Okay so we don’t have a Canadian Amazing Race or Northern Survivor, but would you accept an all Canuck-version of Glee….eh?
Canwest Broadcasting announced on Monday it will develop and broadcast an all-new original production,Canada Sings!The reality series is sorta like The Office: The Musical and will explore workplaces nationwide (which really means just outside of Toronto) encouraging glee clubs to come together and perform in competition.
The show will premiere onGlobal in early 2011.
Complete details forCanada Sings! including the show host and judging panel will be announced closer to broadcast.
But for now, pull out your Journey cassette tapes and start practicing!
Most writers won’t ever freely admit that they should be kept away from a musician. Because if they did, it would greatly hinder said writer from ever getting a proper interview from the artist.
I’m not most writers.
While I’ve never been too shy about my affinity for Dan Mangan‘s disc Nice, Nice Very Nice, I’ve actually never seen him perform live…until this weekend at the Calgary Folk Music Festival.
I saw Dan (first name basis) a total of five times this weekend. Five. I don’t think his own mother has seen him perform that much in a 32 hour time period. But whatever, he’s that good. Once was a solo show, another was a short two-song set before Corb Lund. And three times where workshops where he sang with the likes of The Sunparlour Players, Samantha Savage Smith, Jon and Roy and Karla Anderson.
Actually, I almost got the chance to interview him this weekend too, but due to a non-festival related commitment, I couldn’t make it. I think it was probably best for both of us.
So instead, I settled for this picture:(Look behind me…..)
Sure I could have talked to him, but what would I have said?!
Now I must re-iterate that I’m not in love with Dan Mangan. Like I wouldn’t stand down wind from him and hope that I can catch a loose hair as it floats by. That would be weird. I mean love like, if I were ever to be involved in a movie, I would insist that Mangan write the entire soundtrack. Or if hell freezes over, Dan can write a wedding song for me. That’s right, I want him to write an original song just for me. You could think it is creepy, or you can just be jealous that I thought of it first.
So since none of that seems to be happening anytime soon, I thought I would buy one of Mangan’s shirts. Sadly (and probably for a reason) there are no mens sizes for his merchandise. And as hard as I tried, it just wouldn’t fit:
So instead, I’ll have to look back at pictures and videos the weekend.
Thank you for putting on five great sets this weekend, now rest your bloody throat. I mean that literally and figuratively. That’s right, we have inside jokes.
Does the term Tarp Nazis exist at other Folk Festivals? Because if they do, I think that Calgary can be called the commander and chief of the festival die-hards.
Admitedly, I haven’t been to a lot of four day music festivals, so I don’t really know how to compare the Calgary Folk Music Festival to others, but when I see people lining up at 8pm to get in the next morning, I know that something isn’t right.
If you’ve never seen this tarp phenomemon, what happens is this: People line up at all hours of the night waiting for the gates to open, once they do, they run to the mainstage with tarps, coolers, blankets and place-markers in hand. These “nazis” then claim their 6×7 foot patch of land and begin to set up shop.
This sounds all fine and dandy, but the system becomes horribly flawed. First you have people in the first fifty or so rows that are really excited about maybe one artist, that means they spend the rest of the time wandering the grounds and can rarely be found on their actual tarp. If they are there, chances are they aren’t going to be paying attention. That is how you end up with a Swell-season incident.
Secondly, 6×7 feet is a LOT of space, especially when it might just be for one or two people. Just because you can have all the space, it certainly doesn’t mean you have to take it. If everyone is there to enjoy the music, why not let as many people enjoy it as possible?
I was so desperate to see The Swell Season, that I walked up to a stranger with a huge amount of space to himself and asked if he would be willing to share. I know, very un-Canadian of me. Luckily, he was Canadian, grumbled something under his breath and then let me sit. J’aime Passive Aggressiveness!
But the Tarp Nazis are a Calgary tradition and if there is one city that is stubborn about their traditions, it is this one.
So how do you fix it? Actually, I think it is quite easy.
I think the first twenty feet of space in front of the stage should be reserved for the standing room only. That way, if you are die-hard enough, you most certainly deserve to stand there. Chances are the people in the standing-room only area will flow in and out depending on the artist. The musicians benefit from the set-up because they aren’t trying to perform to a certain pocket of fans stuck 75 feet away because of the maze of tarps.
The tarp-nazis won’t be pumped about it, but they can still get a good spot, just not the prime real-estate in front of the stage that they end up wasting anyway.
If the Calgary Folk Music Festival is really about celebrating the best in music, Canadian and otherwise, we should let real fans enjoy as much of the music as possible, even if they don’t sleep on the pavement.
I’ve always insisted that the Calgary Stampede is really for the tourists and the Folk Music Festival is actually what Calgarians love more than anything.
Admittedly this year’s Folk Festival is my very first and I’ve been having a blast. If this is your first time reading the blog, the band that I’ve been most excited about was The Swell Season. It consists of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from the Oscar winning movie Once.
I had not idea that their performance would be one of the most controversial sets the Calgary Folk Music Festival has ever seen.
Even before they came to Calgary the duo already seem very anti-media by not allowing interviews. On the day of their show, they would not let anyone in the photo pit.
By the time Swell Season took the stage, they were the last second band of the day. Headliner Michael Franti would close out the night, much to the happiness of Calgarians who obsess over Franti like no other.
After a couple of songs, Hansard remarked on the audiences complacency towards them, asking “This is a music festival, right? Is anyone here to see us? If you are here for us, stand up.” At this time, about half the audience stood up, mostly in the back. But then they quickly sat back down, because Calgary HATES standing up for music festivals.
Two songs later, after I Have Loved You Wrong, Hansard took to the mic again and called the audience “bullshit.” He was upset that so many people were talking during their performances. And I couldn’t agree more, the audience was treating them like they were a circus act, no respect at all.
The next song was the Oscar winning Falling Slowly (video below). It was here that Hansard finally had enough of people who refused to even pretend that they were enjoying their music and asked the real fans to come over the barricade and have a good time. This was really frustrating for the people who had been holding their places with tarps since the night before. It was an amazing sight to see.
The rest of the set felt like a real concert as the real fans had made their way to the front and enjoying the wonderful songs.
For the rest of the night, the topic of conversation was if Hansard was out of place or not. Most Calgarians were upset, saying it was disrespectful. They thought: “it’s a folk music festival, it is supposed to be relaxed.” To which, I couldn’t disagree more. I don’t think you have to stand up and go nuts the whole time, but if an act asks you to stand up, then you should stand up and have good time. That’s what they are there to do. Picture yourself giving a presentation in a boardroom and everyone is talking and doing crosswords, isn’t that disrespectful?
Not standing during concerts is definitely always been a problem in Calgary. I’ve been to countless shows, including at the folk festival, when the acts were astonished that no one was standing. Audiences get comfy in their tiny little chairs and don’t move.
I don’t think the Swell Season is going to change the stubborn and annoying culture of the “sitters”, I’ll just have to be content that I have something in common with Oscar winners. That is good enough for me.
Hold on to your mouses people, I’m about to talk about sports.
Technically I’m going to talk about reality tv, but it is about sports, so it becomes equally as groundbreaking!
The Score and Gillette are the search from Canada’s next great sports anchor and they’ve whittled it down to the Top 10. That’s right, whittled.
Unsurprsingly, 50% of the finalists are from the Toronto area, but a couple of non-Ontarians made the cute too. Most notibly was Kacie Hollins from Calgary!
If you want to take two second out of your day, you can vote for Kacie here. Don’t worry, there isn’t any registration or anything and let’s be honest, the last thing The Score needs is another guy form Ontario winning a reality show!
You are going to want to read this one slowly. It gets complicated.
It was around this time last year that Canadians were getting pumped for the big Aerosmith concert tour that was heading across Canada.
Then Steven Tyler fell off a cat-walk and the whole tour went to hell.
Luckily Aerosmith soon re-scheduled many of their Canadian dates. Unfortunately, they left Calgary off of the schedule.
So then the original organizers Keystone Entertainment decided to sue the 70′s rockers for all the money they lost by the band not re-scheduling the Calgary show.
Makes sense? Like I said, it is a little complicated.
NOW the band has finally caved and decided to add the Calgary date. Wow! Aren’t we lucky? Aerosmith comes to Calgary only after they are sued.
The band will finally be coming back to Calgary on September 10, tickets go on sale July 29th!
On her Thursday evening news telecast, CTV Anchor Barb Higgins announced that she is resigning from her job as co-anchor! She’s been with CTV Calgary since 1989! That is like three Booms ago! CTV was quick to confirm the announcement and then completely erase her off of the website. Classy.
Interestingly enough 69-year-old Darrel Janz seems to sticking around, even though I secretly suspect that he died five years ago.
Higgins leaving marks an interesting trend in Calgary, which has also lost both of its Breakfast Telelvision hosts in the past seven months. Nationally, Lloyd Robertson and Kevin Newman have announced they are leaving their jobs too!
What is going on Canada? Don’t these guys know we are in a recession?
CTV’s Canadian export The Bridge, has been canceled by CBS.
Well folks, we all knew the streak had to end sometime.
The Bridge only lasted for three weeks and is being pulled after getting mucho bad numbers. But the show shouldn’t take 100% of the blame. CBS did air it on Saturday nights afterall.
Fortunately, the cop-drama will still be returning for a second season in Canada. The same thing happened last year when NBC canceled The Listener, but the every stubborn CTV decided to renew it for its Canadian fans.
Another Canadian export 18 to Life, will have a shot at american audiences when it premieres on The CW later this summer.
This week marks a great week here in Calgary, it is the start of the Calgary Folk Festival!
Let me break it down for you: That whole Calgary Stampede? Yeah that is for the tourists. Real Calgarians actually love The Calgary Folk Festival much, much more. (Now if only it had mini-donuts…..)
To celebrate, The National Post is giving away 21 free songs of the artists who will be featured at this year’s Folk Festival!
Some of the artists include: Ghostkeeper, Naomi Shelton, Ox, Stars, The Burning Hell, The Swell Season, Corb Lund, Cat Empire (pictured)and Joe Henry.
The Regis and Kelly love affair with Canada continues!
After spending an entire week in PEI, the popular morning show is the hunt for the new co-hosts. But don’t worry, Regis and Kelly aren’t going anywhere. It is all apart of their Women of Radio Co-Host for the Day contest!
Producers just announced the Top 100 semifinalists and a total of eight Canadians made the list!
Check out the list below and see if you recognize any of the names! If you do, make sure you head on over to the Regis and Kelly Facebook page and tell them you want a Canadian hosting Live! Once selected, the new co-hosts will start on August 18th!
Adele Newton 91.5 The Beat (Kitchener, Ontario) Ashley Greco Z103.5 (Toronto, Ontario) Blake Carter 90.3 AMP Radio (Calgary, Alberta) Holly Conway 94.5 The Beat (Vancouver, British Columbia) Joanne Wilder Q107 (Toronto, Ontario) Kari Skelton 96.3 CRKA (Edmonton, Alberta) Maura Grierson 99.9 Virgin Radio CKFM (Toronto, Canada) Steph Downey K-100 (Saint John, New Brunswick)
Okay so we don’t have a Canadian Amazing Race or Northern Survivor, but would you accept an all Canuck-version of Glee….eh?
