Goin’ to church on a Saturday night
Several years ago, a friend turned me onto Danny Michel. He was common knowledge on the Canadian indie scene by then, but I’d only just heard of him. I agreed to go see him play at a tiny campus bar in Calgary and his charisma and musical ability blew me away.
I bought two CDs that night, then went home and downloaded the rest. I even paid for it! Support independent artists, guys!
Then I moved to Guelph and heard through the grapevine that he lived in the area. He’s played a few shows since I’ve been here, but then he went on tour with Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe and was never around.
The closest I’ve come to seeing Danny play here was watching a Burning Hell set at Hillside Festival last year and standing right behind him. He and Hawksley Workman were watching the show together and instead of being like “why hello talented, artistic, gentlemen who are also very handsome,” I was like “I’m drunk and sunburned.” So I just stood thre and watched the show with them. It was a nice little Hillside moment. But earlier this year, when I heard he was playing the Dublin Street United Church, I knew I’d try to attend.
That show takes place tonight and I’m excited! I love seeing shows in churches. They’re such great venues. Oh, and, um, yay God? And stuff?
Seriously. The acoustics are always amazing and this church in particular has a great, warm sound that I think will really heighten the Danny Michel concert experience. I saw Matthew and Jill Barber play there last year and they were great. I can’t wait to hear If God Is On Your Side performed in a church. Also, if he could perform Elvis’ The Song of the Shrimp from Girls! Girls! Girls! I would be an extremely happy girl.
Because I always try to immerse myself in the music of a particular artist before I see them live, I’ve been perusing my complete Danny Michel catalogue and marvelling at his progression as a songwriter and musician.
His latest, Feather, Fur and Fin is, while not wildly, insanely better than any of his earlier albums, has a different feel. There’s more experimentation with sound and breaks and lyrics and it took awhile for me to warm up to it, but it’s one of my favourites now. It’s hard to beat the nostalgia of Two Hearts on 2003’s Tales From the Invisible Man, where he sings about making out on the shag rug and croons “I got no beepers, no pagers. Just Farrah Fawcett-Lee-Majors” but he manages with the intense howl of “You’re the last match in the pack!” on I’m ‘a Love You Anyway. And whoever suggested the baritone sax and glockenspiel (I’m blaming McLean) has my eternal gratitude. Michel digs a little deeper with every record and I respect that.
I’m gonna go ahead and give you a Danny Michel sampler. And I strongly encourage you to give ‘em all a listen, go out to shows and buy, buy, buy.
And also make sure you check out this amazazing video for Feather, Fur and Fin, featuring more than 3,500 photos taken in Belize.
Right? It’s awesome! So you should come out tonight. Dublin Street United (It’s on the corner of Dublin and Suffolk in Guelph) at 7:30. The opening act is jazz singer Roxann Potvin and she is quite fine. To hold tickets, email milanovichlil@hotmail.com or get ‘em at Ground Floor Music.
Danny Michel - I'm 'a Love You Anyway: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Danny Michel - White Lightening: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Danny Michel - Two Hearts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Danny Michel - Fireworks: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
