Thursday, July 05, 2007
Blues Fest Day 1 - Van Morrision's Cash Transaction
I can't get 30 people t pay $3.00 to see me. (A damning statement. Except I'm in Ottawa, Ontario. So, the truth has set me free.) So it was intrigued by the anthropology of it all when I went to see Van Morrison at the ottawa Blues Fest.
Officially, 35,000 people lined up against massive fencing to get in to see Van, the old songwriter/ singer. Executives, hicks, scenster kids, office hens, they were all there. Yuppies chatted on their cell phones. "The ticket building? Yeah. I'm lookign at it! Ok it's 7:15 pm, I'll call you back at 7:30 pm. Hopefully we'll be closer to the front of the line! I know..." Obviously, the experience of waiting out on the street was these people's triathelon. Their pilgrimage through the mountains. this was a big adventure to them. they were not at the mall, grocery store ordriving home to the suburbs. They seemed to all be saying to themselves, "Hold on Beth. You will survive." These people weren't here for Van Morrision, or evn his songs. They were here because someone, the media, the sponsors etc. told them to be. and because their neigbours were here. The mentality was: "I 'm keeping up with the Jones'. Oh and there happens to be a concert too."
Van Morrision started the show with about 5 thousand people tillwaiting to get in. One of the festival volunteers (a mix of men with piercing eyes and sunburns, high school kids and the occasional mentally challanged character) decided to herd everyone down to a secord door. The line fell apart like rats running for the last life raft. A swaty guy who'd obviously worked all day at the parts department of some auto centre hollered out, "This is a piss poor system!"
For my part I talked to a local rock and roll photographer (who has photographed every band in Ottawa, excet mine, and posted them on his blog) about his camera.
We burst through the doors, noone checking to see if we had the $50.00 tickets or not. I decided to head for the stage. it was time to wind, twist, push and needle my way through a sea of jean jackets, expensive hair cuts, recyclable wine glasses with glowing stems and collabable lawn chairs. Eventually the artery became plugged and I was caught like a heron in a fish net of humanity.
I looked around to see who's comapny I was in. There was a sporty bottle blonde with no idea and her beefy boyfriend decked out in an ugly maroon leather Queen's University jacket, complete with badges decreeing his Indian/Canadian heritage sewn on the back. There were a couple of women from Westbro village wearing Mountain Co Op Equipment everything and mathcing lassy dog shaed hair dye. A ueer rights activits who knows me, but decied to do me favour and snub me. to the left was a moltey crew of real hicks. Young guys of about 20 with more facial hair than their fathers, ball hats, joints, trashy bimbos and stinky cigarettes. all of them, all of it right up in my face.
I could see Van Morrision's white hat bogging in the distance. He didn't say a word to the crowd. He just cut from one song to the next. One office hen declared excitedly e listening to a greatest hits CD!" Actually it was like listening to a megamix of nostalgic puff that refused to come up for air.
People really got into as the night capped off with "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Gloria!" people sang along without knowing what they were saying. At the end, Morrision muttered, "A hand for the band" and walked off without another word. The band cugged to a stop. some local news persoanlity stumbled onto the stag with peeling makeup and declared, "you've just been a part of music histiry!!!!" The office hend ans old hippies all stared at themselfves and each other. "a part of history?! Who me?!" I wonderd "History? How? In what way?" I mean what these people had just experienced was paying top doolar to be herded into a human hellland to watch a tired Van Morrision toss an uninspired performance onstage like a rag he blew his nose on. a man who was there to do a job. The history we witnessed was witnessessing a successful bid at mass propaganda that a giant cash transaction is an excellent rock show. Everyone go getyouself another raffle ticket.
I can't get 30 people t pay $3.00 to see me. (A damning statement. Except I'm in Ottawa, Ontario. So, the truth has set me free.) So it was intrigued by the anthropology of it all when I went to see Van Morrison at the ottawa Blues Fest.
Officially, 35,000 people lined up against massive fencing to get in to see Van, the old songwriter/ singer. Executives, hicks, scenster kids, office hens, they were all there. Yuppies chatted on their cell phones. "The ticket building? Yeah. I'm lookign at it! Ok it's 7:15 pm, I'll call you back at 7:30 pm. Hopefully we'll be closer to the front of the line! I know..." Obviously, the experience of waiting out on the street was these people's triathelon. Their pilgrimage through the mountains. this was a big adventure to them. they were not at the mall, grocery store ordriving home to the suburbs. They seemed to all be saying to themselves, "Hold on Beth. You will survive." These people weren't here for Van Morrision, or evn his songs. They were here because someone, the media, the sponsors etc. told them to be. and because their neigbours were here. The mentality was: "I 'm keeping up with the Jones'. Oh and there happens to be a concert too."
Van Morrision started the show with about 5 thousand people tillwaiting to get in. One of the festival volunteers (a mix of men with piercing eyes and sunburns, high school kids and the occasional mentally challanged character) decided to herd everyone down to a secord door. The line fell apart like rats running for the last life raft. A swaty guy who'd obviously worked all day at the parts department of some auto centre hollered out, "This is a piss poor system!"
For my part I talked to a local rock and roll photographer (who has photographed every band in Ottawa, excet mine, and posted them on his blog) about his camera.
We burst through the doors, noone checking to see if we had the $50.00 tickets or not. I decided to head for the stage. it was time to wind, twist, push and needle my way through a sea of jean jackets, expensive hair cuts, recyclable wine glasses with glowing stems and collabable lawn chairs. Eventually the artery became plugged and I was caught like a heron in a fish net of humanity.
I looked around to see who's comapny I was in. There was a sporty bottle blonde with no idea and her beefy boyfriend decked out in an ugly maroon leather Queen's University jacket, complete with badges decreeing his Indian/Canadian heritage sewn on the back. There were a couple of women from Westbro village wearing Mountain Co Op Equipment everything and mathcing lassy dog shaed hair dye. A ueer rights activits who knows me, but decied to do me favour and snub me. to the left was a moltey crew of real hicks. Young guys of about 20 with more facial hair than their fathers, ball hats, joints, trashy bimbos and stinky cigarettes. all of them, all of it right up in my face.
I could see Van Morrision's white hat bogging in the distance. He didn't say a word to the crowd. He just cut from one song to the next. One office hen declared excitedly e listening to a greatest hits CD!" Actually it was like listening to a megamix of nostalgic puff that refused to come up for air.
People really got into as the night capped off with "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Gloria!" people sang along without knowing what they were saying. At the end, Morrision muttered, "A hand for the band" and walked off without another word. The band cugged to a stop. some local news persoanlity stumbled onto the stag with peeling makeup and declared, "you've just been a part of music histiry!!!!" The office hend ans old hippies all stared at themselfves and each other. "a part of history?! Who me?!" I wonderd "History? How? In what way?" I mean what these people had just experienced was paying top doolar to be herded into a human hellland to watch a tired Van Morrision toss an uninspired performance onstage like a rag he blew his nose on. a man who was there to do a job. The history we witnessed was witnessessing a successful bid at mass propaganda that a giant cash transaction is an excellent rock show. Everyone go getyouself another raffle ticket.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Mackenzie at Pride Toronto, 2007
Mackenzie MacBride & Her Super Model Syndrome will appear on The Alterna Stage@the Alexander Parkette Stage Located in the little park next to Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, between Maitland and Alexander near Yonge Street.Arrive for 3 pm. This Sunday . June 24, 2007 at 3:25 p.m. Please come out for some fun.
Here's the map:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=12+alexander+st.,+toronto,+on&daddr=&sll=43.661335,-79.379257&sspn=0.007016,0.014462&ie=UTF8&ll=43.663696,-79.37959&spn=0.007016,0.014462&z=16&iwloc=addr&om=1
Mackenzie MacBride & Her Super Model Syndrome will appear on The Alterna Stage@the Alexander Parkette Stage Located in the little park next to Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, between Maitland and Alexander near Yonge Street.Arrive for 3 pm. This Sunday . June 24, 2007 at 3:25 p.m. Please come out for some fun.
Here's the map:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=12+alexander+st.,+toronto,+on&daddr=&sll=43.661335,-79.379257&sspn=0.007016,0.014462&ie=UTF8&ll=43.663696,-79.37959&spn=0.007016,0.014462&z=16&iwloc=addr&om=1
Monday, June 18, 2007
Summer Klaus
"Mackenzie has an amazing voice. I always think of Klaus Nomi!"
- Pride West 2007 Promoter in Fab Magazine # 321 with colour photo
June 11, 2007
http://www.fabmagazine.com/
I was hoping to get in this fun magazine for years. One day it just happened.
"Mackenzie has an amazing voice. I always think of Klaus Nomi!"
- Pride West 2007 Promoter in Fab Magazine # 321 with colour photo
June 11, 2007
http://www.fabmagazine.com/
I was hoping to get in this fun magazine for years. One day it just happened.
Monday, June 11, 2007
At Her Best At West Fest
As the sun set on Richmond Road in Ottawa I was up on the CBC stage looking over the crowd. "How did I get here," I wondered? A lot of hard work. In the distance I could see a big church steeple. I focused on that for a while. Slowly I started looking at individual people. I could see they were really our music.
I dedicated the entire show to the late and great Tiny Tim, who died in 2007 of a heart attack after consuming nothing but beer and raw potatoes for years. (The other side of stardom. eh?)
I felt like Tiny Tim was watching over me. The camera man for the fesitval said, "You stole the show." after we came off stage.
Putting a 6 piece band on the stage is more work than coordinating a class trip for 30 kids in Grade 3. So glad it was a hit.
Also to view a clip from the show here's the You Tube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYvcPDu9nik
As the sun set on Richmond Road in Ottawa I was up on the CBC stage looking over the crowd. "How did I get here," I wondered? A lot of hard work. In the distance I could see a big church steeple. I focused on that for a while. Slowly I started looking at individual people. I could see they were really our music.
I dedicated the entire show to the late and great Tiny Tim, who died in 2007 of a heart attack after consuming nothing but beer and raw potatoes for years. (The other side of stardom. eh?)
I felt like Tiny Tim was watching over me. The camera man for the fesitval said, "You stole the show." after we came off stage.
Putting a 6 piece band on the stage is more work than coordinating a class trip for 30 kids in Grade 3. So glad it was a hit.
Also to view a clip from the show here's the You Tube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYvcPDu9nik
Monday, June 04, 2007
MacBride In Concert
West Fest June 8- 10, 2007
Mackenzie MacBride & Her Super Model Syndrome will appear at Ottawa's best live music festival, West Fest.
Mackenzie will appear for a full set of music:
Sunday June 10 th
beginning at 5:00 pm.
Please bring your sense of fun and dreams of NYC to her stardusty performance on the outdoor stage on Richmond Road.
For more info and directions please go to:
www.westfest.ca
West Fest is free.
Often cute people and tasty eats.
West Fest June 8- 10, 2007
Mackenzie MacBride & Her Super Model Syndrome will appear at Ottawa's best live music festival, West Fest.
Mackenzie will appear for a full set of music:
Sunday June 10 th
beginning at 5:00 pm.
Please bring your sense of fun and dreams of NYC to her stardusty performance on the outdoor stage on Richmond Road.
For more info and directions please go to:
www.westfest.ca
West Fest is free.
Often cute people and tasty eats.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Kitch Appeal
Mackenzie MacBride's folk electro beat record "Eccntric By Accident" was reviewed at the Montreal Music and Tech Conference (May 30 to June 2, 2007) by a panel of judges.
Comments included:
"I would listen to this longer. I like music that's like a car crash. Great craptronics!"
- Patti Schmidt, former host of Brave New Waves, CBC Montreal
"It sounds like there should be a stage show that goes with it."
- Seth Horvitz (Sutekh-Context) (A record company in San Francisco
"Very unique. Thanks for giving us something different to listen to. It stands out."
- Richie Hawkin (Mmus) (A record company in Berlin.)
I sat in the back and laughed with delight that I have a new term for my music. "Craptronics" Hoorah! Luckily it was meant with respect. Those who are able to laugh at themselves will never cease to be amused!
Mackenzie MacBride's folk electro beat record "Eccntric By Accident" was reviewed at the Montreal Music and Tech Conference (May 30 to June 2, 2007) by a panel of judges.
Comments included:
"I would listen to this longer. I like music that's like a car crash. Great craptronics!"
- Patti Schmidt, former host of Brave New Waves, CBC Montreal
"It sounds like there should be a stage show that goes with it."
- Seth Horvitz (Sutekh-Context) (A record company in San Francisco
"Very unique. Thanks for giving us something different to listen to. It stands out."
- Richie Hawkin (Mmus) (A record company in Berlin.)
I sat in the back and laughed with delight that I have a new term for my music. "Craptronics" Hoorah! Luckily it was meant with respect. Those who are able to laugh at themselves will never cease to be amused!
Labels: Reviews
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Self Made Glam Girl Rocks On
Here's a great read on my emergence from underground cult rock figure to present day. Thanks to J. Donnelly at the City Journal.
http://www.cityjournal.ca/article-100327-Selfmade-glam-girl-rocks-on.html
Don’t ever tell Mackenzie MacBride she doesn’t have the right stuff to be a singer. She’ll just laugh in your face, pull out a mic and belt out another glitzy show tune.
Perseverance is what’s kept the self-styled “cruise-ship Vaudeville glam rocker” sane all this time, she admits. “I’ve been at this over ten years and it’s only in the last year that anyone has paid attention,” says MacBride, a self-taught musician and dirty-blonde Cyndi Lauper type.But after what’s seemed an eternity of brush-offs and Cheshire smiles from promoters and fellow musicians alike, the singer – who this past year alone has birthed numerous Ottawa shows alongside high-profile acts like Hilotrons, The City Above and Lesbians on Ecstasy – is finally getting what she considers her just desserts.She just rocked the Russian-styled Avant Garde Café this past Saturday with Night of Knights and Emile Pelletier, and is set to lay down another set of “story-songs” at the CRIAW Conference with slam poet Oni the Hatian Sensation at the Elgin Street Church this May 5.The act itself is completed by backing band The Super Model Syndrome and is one of sheer sonic mayhem, a wave of guitars, liquid synths and oddly belligerent, operatic vocals ripping holes in conventional stage performance like runs in old pantyhose. “It’s New York City balladry, or glam rock,” she explains, adding she draws on influences like Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart to write her offbeat songs.“My music is from the days of bleeding ballads and eloquent words,” she says. “The concept of telling my own truths, and my own stories came to me over time… but I think what people are picking up on now is that I’ve emerged from what we could call a musical bunker.”That bunker, she explains, was her experience growing up in rural Nova Scotia. A land of conservative views and predominantly Celic-style tunes, MacBride says she couldn’t find a single musician to work with for years.Over time she grew more comfortable with her eccentricity, she recalls, playing electro-lounge sets on “B-grade cruise ships” for a while. As her comfort level rose, however, so did kudos from critics and fans alike.“I like to titillate people’s senses, and that includes their laughter button as well as their soul button,” she says. “I like to get onstage and tell the truth as I see it, and in my case I’m trying to share universal truths of heartache, hope and perseverance.”Indeed, jaded lyrics like “Everyone’s sending out their press kits and promos/begging the papers to run their front-page photos” from her tune ‘There’s a Rock Band on Every Corner’ go over well with the indie rock crowd, and MacBride has garnered a local following of fans of late.It’s through a celebration of truth and emotion in all its facets, from sublime revelations to rock-bottom depression, she says, that she's able to connect with audiences. “I try to present that for people so they can see that life is full of highs and lows,” she philosophizes. “Some people it grates on like sand in a shoe, but ultimately people tell me they ended up feeling comfortable with their own uncomfortableness.“And that’s what people come out for. It’s a gritty, angstful evening.”
Here's a great read on my emergence from underground cult rock figure to present day. Thanks to J. Donnelly at the City Journal.
http://www.cityjournal.ca/article-100327-Selfmade-glam-girl-rocks-on.html
Don’t ever tell Mackenzie MacBride she doesn’t have the right stuff to be a singer. She’ll just laugh in your face, pull out a mic and belt out another glitzy show tune.
Perseverance is what’s kept the self-styled “cruise-ship Vaudeville glam rocker” sane all this time, she admits. “I’ve been at this over ten years and it’s only in the last year that anyone has paid attention,” says MacBride, a self-taught musician and dirty-blonde Cyndi Lauper type.But after what’s seemed an eternity of brush-offs and Cheshire smiles from promoters and fellow musicians alike, the singer – who this past year alone has birthed numerous Ottawa shows alongside high-profile acts like Hilotrons, The City Above and Lesbians on Ecstasy – is finally getting what she considers her just desserts.She just rocked the Russian-styled Avant Garde Café this past Saturday with Night of Knights and Emile Pelletier, and is set to lay down another set of “story-songs” at the CRIAW Conference with slam poet Oni the Hatian Sensation at the Elgin Street Church this May 5.The act itself is completed by backing band The Super Model Syndrome and is one of sheer sonic mayhem, a wave of guitars, liquid synths and oddly belligerent, operatic vocals ripping holes in conventional stage performance like runs in old pantyhose. “It’s New York City balladry, or glam rock,” she explains, adding she draws on influences like Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart to write her offbeat songs.“My music is from the days of bleeding ballads and eloquent words,” she says. “The concept of telling my own truths, and my own stories came to me over time… but I think what people are picking up on now is that I’ve emerged from what we could call a musical bunker.”That bunker, she explains, was her experience growing up in rural Nova Scotia. A land of conservative views and predominantly Celic-style tunes, MacBride says she couldn’t find a single musician to work with for years.Over time she grew more comfortable with her eccentricity, she recalls, playing electro-lounge sets on “B-grade cruise ships” for a while. As her comfort level rose, however, so did kudos from critics and fans alike.“I like to titillate people’s senses, and that includes their laughter button as well as their soul button,” she says. “I like to get onstage and tell the truth as I see it, and in my case I’m trying to share universal truths of heartache, hope and perseverance.”Indeed, jaded lyrics like “Everyone’s sending out their press kits and promos/begging the papers to run their front-page photos” from her tune ‘There’s a Rock Band on Every Corner’ go over well with the indie rock crowd, and MacBride has garnered a local following of fans of late.It’s through a celebration of truth and emotion in all its facets, from sublime revelations to rock-bottom depression, she says, that she's able to connect with audiences. “I try to present that for people so they can see that life is full of highs and lows,” she philosophizes. “Some people it grates on like sand in a shoe, but ultimately people tell me they ended up feeling comfortable with their own uncomfortableness.“And that’s what people come out for. It’s a gritty, angstful evening.”
