Rifflandia 2011 and the art of the singer songwriter, three ways

If there's one thing that sets the Rifflandia Festival apart from other music festivals I've attended, I'd have to say it's variety. Not only from venue to venue, but more definitively, from year to year. Each year I've attended, I've come away with an experience completely different from the last. In 2009, my Rifflandia experience was all about rock, last year, it was big on alt-country. This year, my favourite shows of the festival all featured talented singer songwriters, albeit in three very different veins.

The troubadour: Royal Wood

Royal Wood at the Rifflandia Festival 2011

In another world, the ideal venue for watching a Royal Wood show would be a smoke-filled club with shadowy corners, a bartender named Atticus, and a well tuned piano that's seen plenty of action every night since the dawn of time. Wood Hall, despite having none of those attributes, might be a fair contender for second place. I'll submit that observation based solely on the captivating performance Wood put on the Saturday night of the festival. The intimate recital space/former chapel was, perhaps unexpectedly, a fitting compliment to the subtle poetry of Woods' lyrics, smooth-as-butter vocals and rich melodies. Highlights of the performance included the sweet and lovely, I'm So Glad and Wood's pop-infused hit, A Mirror Without. Wood also performed a haunting, sparse version of Foster the People's Pumped Up Kicks. Unforgettable.

The traditionalist: Old Man Luedecke

Old Man Luedecke at the Rifflandia Festival 2011

Well, if we're going to continue on the theme of ideal venues, I'd suggest an Old Man Luedecke show would be best viewed at a barn dance, your neighbour's kitchen, or, as proposed by Luedecke himself, a farmers' market. Likewise, the mood of the moment at Luedecke's concert on Saturday was one of simple pleasures and good times. Unlike most other performances at the festival, Luedecke didn't fuss about waiting around for the official start time. Immediately after his short sound check he sat down with his banjo and began playing, choosing songs as they seemed to strike his fancy, or at times the fancy of the audience. The Joy of Cooking and I Quit My Job were particular crowd pleasers. And, oh yes, there was plenty of dancing and hand clapping enjoyed by all throughout the show.

The enigma: Damien Jurado

I'm not even going to try to suggest an ideal setting for a Damien Jurado show. In my books, I suppose any place where you can watch him perform, it'll most likely be an extraordinary experience. I took in Jurado's show at Rifflandia with a friend who was only planning to stick around for a couple of songs and he ended up staying for the entire set. That's the kind of musician Jurado is. His songs have the ability to capture and draw in every audience member, no matter how large, or unfamiliar, the crowd. Mesmerizing in a disarming combination of deep introversion and unguarded openness.

There's really no picking favourites with Jurdado's songs, but if I had to choose, I guess I'd say Sheets and Cloudy Shoes were amoungst the most memorable moments of the night. Jurado mentioned the show would be his last before taking a well deserved six-month hiatus, so if you're interested, you may have to be patient in waiting a little while to catch his next performance. That said, I'd urge everyone to go see Damien Jurado in concert at the earliest opportunity.



View more of my pics from the festival in my Rifflandia flickr set.

What's in my backpack?: Packing for a long distance hiking trip on the west coast

The beach near Laura Creek on the North Coast Trail, a photo by theotherlondon on Flickr.

Everyone packs for a backcountry camping trip differently.  Some are minimalists, some pack as much gear they can manage to carry just in case. I think I fall somewhere in the middle.

At the moment, I'm getting ready for a 4 day, 47km hiking trip on the Juan De Fuca.  The last time I did this hike was in April of 2009 and as wonderful as it was, it was also the wettest backcountry trek I've ever experienced.  This time around I'll be going with a few friends, two of whom will be doing an overnight backpacking trip for the first time, and I've been getting some info together to help them prepare.  Below is a list of items I'm planning to take along, which is a pretty much a run down of what I generally pack on backcountry camping trips (my pack usually weighs about 40lbs).

What's in my backpack on a 4-day, west coast hiking trip in autumn:

Waterproof backpack cover
Eureka 3-season tent
Pine Ridge 3-season sleeping bag
Thermarest air mattress
Petzl headlamp
Victorinox Swiss Army knife
First aid kit
Waterproof matches and a lighter
Rope
Bear spray*
Trail guidebook*
Notebook and pen
Point and shoot camera

Food and water
PUR water filter*
Collapsible bucket*
MSR backpacking stove
1L camping fuel
2 water bottles
Cascade Designs ultralight aluminum backpacking pot with lid 1.5 L + potholder
MSR stainless steel bowl
Set of Lexan utensils (knife, fork and spoon)
Can opener
Breakfasts and lunches - oatmeal, cheese, bagels, nuts, gorp, chocolate, jerky
Dinners - Pasta with pesto and pepperoni, instant mashed potatoes with flakes of ham, soup with dumplings, mac and cheese with tuna
Small mickey of scotch
Tea
Spare Ziploc bags
Cloth for cleaning up

Clothing
1 spare tights quick dry/moisture wicking
1 spare top, quick dry/moisture wicking
4 pairs socks
1 pair waterproof socks
Underwear
Gaitors
Water repellant soft shell jacket
Fleece jacket
Warm hat
2 pairs gloves
Comfy shoes to wear around the campsite (sandals)

Toiletries
Camp soap
Tooth brush and tooth paste
Brush and hair elastics
Toilet paper

*In my experience, I've found only one person in the group needs to pack these items.

Most of the questions my friends have asked have been about what food to pack, and rightly so!  I'll be posting info on what I'm bringing to eat and how I'll prepare it soon.  Of course the easiest solution where meals is concerned is to buy dehydrated meals from your local camping store.  I know there are many people who find dehydrated meals to be acceptable fare, but I'm not among them.

Other resources on how to pack for a backcountry camping trip:

• Backpacking Lightweight
• Backpacker Magazine
• The Backpacker

The Magic of Theatre in the Age of the Internet

According to Klout, I'm influential on the subject of robots.  Snicker.  I'm going to guess this is because I recently attended some shows at the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival and did a bit of posting about Jayson MacDonald's play, 'Giant Invisible Robot'.  I know you're going to hate that I check up on my Klout score, which is why I'm a little loathe to explain what Klout is. 

Oh, very well then!  Klout is an online reporting tool that measures people's level of influence online.  Now, lower that eyebrow, and let's get on with it already.

For a long time I've wanted to write a post about theatre in the age of the Internet.  You remember theatre?  That's where you pay a lot of money to watch actors you might vaguely recognize perform a play your mother, or grandmother, recommended.  Or, more likely, where one of your friends paid a lot of money to watch actors you've never heard of perform a play you might feign interest in, but in all likelihood you will never see.  Ah yes, that theatre.

I don't think it's much of a stretch to suggest live theatre doesn't quite have the 'klout' it once did.  And unlike other arts industries that are struggling to adapt in our changing times (music, film, and television for example), where live theatre is concerned, there's no need to go pointing a finger at the Internet.  No, the demise of live theatre was written in the stars with the advent of talkies and black and white home television sets back in the olden days.

Which might explain why, relatively speaking, there is so little evidence of it's existence to be found on the World Wide Web.  Oh yes, there is the odd review, a few theatre sites that might have a similar vibe to the site for your local museum, but really now, this is comparatively trivial gewgaw.  Add to the mix my apparent expertise in the field of 'robots' and I'd suggest the fact of the matter is, theatre and the Internet just don't play well together.  Excuse the pun.

So what gives?  Why am I, a huge fan of the Interweb, forking over more money than I can realistically afford for theatre tickets?  What's enticing me away from the wealth of entertainment and information I can access from the phone I carry around in my pocket to go sit in a theatre to experience a performance I can't look up on IMDB?

Plainly put, what lures me away is the promise of something unique.  I know from personal experience, which truthfully may not be as limited as I've professed, that every show is, from production to production, and from night to night, different.  Different in as many ways as the number of people who have contributed to the performance, and as many ways as there are seats in the house.  Different depending on the weather and the time of year, and how much the lead actor did or did not drink at the bar the night before.

The result is a priceless kind of magic we get so little of in our binary world, and why, I might offer, live theatre is more worthwhile today than it ever has been before.  Turn off your cell phone and go check it out.

More on the discussion:

• TED Conversations: 'With the advent of amazing online videos, why are we still so compelled to experience live performance (music, sports games, dance)?'  moderated by Robert Gupta
• New York Times: Did YouTube Kill Performance Art

Review: Jeff Culbert's The Donnelly Sideshow at the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival 2011

Every location on the planet has a family whose notorious history becomes steeped in local culture as well-told legend.  In the cities and countryside of Southwestern Ontario that family is the Donnelly family of Biddulph township.  Growing up in London, Ontario I became familiar with the Donnellys, commonly referred to as the Black Donnellys, through plays, museum visits, books and articles.  Throughout much of my formative years, local punk rock band, The Black Donnellys were regular headliners on the stages of local clubs and dance halls.  A good friend of mine played lead guitar in one of the later incarnations of the band, The Black Donnellys 5.

The Donnelly story has all the necessary ingredients of a riveting yarn and then some.  Immigrants from Ireland who lived in Biddulph township in the late 1800s, the clan included parents James and Joanna, seven sons, one daughter and a cousin. Their wild ways culminated in a feud which eventually saw five members violently murdered by a vigilante mob in the middle of the night, February 4, 1880.

The most unassumingly earnest version of the story I've encountered is told by playwright, director and actor, Jeff Culbert in his new play, The Donnelly Sideshow, which Culbert performed at the recent 2011 Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival.  Culbert brings new life to the story by going back to it's unembellished roots, recounting the tale in a straightforward manner from the perspective of the only surviving witness of the massacre, farm hand Johnny O’Connor. 

The result is a performance that transports the audience back to the Donnelly homestead in the days of their dark demise.  A matter-of-fact point of view that allows no opportunity to turn away from the pulse pounding, heart-wrenching horror, drama, and romance (yes, romance) of the Donnelly story.  Culbert peppers his recounting of the tale with occasional humour, some new insights uncovered through his research, and a smattering of original, toe-tapping folk-songs.

The Donnelly Sideshow is a rewarding and captivating story-telling experience, even and especially for those who may already be familiar with the tale.

For information on Jeff Culbert's plays and upcoming performances visit www.jeffculbert.ca

Jeff Culbert Interview at the 2011 Victoria Fringe Festival by theotherlondon