

The string players lead the band into the first verses of "Whispers In The Dark", followed by "Hero".  Korey offers a short segment of "Monster" performed on a vocoder. "Comatose" and "Awake" follows. Platforms elevate individual band members up to eight feet above the surface of the stage.  On "Awake" Jen Ledger makes use of an elevating and revolving drum platform that comes a close second to the newsboys' similiar apparatus.

The pace slows down at John and Jen share vocals on "Yours To Hold".  The song deals with a person alone and hurting without Christ, even He is right beside them.  The duo continue with "Last Night".

Probably the only poor part of the concert is the solo's. Seth Morrison makes use of the cat-walk to offer a guitar solo, Jen Ledger follows up with a solo of her own on her drum kit. Both are solid musicians, but not of the calibre to do solo's.

During the entire concert pyrotechnics abound, crreating an output to equal that of the fireworks display in Ottawa on Canada Day.  The pyrotechnics and fog take over the stage, synched to the individual band members and songs. This is a highlight of Skillets concerts, well planned and totally co-ordinated to accent the whole concert experience.

On "Savior" the fog abounds. The mock up for "Monster" comes across as being a bit cheezy as John Coopers sings from the head of the monster.

The crowd's roar brings out Jonathan Chu and Tate Olsen to each take a deserved solos.  I can't go on enough about how much the  two string players adds to Skillet's live performance.

Skillet closes with the final encore.  The fans (referred to as "panheads) sings along with the band members on "Rebirthing" (as they had sung along with every song).

Superlatives are lacking when describing Skillet's live show. Simply put, a Skillet concert is a spectacle in the best sense of the word. An experience that shouldn't be missed.  

Skillet link

Thousand Foot Krutch at Wonder Jam

Trevor McNevan - vocals

Trevor McNevan bounds onto the stage at the Kingswod Theatre at Canada's Wonderland singing the opening lines of "Welcome to the Masquerade".  Problems flare up when McNevan's microphone cuts out halfway through the song. Trevor continues to sing and toughs out the trouble until the mike comes back on just prior to the end of the song.

TFK has been a staple of both Ontario and world-wide audiences over the past decade and a half. Their first album That's What People Do, in 1997, became a hit in their hometown of Peterborough, ON.  "Rhyme Animal" was added to the rotaion of local radio station The Wolf 101.5 and became on of the most requested songs of the year. The Set It Off CD in 2000, continued to reflect the rap hip/hop metal mix of the band.  TFK's musical style changed in 2003 with the Tooth & Nail label release of Phenomenon.  The band seem to reach new fans and old alike with their new true heavy rock sound.

McNevan is a tremendously prolific as both a performer, producer and song writer.  In addition to Thousand Foot Krutch, McNevan is also lead singer of the pop/punk band FM Static. He has also provided his talents either lyrically or vocally to:

Steve Augustine

Manafest
Worth Dying For
Hawk Nelson
tobyMac
Remedy Drive
Wavorly
Decyfer Down
Demon Hunter

Joel Bruyere - bass, guitar

KJ-52
The Letter Black

Crowd favourite "Rawkfist" from their Phenomenon CD has the crowd jumping with fists in the air. All songs have fans singing at the top of their lungs along with Trevor.  Great lyrics and the band members musical skills drive these songs.

Playlist:
"Welcome to The Masquerade"
"Bring Me To Life"
"Move"
"Rawkfist"
"Scream"
"Falls Apart"
"Fire it Up"

Too bad that Wonder Jam was not one of TFK's better performances.  This is a very polished band on stage with the experience of thousands of live concerts.  What was a technical glitch can often throw off a band's performance.  Make sure to see TFK if you have never had the opportunity, they do not disappoint.

Family Force 5 at Wonder Jam

When the power blows as the band comes on stage, it's gives you some expectation of what's about to transpire.

Family Force 5 have proven themselves to be one of the greatest Christian bands to appear on stage. Their live concerts are not to be missed. FF5 do not record "serious" songs, nor do they take themselves too seriously. As an indication of the "seriousness" of the band the members go by the stage names: Soul Glow Activatur, Chap Stique, Crouton, Fatty, and Nadaddy. They arrive on stage prepared to have a good time and they want the crowd to have as much fun as they do.

Soul Glow Activatur

Fatty

Chap Stique

Nadaddy

Crouton

The band's former attire of leather has been dropped in favour of animal themed tank tops, shin length shorts, and combat boots. Freeing the members to keep up with their athletic moves.  Family Force 5 is a tight, synced, machine on stage.  The moves and vocals is put to the test during a new song, "Dang Girl".  Soul Glow Acivatur and Fatty trade off vocals and toss the guitar to each other as each takes charge of separate verses.

Not to be forgotten are two additional band "members', Xanadu, FF5's key stage-hand and the enormous Family Force 5000 drum machine.

Family Force 5000

Being a fun band has placed FF5 under some criticism by not being "Christian" enough lyrically. Soul Glow Activatur answers,

"We're not only for Christian kids to listen to, to be ministered to. We're also giving this to kids in the secular market so that they have a positive message and a positive fun thing." 

Family Force 5 ran through a full selection of songs from Business Up Front/Party In The Back, Dance Or Die CDs and two of their EP's Keep The Party Alive and the new EP, III.

Family Force 5 play list:

"Love Addict"
"Kountry Gentleman"
"Wobble" - catchy, funky, dance tune off their new EP
"You Got It"
"Fever"
"Put Ur Hands Up"
"Radiation"
"Dang Girl"- 2nd song off the new EP
"Get Your Back Off The Wall"
Sample from Skrillex's "Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites"
"Earthquake"
Encore: "Ghostride The Whip"

A must-see band. Check them out, you won't be disappointed.

Family Force 5 website
myspace

Thanks to my son, Abram, for help with the great photos!

Drummers

Why do drummers exhibit such distorted expressions on their faces as they perform???

Group 1 Crew at Wonder Jam

Blanca Reyes, Pablo Villatoro, and Manwell Reyes make up the hip-hop band from LA and Orlando, Group 1 Crew.

While I'm not partial to urban music, G1C had brought a bit of mainstream flavour to their latest offering, Outta Space Love. By adjusting the feel of their music, the band has made their form of urban grooves more accessible to general music fans.  Overall, the band can range from pop to hip-hop to dance genres.  They have been compared to Black Eyed Peas, but with more substance (and no profanity).

Blanca Reyes

"Please Don't Let Me Go" and "IContact", from the band's second CD, Ordinary Dreamers, started off G1C's set.  "Let It Roll", "Live It Up", "Breakdown", "Keys to the Kingdom", and the finale, "Manipulation".

Manwell Reyes

Robotic dance moves made up a large part of the performance. A gifted band with a dynamic live performance.

Find Group 1 Crew here
Group 1 Crew at myspace

Anthem Lights at Wonder Jam

The late '80's - early '90's have returned!  Boy bands. Do you remember changing the radio station whenever Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block, or Boyz II Men songs came on?  I do.  Well, those days have returned again with Anthem Lights.

Chad Graham, Caleb Grimm, Kyle Kupecky, and Alan Powell make up the vocal talents of Anthem Lights. The four male vocalists and a lone drummer take the stage. Coordinated dance moves and on-stage gymnastic leaps bring the female audience members to their feet.

My son, Abram, pointed out the striking similiarity in appearance of Kyle Kupecky to the Winklevii of The Social Network fame.  What do you think?

Anthem Lights began the set with their current radio single "Can't Shut Up" and followed with "Can't Get Over You" and "Outta My Mind" plus an acoustic number.

Please don't think that I am being too hard on Anthem Lights.  They do produce catchy tunes with heartfelt lyrics, especially "Can't Shut Up".

I had a heartbeat, I was breathing
And I kept going and going without a reason
I was living, just to be living
Until He really gave me life
This much I know, I am not alone
And I know I’m not the only one who found a way home
It’s not a secret, don’t have to keep it deep inside

Let's just wait and see how Anthem Lights continue to progress.

Catch Anthem Lights here

Manic Drive at Wonder Jam

My apologies for not having this concert review out earlier, but holidays do take precedence.  Keep tuned for reviews on all of the bands from 2011’s Wonder Jam.

I had long anticipated seeing Manic Drive perform live. I love both their current CD, Blue, and their previous release Reason For Motion. Twice the band had bowed out of shows I was attending.  I didn't realize how difficult it might be to see this band from Mississauga. Standing in line to enter the Kingswood Theatre at Wonderland, I asked some fans if Manic Drive was going to show. They assured me that it was going to happen.



The show was 40 minutes late starting.  An announcement comes over the speakers that Manic Drive will not be able to make Wonder Jam. W-H-A-T?!?!  Turns out it was a gag (sort of).

The sound of a helicopter is heard as the band runs onto the stage wearing parachutes.  Manic Drive jumps into 'Music" the first track on Blue, then followed with the radio hit,"Walls".  Third song was an untitled track from their new CD, Epic, due to be released this September. .....and that was it.  No rendition of "Blue", no older tracks such as "Nebulous", off the stage and time for the next band.  The curse of being an opening band is if there is a scheduling or time problem, the opening band takes the hit by having their set cut short.  Too bad, but a fact of being in the music biz.

Find Manic Drive at manicdrive.com