O Canada 2012

I have some very exciting news!

This week, Osheaga announced their 2012 lineup. This lineup, which includes Metric, Feist, and many other great acts, is probably one of the greatest lineups I've seen for a festival in a long time, if not ever. I looked into my schedule, bank account, and at various travel sites and I came to the conclusion that I can actually make this work!

I'm super excited because I'm going with two friends, Steph and Merrijoy, who both like the same music that I do, so I know it's going to be a good time! Also, the festival is in Montreal which means I get to travel to Canada! I've never left the country before so I'm quite excited/nervous for my first international trip.

While I'll mainly be at the music festival, I should have time to do a bit of exploring of the city. I'm looking forward to trying some authentic (vegetarian) poutine and seeing what Montreal has to offer! I also can't wait to get a Montreal shot glass to add to my collection and possibly put the little French I know to use.

On a less exciting, but still exciting, note, I also scored tickets to see Gotye and Kimbra when they're here in two weeks! Some tickets were released for First Avenue members and I managed to swoop in and snag a pair for my roommate and I. That means that I'll be going to three shows that week and nine in April! It's going to be a whirlwind month but I'm more than a little excited.

That's really all the updates I have for now. I'm off to work on anatomy pre-work and study for my physiology test tomorrow. Wish me luck!

The Joy Formidable 3/19 @ The Fine Line

The first rule of good journalism is to admit your biases. Actually, it's probably to avoid stories where your biases would come into play. Or maybe it's respect for the story? I have no idea. But thankfully, this isn't a lesson in journalism. My point is that it's hard for me to write an unbiased review of last night's the Joy Formidable show at the Fine Line in Minneapolis because they happen to be one of my favorites at the moment (and, if they keep it up, they're well on their way to making a permanent appearance on my favorites list).

Because I was smart and spend an exuberant amount of money on music related things, I purchased a "special ticket" and was able to have one of the coolest experiences of my life because of it. The "special ticket" allowed me to get in to watch part of the sound check... where the band invited people who were interested to come on stage!!!

 

J + Rhydian

After spending a few minutes living out my dream of being a rock star, we got to have a meet and greet with the band. They were absolutely charming and super nice to all their fans (even though I'm sure I freaked Ritzy out by telling her that she was even cuter in person... WHAT?! SHE IS!!!). I managed to get a picture the guy in front of me was nice enough to give to me signed AND I got a picture with the band.

 A new supergroup I christened "The Joey Formidable"

God, I'm clever.

All in all, one of the coolest experiences of my life thus far. Showtime came around and I managed to get front row, center... which, surprisingly, was in the middle of a group of pretty rad optometrists. Who knew your eye doctor liked such good music?! The first to take the stage was Exit Music from New York. They were good but nothing I was overly excited about. Their sound was a bit mellower than the other two acts so they seemed a little out of place.

Following them was A Place To Bury Strangers, who have the title of loudest band from New York (how they earned that title is a mystery to me) and holy queen of Shiva were they great. I'd never heard any of their music before but they brought the noise. It wasn't just noise of the sake of being loud, either. Their music was really melodic and actually had substance. I've never seen a band play until the bass player's strings broke but they did... Thoroughly impressed!

Next, the main act: The Joy Formidable bounced to the stage and quickly reminded me of why I was looking forward to seeing them again. These guys have so much energy that you can't help but get into. A special treat this time around was being close enough to pick out all of Ritzy's, their singer, facial expressions... She makes quite a lot of interesting ones!

What most impressed me was that they all looked like they were genuinely having fun up there. The chemistry between Rhydian and Ritzy was infectious and was especially apparent when Ritzy jumped on his back, still playing her guitar.

Oh, and did I mention that Ritzy continued her tradition of massacring the stage during Whirring, their final, climactic song during the encore, by not only tossing her guitar at the on stage gong but knocking over Matt's drumset at the very end. HOW BADASS IS SHE?! Super badass is the answer to that question.

Another highlight was hearing their new song, Silent Treatment, for the first time. It's a lot quieter than their other music but you can really hear the emotion as Ritzy sings. In fact, I thought she was going to cry a few times during it. It made me really excited for the new album to come out which, incidentally, they announced is finished. While they gave no indication of a release date, I'm hoping it will be soon as I already want to see them again, not even 24 hours later.

Next month, I have my whirlwind concert tour with the Ting Tings, First Aid Kit, Kathleen Edwards, Cults, the Head and the Heart, Howler, Dessa, and Lights. WHEW!!! It's going to be a long, but awesome, month! Stay tuned!

An Ode to the Superfan

In addition to being a celebration of one of my favorite desserts, pie, today is the 25th anniversary of the first show of one of the greatest things to ever happen to my life (and let's be real, to the world too!), No Doubt! I can't believe they've been around longer than I've been alive. I'd like to think that in some sort of blobby spiritual gob of ethereal Joey form, I was at the first show. Just kinda there, being a spirit, boppin' along...

I often get described as a No Doubt "superfan." Some mean this as a compliment but others have more sinister intent behind their words. To that second group of people I have this to say: So what if I'm really into a band?! It's my life!

... And yes, that ND reference was on purpose.

But really, superfans often get a bad rap for being so intensely invested in their music and I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. You see, a lot of people on the outside haven't ever had an experience like we have with music. For them, I feel bad. Worse, however, is those who haven't had an experience like we've had with anything.

To me, and so many others, No Doubt is about more than just the music. Yes, that's a huge part of it but there's more to the story. There's the experiences. Seeing a band you love live, along with hundreds, thousands, or even just a handful of other people who feel the same way, knowing all the words and singing along, and just plain letting go is something that my words will never be able to adequately capture.

No Doubt has been therapy to me and so many others. Just listening to Gwen sing about exactly what I'm feeling... It lets me know that someone out there gets what I'm going through and has lived through it. And not just lived through it, but has something to show for themselves. It give me hope that things will get better. I know many other people who've gone through similar experiences with No Doubt and with other bands. It doesn't matter who it is, really. It just matters to them that someone out there got it, got them, when they needed it most.

Most importantly, however, there's the PEOPLE. I've made so many connections with some of the coolest people out there through music. My good friend Carly and I first became friends because of No Doubt. A few years later, we were front row seeing them in Minnesota. There's Kenda, the sassy silversmith from North Carolina who I would have never met if it weren't for our mutual ND love. There's Merrijoy, my awesome Asian lady twin, who I randomly decided to follow on Twitter one day when she tweeted about Metric. And there's Alex and Amy and Kara and SO MANY OTHERS, too many to list, who I know because we share a love of the same bands. My life wouldn't be the same without the musicians that I love.

So you can call me, or anyone else who loves their music, crazy but I truly feel bad for you for not having the same experiences and meeting the awesome people I have. Yes, we sit in line for ridiculous amounts of time. We spend a ton of money on tickets and anything and everything with our bands' names on them. We get tattoos. We travel around the country and world to see them. We collect magazines and photos and treasures from shows.

But you know what? We enjoy every moment of it.

Not just enjoy it.

We have a fucking blast doing it.