I’ve posted before, O Internets, about how my rampaging love for Quebec trad can be traced straight back to La Bottine Souriante when I saw them perform at the same show where I first saw Great Big Sea. (Little did I know at the time that that concert at Chateau Ste. Michelle was going to be the birthplace of two of my three biggest lifetime musical fandoms!) I have not, however, had the good fortune to see La Bottine in concert since, and I’d really like to see them with their current lineup.
But I ain’t expecting that to happen any time soon unless they show up in Vancouver. Because transporting a band that big is, I’m sure, logistically challenging even without asking them to cross the US border. (Bah.)
BUT! Even if I can’t see them in person, the Internets have now consoled me with the surfacing of a great video of an entire show they did on their recent tour to Mexico. Behold! (And for all the non-Francophones reading this, note that the band members do introduce the songs in English; there’s only a little bit of Spanish attempted at the beginning.)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to7P8BJD7FA?hl=en_US&version=3&w=420&h=315]
And I gotta say, after watching this, I am convinced that Éric Beaudry has access to the same shoe-based arc reactor technology that powers the feet of Olivier Demers. ‘Cause I mean damn, people, when your feet are the entire percussion section for a band as big as La Bottine, you have some mighty rhythmic feet. (+10 as well for Éric’s intro to the second song he sings lead on! Of which he has two, and they are both awesome. Dude can sing. But I’ve said that before, too.)
Go! Clickie! And be careful if you’re listening to this by a desktop computer. You may find yourself in danger of foot-tapping all over your power supply. Well, for values of ‘you’ meaning ‘me’. ;)
I've been awfully srs bznz around here lately so have some De Temps Antan
I just need to make it through the Monster Release my team is doing overnight between Monday and Tuesday–and then on Friday I’ll be heading up to Canada to see these guys being awesome!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjEwIut64lc?hl=en_US&version=3&w=560&h=315]
Because bouzouki slides! And fiddling! And podorythmie in stereo! And harmonica and accordion and mouth harp and goddamn, the voice on Pierre-Luc Dupuis. <3
And I’m tellin’ ya, people, the Monster Release is kicking my ass (lots of overtime put in this past week), so believe me when I say I will be very, very much looking forward to a long weekend of Quebecois trad goodness! Stand by for a full report on same when Dara and I get to Harrison Hot Springs. Complete with Jean-Claude Mamut, the Genderqueer Mammoth!
Bring out your Great Big Sea videos!
People, I am experiencing a potentially life-changing event here. I ain’t up to GBS levels of fangirling on Le Vent du Nord quite yet, but those lads from Quebec now very well and thoroughly have my attention, and it’s very significant that at an earlier point today, the number of LVN fan videos I’d added to my YouTube playlist had in fact outnumbered the Great Big Sea videos!
And that, my friends, is pure crazytalk. The lovely Monsieur Beaudry is laying down a very, very compelling case. But this is THE HONOR OF THE DOYLE at stake here. So I put out a call on Twitter and Facebook and Google Plus for people to hit me with their favorite GBS vids on YouTube–and I now repeat that call here! Link me up with your favorite Great Big Sea vids, people! Bonus points if they’re from shows I actually attended!
Remembering that had pointed me at a vid of hers I’d never looked at, I finally looked at that tonight. And I gotta tell you, you have never heard “Cod Liver Oil” until you have heard it performed by Murray Foster. Behold!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmLAur1uTnA&w=420&h=345]
And for the record, yes, C minor IS the key of someone who’s been drinking until five-thirty. ;>