Pit Report: Headstones

     Remember how we went to see Headstones here in Kingston last Saturday night? Here's the story of that fabled evening.

     The opening act was a local one, Kingston's The Glorious Sons, a blues-rocky/classic rocky kinda band that's been getting a fair amount of local radio airplay lately. They weren't bad, and their singer has a decent set of rock pipes on him, but they don't yet quite have the chops required to captivate an audience that perhaps they think they do. Emblematic of the kind of thing I'm talking about was the aforementioned singer's repeated exhortations that the audience should sing along, as they knew the words.

     I know I'm probably just being picky, and that's probably just some stage banter, but I don't think anyone should expect an audience to eat out of the palm of their hand, so to speak, just because they've gotten up on a stage in front of said audience. Stage presence doesn't just happen, it has to be earned.

     Which brings me nicely to the evening's main event, the Headstones, whose frontman Hugh Dillon could give classes on commanding a stage. Not one but two roadies spent the majority of the set chasing Dillon's mic cord or stand around as Hugh alternated between ranging from one end of the stage to the other and hurling the stand between verses. Of course, it likely didn't hurt Dillon's energy or persona any that Headstones too are a Kingston band, and have had the status of local legends for more than twenty years.

     That's a long time in rock and roll, and that's a deep catalogue too, even taking into account Headstones' lengthy hiatus in the early 2000's. Dillon and company mined that catalogue well, striking a balance between tracks off their latest, Love + Fury, and classic tracks from throughout their career. "Smile and Wave", "Cubically Contained", "Tweeter and the Monkey Man"... Headstones covered all their classic Headstones bases.

     If alternative rock with a punky edge sounds at all appealing to you, you should check out Headstones. And if you're already a fan of the band, you should make the effort to catch them if they head back on the road at all. After all this time, Headstones have still got what The Glorious Sons are only just forging: the ability to thoroughly rock a crowd. Take some notes, boys. Professor Dillon's class is in session.

Saturday Song: Headstones - Cemetery

     I'm a few hours late with today's (or rather yesterday's) song, but at least my excuse is better than my usual "I fell asleep". Regular readers might remember that I got my girlfriend Headstones tickets for her birthday, and the show was tonight. We just got home, hence your Saturday song actually coming a few hours into Sunday.

     But enough boring stuff, on with the song! Predictably, I'm going with a Headstones song for your Saturday tune, namely "Cemetery" from the bands 1993 debut Picture of Health. In addition to being a catchy little rock ditty with a punky edge to it, "Cemetery" has the distinction of being the most up-beat song about necrophilia you'll ever hear. If this isn't reason enough to give it a listen while you're awaiting my Headstones pit report, I don't know what is.

Monday Threeway Super Fun Time

     Why hello there. Fancy meeting you here. I took a couple of days off over the weekend for my girlfriend's birthday yesterday, but I'm back at it today with a trio of tunes for your earholes to get us back on track. Have at 'er!

     First up is Dutch instrumental fusion band Exivious. I've written about them before, but now that I've spent some serious time with their album Liminal I feel better qualified to recommend another tasty track. By now you should know I like proggy, jazzy stuff and instrumental stuff, so if you like this kind of stuff too, check out Liminal's closing track "Immanent". It's epic, but not overbearingly so, and it's a great showcase of Exivious's melding of heavy and melodically proggy.

     So that's Saturday out of the way, now for Sunday. My girlfriend is a big Headstones fan, so my big birthday present to my girlfriend this year was tickets to see Headstones right here in Kingston at the end of the month (stayed tuned for a pit report, probably in the new year). Headstones were a solid rock band back in the day, and their new record Love + Fury proves they've still got it. So if their "it" is something you're into, check out "Far Away From Here".

     And that's Sunday. What about today, Monday? Well, we're going to commemorate the new A Perfect Circle best-of disc Three Sixty and go with "Weak and Powerless" as today's song. Originally from 2003's Thirteenth Step, "Weak and Powerless" is a perfect example of what A Perfect Circle can do when they're not at "Judith" levels of aggression. Mer de Noms is still my favourite, but "Weak and Powerless" is just one of several great tracks to be had on Thirteenth Step.

     And that's me caught up. Your turn.