The High Road

Broken bells is stuck in my head. The song is called The High Road, hence the name of this blog.

So it's been two days since I got back from the cottage, and I have a tendency to stay up later than I should still. However, this post will have a purpose. And it won't be completed so lackadaisically like the last one. Sorry about that.

So this weekend was Hamilton's Festival of Friends. To close off the final day of the festival, which has been running for 35 years now, the city arranged for a few great bands to play. Of course, when there's great music I'm there.

Starting the lineup, at 6:30 sharp, was A Flock Of Seagulls. I saw AFOS once before in a bowling alley last year, and their great sound hasn't changed a bit. They had hits in the '80s with Space Age Love Song, Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You), and their most popular and pretentious song, I Ran. However, my personal favourites remain as Telecommunication and DNA. They played all of the above, except for DNA. In addition to their hits, the band played two new songs, which are to be on their new album (their first studio album in about 20 years), called Naked, and a song that sounded like the chorus went 'T-Bone and Chicken.' In reality, the song is called She Won't Let You Go. Don't ask me how you get T-bone and Chicken from that...

Anyways, up next was early goth artist Peter Murphy, previously of the band Bauhaus. Let me say, he was quite the performer. Quirky, dark, and fun all at the same time. The only thing I didn't like about that show were all the annoying goth people crowding around. They were horrible at dancing, if it can be called that.

Now onto the main event: a band called Squeeze. No doubt you've heard their song Cool For Cats if you've played Rockband. It's a great and fun song. I didn't know any of their other songs, but they put on a great show. The lead singer had a high voice, and great guitar skills. During around 75% of the songs, he broke out into full jazz solos. EPIC!!! The bassist was quite funny, dancing around stage with a suit on and a pair of goggles on his forehead. NOTE: The goggles were epic, and I want some. The rhythm guitarist, who seemed shy, had a striking ressemblance to Mike Meyers. He sang for a few songs, and has a much deeper voice than the lead singer. The drummer, on the other hand, looked like a shaved, bald version of Adam Savage from Mythbusters. He was quirky too, and went around stage clanging his drumstick on an empty wine bottle for one song. He seemed to enjoy himself, probably because he drank the bottle beforehand...
However, my favourite person in the band was the pianist. Absolutely hilarious. And talented. At the beginning, he seemed like an average guy; around 5'10, short hair, glasses, late 20's. But is he ever great at the piano! Never before have I seen someone play a piano solo that well. The man was born to play. And to make things even more epic, he took out an iPad for one song, and played a piano app through a speaker. Never before have I seen such a good use of a piano app. It was mind boggling. To make things even stranger, he bore an uncanny ressemblance to my grandpa, only 30 years younger.

Overall, the night was absolutely amazing. Except for the fact that my gum hurts and I'm still thirsty. I think I can fix one of those two problems right now...
Mmm, grape flavour. I'll get back to you on a later date, Nano. Right now I'm feeling a little tired.

EDIT:: I figured out how to use hyperlinks! Yay! Be proud of me!

Over and out,

~V