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| Date |
City |
Venue |
Details |
| Mon 6/16/08 |
Minneapolis, MN |
7th Street Entry |
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| Sun 6/29/08 |
Seattle, WA |
Neumo's |
|
| Mon 6/30/08 |
Portland, OR |
Doug Fir Lounge |
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| Wed 7/2/08 |
San Francisco, CA |
Slim's |
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| Thu 7/3/08 |
Los Angeles, CA |
Troubadour |
|
| Fri 7/4/08 |
San Diego, CA |
Casbah |
|
| Sat 7/5/08 |
Las Vegas, NV |
Beauty Bar |
% |
| Sun 7/6/08 |
Salt Lake City, UT |
Urban Lounge |
|
| Tue 7/8/08 |
Denver, CO |
Hi-Dive |
|
| % Ladyhawk supports |
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One
of the more slightly awkward questions asked in the course of
small talk is often, "Who's your favourite band?"
-You're supposed to answer, "I don't have one favourite,
but I like…" which will lead to a discussion of genres
and tastes. I am one of the few with a definitive answer: Constantines.
I can't recall the first time I heard them, but it would have
been on CD, their first, self-titled 2000 release. It came in
a beautiful hand-made package that contained a wooden match,
an appropriate way to light a long creative fuse that led to
2002's brilliant Shine a Light, through to the even
stronger Tournament of Hearts in 2005, and culminating
now in the explosive Kensington Heights.
I love that they are a real band—five distinct and original
musicians working together to produce this democratic roar of
music. Primary vocalist Bry Webb has a beautiful, distinct voice—rasping,
plaintive, yet powerful and fluid. His lyrics are just as unique—a
strong, observant writer full of feeling and whimsy and insight,
a writer who gently distorts the world and makes us hear it
in a new way. This unique voice is set to equally unique music—drummer
Doug MacGregor and bassist Dallas Werhle split open the seams
of regular rock patterns and stitch together something surprising
and distinct, while multi-instrumentalist Will Kidman, along
with Webb and Steve Lambke (who is also brilliant in his role
as sometime vocalist/lyricist) on guitar, embroider something
challenging and instinctually melodic.
The Constantines are the best live band I have ever seen, entirely
dedicated to communicating with an audience. Able to produce
moments of sustained and complicated quiet, they are also one
of the loudest bands I have encountered. Yet the volume is never
used to repel the listener. Instead, they co-opt the sometimes
aggressive conventions of rock to express the overwhelming parts
of being alive, to explore the themes of community and struggle,
to remind us we belong to something larger than our individual
selves. The decibels tell us we are not alone.
This new record might be my favourite simply because it best
captures the elements of the live show that has so often moved
and inspired me. Named after the street in Toronto's vibrant
Kensington Market area where they practice in a basement, Kensington
Heights, like the neighbourhood itself, is a vibrant maze
of histories and sounds. The album is fittingly dedicated to
the late Gar Gillies, the Winnipeg amp-maker who designed and
built the Garnet amplifiers that defined the overdriven classic
Canadian-rock sound of the Guess Who and BTO. Gar was building
and refurbishing amps right up to his death last year at the
age of 85, and some of his last work was used on Kensington
Heights, a familiar sound finding a radically new voice.
From the massive opening number, Hard Feelings ("Some
people's love isn't strong enough") to the gorgeous thudding
close of Do What you Can Do ("You do what you can do with
what you got"), Kensington Heights is a tour of
original themes and multiple genres, full of infectious hooks
and evocative lyrics. It is the sound of my favourite band at
the height of their considerable powers.
– John K. Samson |
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Kensington
Heights
Arts & Crafts
April 15, 2008 |
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