All work, all play for The Arkells

Last week NLG took a trip to Ontario, or rather Vancouver’s Ontario House, where the Arkells had the honour of representing the most populous province for Olympic visitors. Hailing from the steel town of Hamilton, ON, the Arkells played a rock n roll that was so blue collar they made Bruce Springsteen look like a government worker. Exuding more elbow grease than a Russian mechanic, they conveyor-belted out songs about punching in timecards and John Lennon (a true working class hero) with vocals that were as raw and strong as iron ore. Their driving and powerful guitar riffs were skillfully fused with blues and Motown elements, which included a hammering rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” that had the crowd stomping their workboots and Serge looking for a hard hat for fear of the roof coming down. The last song they played, the punchy “Oh! The Boss Is Coming”, was so rowdy that it may have just inspired the whole crowd to take collective sick day the following morning. From what may be the hardest working band in Canada:

The Arkells - Oh! The Boss Is Coming

Line ups are for grown ups

After waiting in a line that was the largest congregation of people NLG had ever seen long enough to glimpse Mother Mother through a chain link fence, and arriving at La Maison du Quebec (otherwise known as the Quebec House) just in time to see Malajube dismantling their set, one would think that NLG’s foiled attempts at free shows during the 2010 Olympics would get us down. Hardly the case. Even though the line to get into Wilco stretched past NLG’s East Van hangout location (or was that to get a free Vitamin Water?) and with hell even the Saskatchewan House being plugged up, we are just pleased that Canada’s talented acts are getting the world stage. Loyal supporters of bands from the Great White North, we can imagine nothing better than some Norwegian biathlon fans inadvertedly subjected to fast rockin’ Les Breastfeeders or Constantines or the highly entertaining ramblings of Buck 65. Of course we would rather be there ourselves, but unless athletes such as Jennifer Heil quit being so captivating and making us drink so much while they win medals, there is no way we will get in line early enough to see anything. At least we can wait until they all come back to play at the Biltmore when the town is back to normal!

For the Norwegian biathlon fans:

Apologies to what may have been White Denim

Dear White Denim,

We woke up face down on my landlord’s living room floor, fully clothed, feeling like we had been cast in a cheap remake of the hangover movie. We knew we had been to your show the night before, but could only start to make out the details of the night by piecing together the bar receipts that were spilling out the pockets of our still-on jeans. This led to a general review of what was left of our personal belongings, which didn’t take very long for Gene, as he was missing some fairly important possessions. Serge, on the other hand, was able to gain some information from sent texts (“Let’s get Tim-Campbell-drunk tonight”). More memories starting dribbling in as we conducted personal physical examinations, revealing a cracked lip for Gene, and scraped elbows and a bruised rib for Serge. A few well-placed phone calls later informed us that not only were we involved in a mosh pit at your show at the Media Club the night previous, but we may well have instigated it. That’s when we realized that perhaps we (namely Serge) were a little too familiar with the members of your band after the show. We’d like you to know that it was all meant well and that we quite enjoyed your performance, at least from what we can recall. Maybe when you are back in town we can have a beer or two and forget all about it.

Sincerely,

No Look Guns

PS Your videos are great

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