Jazz hands

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

With Suoni finally being put to bed, the Jazz Fest takes over and in its final stretch, it proves to have saved the best for last. For those who want to make a whole night of Jazz Fest, tonight, July 9, is completely stacked. At 6 p.m., catch prog-rock gods Van Der Graaf Generator, then at 8 p.m., you can check out the masters Toots & the Maytals as they lets it all hang out with rocksteady, reggae, ska and soul, with reggae legend Burning Spear headlining at Metropolis. If you’re nimble enough, you may be also able to catch the second half of the set from free-jazz legend Ornette Coleman at Théâtre Maisonneuve, with things getting underway at 9 p.m. On Friday, you can check out the queen of soul, Irma Thomas, at Metropolis at 8 p.m. If she’s half as good as she was at Pop Montreal last year, this is not to be missed.

This Saturday also marks the return of the Vans Warped Tour, and despite its boasting some “old school” names on the top of the bill, I will once again pass on it as I hate teenagers, sun, the old-school bands that were piss-poor even “back in the day” and the plethora of bullshit mall punk that tries to pass itself off as the real thing these days. If you do find yourself dragged to this pubescent, shoe-selling, marketing hump fest (did I mention I don’t like it?), try to see U.K.’s Gallows unload some serious Black Flag-fuelled velocity at the mall-punk sheep.

Getting off the beaten festival path proves to be just as rewarding this week, starting tonight with Los Angeles’s Burning Brides, Dead Messenger and the debut performance of Pism, featuring Priestess’s Mikey Heppner, at the Green Room. Early start on this one, so best show up at 9:30 p.m.

While hurling around names like Van Der Graaf Generator, Irma Thomas and Toots & the Maytals, I would still have to say that my pick of the week is Steve Earle with Corb Lund tonight at le National. Having missed Earle the last time he was in town, when the power went out and he hushed the entire audience as he just bellowed out the songs (damn!), I still get the goosebumps when reminded of his amazing show at Club Soda in 2004. For my moolah, Earle is the greatest American songwriter happening today, and in a live setting, the man really knows how to pour it out from the heart. Do not miss!

Local hotspot Cagibi will be hosting yet another tribute night on Sunday, with all proceeds going to the Mile End Mission, with performers paying homage to the first wave of punk rock and the CBGB scene of the mid-’70s. People like Jon Noel and Triangles, Patrick Hutchinson, Sebastian Hell, Allan Lento and a host of others will take stabs at songs by Patti Smith, Johnny Thunders, Talking Heads, Suicide, Television, Blondie and (gulp) Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Hilly would be proud.

COUNTRY, BLUEGRASS, BLUES AND OTHER MUSIC FOR
UPLIFTING GORMANDIZERS…JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM