or Canadian chanteuse, Kathleen Edwards rocks the South Side
(Holy CRAP! A post that's actually somewhat current. What the? What?!?)
Okay, so Saturday night Canada's rock 'n roll songbird, Kathleen Edwards pulled into town in a big black bus. This was to be Geo's and my first date night in a long time.
A date night? Are you kidding me?!? I was so excited!
Geo is alwaysAlwaysALWAYS my first choice for concert partner, but he is very discerning as for whom he ventures out of the confines of our abode. (is that correct grammar? maybe...maybe not. whatev. english is not my first language. that's my story.)
ANYWHO...
He was actually excited about seeing Ms. Edwards. We were going to make an evening of it. You know, dinner, drinks, maybe a little white guy dancing. But alas, Geo's indentured servitude played the trump card in the game of our social life in the shape of an unreasonable, high-maintenance client with no earthly clue of the meaning of DEADLINE. Consequently, my ever-lovin' has been working outrageously long hours the entire week. He works so hard. He needs a vacation, or at the very least a long weekend. Or maybe a visit from a skillful Thai escort.
I kid. I'm kidding. I'm a kidder.
There was a nice cross section of age groups in attendance. Ms. Edwards is only 34, but her appeal is universal. Her music is filled with life's pathos set to grinding guitar rifts with a complimentary smattering of quieter, introspective beauties. Her latest effort, Voyageur is, in her words, "filled with personal baggage of love and loss". A cathartic collection of tunes exorcising the demons from her recent divorce. But make no mistake, she is no shrinking flower crying in the corner. No way. She is in complete control, and she comes out to rock, BABY!
Saturday was my first time seeing Edwards perform. The thing that struck me was she's no waif. It's refreshing. She's a real girl with a big presence. When she took the stage, she started her show by saying, " Just because you're sitting down doesn't mean you have to be pussies." before launching into her latest hit, Empty Threat.
She is so badass.
The kind of chick you want to hang at the bar with, doing shooters, smoking cigars and telling trashy jokes. None of that pansy-assed, girlie shit from her.
Throughout the evening she playfully sparred with vocal audience members. At one point, she waxed on about the greatness of Sidney Crosby, getting on the good side of the audience by sympathizing with our agony over his continued health issues and calling him the embodiment of all that is good about hockey (she is Canadian after all. hockey is in her blood) before launching into I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory, punctuating her dedication with a "fuck you, Penguins."
See. Sooooooo badass! Ha Ha!
Edwards played nearly all of her current release and a few older gems to the appreciative gathering. The encore consisted of exactly one song. A cover of Big Star's September Gurls.
And the the covers streak continues.
Another great evening of live music in the Burgh worth the exhaustion at work the next morning. The only thing that could have made it better is if Geo was sitting next to me. He would have loved it. Thanks to my trusty gal-pal, Mary Ann-ski (aka, Betty) for subbing in the last minute.
You can pick up Kathleen's latest here.
