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Concert Review: Tim Easton and Leeroy Stagger, The Cadillac Lounge, Toronto
There are pluses and minuses to big music festivals like North by North East (NxNE). Plus: awesome bands and artists come to town. Minus: You have to get to the venue hours early and endure sweaty hipsters just to see these acts. The latter is one of reasons why I decided to skip a lot of the hyped artists that I wanted to see, and headed straight for the Cadillac Lounge on Friday, June 19.
The Caddy is on West Queen West and if you blink you may miss it. Their clientele consists of mostly people in jeans, plaid, and T-shirts, and there is nearly always an old coot sitting alone drinking a pitcher of beer by himself, yelling, "You damn kids, get the hell out of my way! I can't see the band!" No popped collars or ironic mustaches in sight. And, no wait to get in.
When I strolled in, singer/songwriter Tim Easton of Joshua Tree, California, was saying "Hi" to his good friend Leeroy Stagger. Stagger is originally from rural British Columbia, and got his start in Victoria, BC, by touring with Hot Hot Heat. He currently resides in Lethbridge, Alberta. Last year Easton, Stagger, and Alaskan Evan Phillips put out an album entitled One For the Ditch, which garnered a lot of praise in the alt country music community.
Easton took the stage promptly at 10 pm, borrowing Stagger's acoustic and electric guitars, and occasionally borrowing Stagger's drummer. The first five songs of the eight song set were all performed on acoustic guitar. Wow, can Easton play guitar! He ripped though acoustic blues versions of may of his songs from his recent release entitled Porcupine, one of my favorite albums of 2009 (so far). He chatted with the audience between songs, and told stories about the how and why the songs were written. I even caught Stagger playing air drums at one point.
In addition to being an extremely talents musician, Easton also dabbles in the visual arts. You can view some of his paintings on this website scrapbook. For the release of Porcupine he hand painted 500 copies of the vinyl album jacket, and had several for sale at the show.
Set List
from Porcupine (2009), except where noted
1. Broke My Heart
2. Burgundy Red
3. The Weight Of Changing Everything (new song)
4. Stormy
5. Northbound
6. News Blackout - Ammunition (2006)
7. The Young Girls
8. The Daily Life (new song)
Stagger and his band The Wildflowers (Kevin Kane on lead electric guitar, Ian Browne on drums, and Tyson Maiko on bass) took the stage five minutes early (how organized is The Caddy?). They blasted through a ten song set that was mostly from Stagger's new album Everything is Real. The songs ranged from mournful country ("Red Bandana") to blues-based rock ("Hell of a Life") to punk ("Everything is Real"). Stagger swapped between acoustic and electric guitars, while Kane had some blistering electric guitar solos, and Maiko head-banged to the beat. Stagger even got the old coot up and dancing with a smoldering cover of Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns, and Money."
Another plus about NxNE is finding the hidden gems that nobody really knows about. This was certainly true for Tim Easton and Leeroy Stagger. The minus is that these showcases were over way too soon.
Set List
from Everything is Real (2009), except where noted
1. Red Bandana
2. Petrified World
3. Hell of a Life
4. Sleep Alone
5. Just in Case - Beautiful House (2005)
6. Everything is Real
7. Brothers
8. Snowing in Nashville
9. Lawyers, Guns, and Money (Warren Zevon cover)
10. Where I Live - Depression River (2006)
Note: CHARTattack rated both Easton's and Stagger's performances an 88, which translates to "Exceeds skill and knowledge expectations, i.e. rocked us so hard we peed our pants."
The Caddy is on West Queen West and if you blink you may miss it. Their clientele consists of mostly people in jeans, plaid, and T-shirts, and there is nearly always an old coot sitting alone drinking a pitcher of beer by himself, yelling, "You damn kids, get the hell out of my way! I can't see the band!" No popped collars or ironic mustaches in sight. And, no wait to get in.
When I strolled in, singer/songwriter Tim Easton of Joshua Tree, California, was saying "Hi" to his good friend Leeroy Stagger. Stagger is originally from rural British Columbia, and got his start in Victoria, BC, by touring with Hot Hot Heat. He currently resides in Lethbridge, Alberta. Last year Easton, Stagger, and Alaskan Evan Phillips put out an album entitled One For the Ditch, which garnered a lot of praise in the alt country music community.
Easton took the stage promptly at 10 pm, borrowing Stagger's acoustic and electric guitars, and occasionally borrowing Stagger's drummer. The first five songs of the eight song set were all performed on acoustic guitar. Wow, can Easton play guitar! He ripped though acoustic blues versions of may of his songs from his recent release entitled Porcupine, one of my favorite albums of 2009 (so far). He chatted with the audience between songs, and told stories about the how and why the songs were written. I even caught Stagger playing air drums at one point.
In addition to being an extremely talents musician, Easton also dabbles in the visual arts. You can view some of his paintings on this website scrapbook. For the release of Porcupine he hand painted 500 copies of the vinyl album jacket, and had several for sale at the show.
Set List
from Porcupine (2009), except where noted
1. Broke My Heart
2. Burgundy Red
3. The Weight Of Changing Everything (new song)
4. Stormy
5. Northbound
6. News Blackout - Ammunition (2006)
7. The Young Girls
8. The Daily Life (new song)
Stagger and his band The Wildflowers (Kevin Kane on lead electric guitar, Ian Browne on drums, and Tyson Maiko on bass) took the stage five minutes early (how organized is The Caddy?). They blasted through a ten song set that was mostly from Stagger's new album Everything is Real. The songs ranged from mournful country ("Red Bandana") to blues-based rock ("Hell of a Life") to punk ("Everything is Real"). Stagger swapped between acoustic and electric guitars, while Kane had some blistering electric guitar solos, and Maiko head-banged to the beat. Stagger even got the old coot up and dancing with a smoldering cover of Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns, and Money."
Another plus about NxNE is finding the hidden gems that nobody really knows about. This was certainly true for Tim Easton and Leeroy Stagger. The minus is that these showcases were over way too soon.
Set List
from Everything is Real (2009), except where noted
1. Red Bandana
2. Petrified World
3. Hell of a Life
4. Sleep Alone
5. Just in Case - Beautiful House (2005)
6. Everything is Real
7. Brothers
8. Snowing in Nashville
9. Lawyers, Guns, and Money (Warren Zevon cover)
10. Where I Live - Depression River (2006)
Note: CHARTattack rated both Easton's and Stagger's performances an 88, which translates to "Exceeds skill and knowledge expectations, i.e. rocked us so hard we peed our pants."
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Comment by Rudyjeep on July 2, 2009 at 5:55am -
There was some confusion on my part as to whether Tim was to play Friday or Saturday. Tim's website had it listed as Saturday; NXNE had it on Friday. I desperately wanted to get up there to see the show but damn this new law requiring a passport to get into Canada. I won't receive mine till next week.
The scene at NXNE is interesting. I went up two years ago and caught some of the shows - including Tim Easton at Jeff Healy's club - and Tim followed a band of Iggy Pop imitators and before a jazz trio. He looked pretty amused walking around.
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Comment by Brady Anderson on August 5, 2009 at 1:32pm
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I agree about big festivals being so much it often blankets the performance. With that being said I live in Alaska and a 3-4 hr show is all but the norm at a bar gig. Knowing Tim personally and have played drums with him, he is one of the most versitile musicians i know and his down to earth personality matches that as well. I have seen his craftsmanship grow over the years and he know his defiantly at his best a one man show or equally effective in a band format as porcupine would indicate. He's due back up to mellow Alaska at the end of August. I can't wait!!
OH- if you look at Tim's schedule there's a reason why he plays here so much.
shhhh, i guess i shouldn't say that so loud.
-B-
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Comment by Rudyjeep on August 11, 2009 at 3:17pm
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We need Tim to play more often in the Northeast! Ohio is a little far for me to travel (maybe Cleveland) but I'd love to be able to see him tour with the new album.
Comment
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