Date of show: March 29, 2013
Written by: Chiara DiAngelo
Wavelength Music Series installment #557 presenting the release of Shotgun Jimmie’s latest record Everything, Everything turned this Good Friday into a “Great Friday.”
One-man band Shotgun Jimmie (aka Jim Kilpatrick) took the stage shortly after midnight. Donning a dress shirt and tie, he easily could have been going to a job interview but in fact he was there to celebrate the release of his new record, Everything, Everything. Kilpatrick’s charming, slightly nerdy personality leaves you wanting nothing more than to be his best friend. The power he holds over a room was immediately apparent as the packed dive bar excitedly crowded in close to the stage, including a cheering section right up front, who were all decked out in their “Shotgun Jimmie blues.”
The new album being much more upbeat than his typical 90’s slacker college-rock vibe, Kilpatrick started his set with the opening track, “Standing in a Line.” Kilpatrick’s lyrics cleverly mused about life and love on songs like “Growing Like a Garden,” and “Skype Date” as well as his three favourite things – Ladyhawk, Guided By Voices and This American Life – on “Ladyhawk.” And if that somehow wasn’t enough to win you over, the fact that he was playing everything on his own – at one point, the guitar, drums and shaker all at the same time – should have done the trick. His set also showcased a lot of older material from Polaris long-listed Transistor Sister mixed in with the new. Title track “Transistor Sister” was transformed into a drinking game by the cheering section up front who toasted the sweet life each and every time the lyric was sung.
Taking things back to New Brunswick, he closed with “Swamp Magic,” an ode to Sackville. Thanking the audience for coming to his “big important Toronto show” to celebrate his “big special day,” Kilpatrick took his bow. Hanging off his every action, the audience wasn’t done with him yet, immediately cheering for one more song. He ended his encore with the last, and title, track from the new album. It was truly everything, everything we could have asked for on a Friday night.
Gregory Pepper and His Problems
With their roots in Guelph, four-piece Gregory Pepper and His Problems warmed the stage for the headliner. While they’ve been around for a few years now, this was somehow our first time seeing the band live. A lo-fi feel to much of their recordings, live, the band is all rockabilly alt-country. There even seemed to be somewhat of a punk influence to many of their short songs.
If Pepper’s deep squat to reach the low mic wasn’t entertaining enough to behold, the hilarious lyrics of “Thank God It’s Monday” had us howling. The laughter only continued with Pepper jokingly warning the audience that they were about to force us to suffer through over-exaggerated tacky guitar solos. Straight out of a bad 80’s music video, they ended with “Born To Die,” which featured another dose of epic 80s’ rock.
This might have been our first time seeing the band live, but it definitely won’t be our last – Pepper’s only problem seems to be that he is just too much fun!
Minus the Proud Mothers, Baby Eagle (Steve Lambke) performed a hushed solo set. Best known as the former member of the now disbanded Constantines, Lambke is also one of the proprietors of record label You’ve Changed Records. Much quieter on his own than when backed by a band, Lambke’s breathy, half-spoken vocals were unfortunately no match against the overwhelmingly loud bar conversations surrounding him.
His narrative-like folk songs urge you to take a step closer to listen. However, even when he pulled out the harmonica for a couple of tracks, this didn’t seem to be enough to grab the crowd’s attention. Visibly frustrated by the volume in the venue, he introduced his final song by saying “it’s a quiet one but it’s good, you’ll like it.” It sadly felt like his set was cut short due to the loudness, and we were left wishing he had played longer. Having recently relocated back to Toronto from the East Coast, perhaps we will have more opportunities to see him in the future.
Dave Schoonderbeek
Formerly of Another Blue Door and The Patients, Toronto singer-songwriter Dave Schoonderbeek opened the night with his new solo venture. Backed by a full band, there was an effortless casual feel to their performance. While much of their set had an alt-country edge to it, Schoonderbeek’s vocals on “American Guitars” added some punk tones in combination with its countryish guitars. Displaying their range, the band ended with a slower, quieter track. Offering a great start to the night, I look forward to hearing more from Schoonderbeek.
buying shots for bands 
Leave a Reply