Toronto's FemBots are revitalized and back on the road following a break from touring 2005's The City and are now prepared to offer fans the largest live taste of their catalogue to date. The duo of Dave MacKinnon and Brian Poirier—joined by Paul Aucoin and Nathan Lawr—will perform material from all three of the band's records on April 28 at The Seahorse.
"For this trip we've been trying to play as much of our various incarnations of the band, as much of that material as we can. I don't know if we ever made it to Halifax doing strictly the two-man show from our first record, I don't think we did...but we're doing a bunch of songs from that first record, the two-man tape machine era," says MacKinnon. "Then we're sort of working our way through the other two records as well, so it's maybe a little broader range than we've really done on tour before."
On the strength of those three albums, FemBots have become among the most adored independent Canadian bands around. MacKinnon says rare praise from sources like Pitchfork has helped the band, but is uncertain that FemBots have necessarily been vindicated by the media attention.
"It has always been my feeling, and sort of a hope for the band, to just do our own thing and keep chugging along doing what we do...and hopefully putting out good records whether or not they're hugely successful critically, or sales-wise or whatever," says MacKinnon. "I always hope that we can keep doing good work, and sometimes people notice it and sometimes they don't."
Fembots will be supported by Nathan Lawr and Paul's brother, Rich Aucoin.
Atlantic to Atlanta
New Glasgow native Scott Long return to the east coast has been brief. Because of a unique opportunity, he finds himself compelled to head back south. Long, a piper, will be performing with the Grammy Award-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in the Georgia state capital from April 26 to 28.
"I have a band in Orlando called Seven Nations, and we've worked with before," says Long. "My band performed with them, and when it came about they were going to be doing some music that required a bagpiper, I came to mind."
The 95-piece orchestra will be performing Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's "Orkney Wedding with Sunrise," conducted by Donald Runnicles. The prospect of working with an orchestra—that has won 26 Grammys since 1986—in a more in-depth capacity is one Long is excited about.
"I am going to be recording with the orchestra," says Long. "Most of the recordings have been nominated for or won Grammys so it's an opportunity to work on a Grammy-nominated recording, hopefully."
Showtime
Detroit's The White Stripes are set to perform on July 13 at the Cunard Centre (seriously). DJ Champion plays The Marquee Club on September 14, with tickets on sale now at the Cohn box office.
Over time
If regular television programming once again seems monotonous, there are plenty of local music videos popping up on the 'net, including Dog Day's hamster-starring "Lydia." The latest is the Sean Wainsteim-produced video for Jonny Stevens's
"Starting Over." The piece is expected to make its MuchMusic debut this week.
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