# Ever Hear A Group That Just Made You Go, "Whoa!" ?



## Drazden (Oct 26, 2007)

Wow.

Just now, listening to CBC Radio 3 online, this is the first I've heard of The Besnard Lakes.

Damn. This is unreal. Just thought I'd share it with all of you. This doesn't happen to me often, but when it does, I'm always blown away.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

three that come to mind:

Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen (the whole album gets me - here's the title track)
[video=youtube;PRiaYIIkLmw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRiaYIIkLmw[/video]

Mad Season - Above (again, the whole album)
[video=youtube;SCl108Lxav0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCl108Lxav0[/video]

Rodrigo Y Gabriela - 11:11 (here's the first time I saw them)
[video=youtube;ZFs6wtR33Tc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFs6wtR33Tc[/video]


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Nomeansno make me go whoa and a regular basis lol Especially live. And especially taking their age into account.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

"It Happens In Florida" by The Burning Hell (also a Radio 3 discovery) and "On & On & On" by Joel Plaskett both made me hit the repeat button three or four times the first time I heard them.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Big Sugar - live at Wilfrid Laurier in about 1994. Whoa - loud, whoa great!


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## John Bartley (Jul 23, 2009)

I had never heard of Joan Osbourne, and then I bought the DVD "Standing in the shadows of Motown". When she started to sing I was hooked....

cheers

John


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Roy Buchanan

Rory Gallagher

Dire Straits

Simon Mayor

Joscho Stephan

Peace, Mooh.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

Danko Jones live opening for Sloan in 2000. I was like "WTF is happening!?!" Literally ran to the merch table to see if they had a CD for sale.

Also, an indie band from Calgary called The Villains. We opened for them one night when they came to Winnipeg. They played and it was unbelievable how good these guys were - not only their musicianship, but their songwriting, arrangements, and performance. What an incredible band!


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

> Danko Jones live opening for Sloan in 2000. I was like "WTF is happening!?!" Literally ran to the merch table to see if they had a CD for sale.


yeah- i saw danko the first time around then- opening for big sugar-
that guy had the entire audience hating him the first time he opened his mouth-
got booed mercilessly, and my wife and friends hated him too. but i thought the sound those guys made was brilliant-
excellent band- blew me away that day.

cake's prolonging the magic was a good one- still is-
when i first got it my sidekick was a 3 yr old- i taught him to respond to people asking him how are you? with - satan is my motor. that was funny. 
infernal combustion and all that-


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## canadian tyler (Jul 7, 2009)

I saw Big Sugar play Edmonton in 96 (this was before they got loud), but the band that opened for them was unreal. They were out of Winnipeg and at the time they went by the name The Blue Meanies. The music and vocals blew me away, and no one else seemed to notice. Big Sugar was OK, but not great by any means. (I saw them again after they got loud and it was a much better show.) The opener now goes by the new meanies and I think they still tour. I know I'm not the only one that has heard of them. Very talented group.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

canadian tyler said:


> I saw Big Sugar play Edmonton in 96 (this was before they got loud), but the band that opened for them was unreal. They were out of Winnipeg and at the time they went by the name The Blue Meanies. The music and vocals blew me away, and no one else seemed to notice. Big Sugar was OK, but not great by any means. (I saw them again after they got loud and it was a much better show.) The opener now goes by the new meanies and I think they still tour. I know I'm not the only one that has heard of them. Very talented group.


i dunno- big sugar was plenty loud in 92-93 over here. maybe they toned it down for yu western types lol. couple instances back then when shows got shut down due to excessive volume.


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## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

fraser said:


> cake's prolonging the magic was a good one- still is-
> when i first got it my sidekick was a 3 yr old- i taught him to respond to people asking him how are you? with - satan is my motor. that was funny.
> infernal combustion and all that-


You know I suffered through an Edgefest at Molson park about a milion years ago when *cough* Nickleback was the headliner, I was SO pumped cause Cake was on the bill. When they came on they got pelted mercilessly with waterbottles by the morons in the pit and walked off after 1 song. man was I pissed! love Cake!


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## drift_boat (Feb 2, 2006)

Saw 54-40 at Flames Central in Calgary (small venue) and had to say "whoa!". Really felt the vibe.

Saw Doc Walker at Merritt Music Fest and was blown away by their live act, stage presence, musicianship, nergy, etc.

Joe Bonamassa at the Calgary Blues Fest was incredible!!!


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Guys OMG too many names to go google hunting >.< use the Video posting video button, makes knowing who you are talking about a lot more user friendly.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I'll +1 Cake, but the one band in the last few years that _really_ got my attention is The Decemberists. They're very indie - as in checking off all the required indie criteria...accordion? check!...glockenspiel? check!...and so on. What really got me about them was the lyrics. It's rare that you find a pop/alt/indie rock act that is so thoroughly steeped in literature but is also able to translate that into dense and interesting lyrics.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

fraser said:


> yeah- i saw danko the first time around then- opening for big sugar-
> that guy had the entire audience hating him the first time he opened his mouth-
> got booed mercilessly, and my wife and friends hated him too. but i thought the sound those guys made was brilliant-
> excellent band- blew me away that day.


That was the funny thing, a lot of the crowd hated him when I saw them too. To start, before they even play a note, he walks up, grabs the mic and starts shouting: "I AM THE D! THE A! THE N! THE K! THE O! THE J! THE O! THE N! THE E! THE S! THE D! THE A! THE N! THE K! THE O! THE J! THE O! THE N! THE E! THE S! THE D! THE A! THE N! THE K! THE O! THE J! THE O! THE N! THE E! THE S! MY NAME IS DANKO JONES AND BEFORE ALL OF YOU LEAVE HERE TONIGHT YOU ARE GOING TO KNOW MY NAAAAME!" And then they just BLAST into what I think I remember was "My Mama Raised A Devil Child". It was in sane!


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## Drazden (Oct 26, 2007)

Video links!
Grady -- one of the best, if not the best, live groups I've seen. Insane show, and ironically, the least-busy I've ever seen the Sound Academy. Felt like a private party. Fist-bumped Gordie at the end of the show; that felt pretty good. What an unreal talent.
[video=youtube;prwOvq5Jxnw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prwOvq5Jxnw&feature=related[/video]

The Besnard Lakes -- Just heard them yesterday, but this track... cool, cool stuff.
[video=youtube;5FA5gIS3a08]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FA5gIS3a08&feature=related[/video]

Elliott Brood -- by far the best 'undiscovered' band I've ever heard. I've been a fan of these guys for about 5 years, when I first saw them halfway through a random bill at the Horseshoe, and was so impressed the only thing I remember about the other bands there was one of them was a blues band (complete with SRV Strat) with a song called 'Three Titty Woman.' There was a period, when I first lived in Toronto, where I went to every show Elliott Brood put on. Last year, their new record was nominated for the Polaris Prize... fantastic album, takes their old sound and adds more edge and grit, and an electric guitar! And live, these guys will knock you on your ass!
[video=youtube;0C8QMUbYjrw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C8QMUbYjrw[/video]


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## canadian tyler (Jul 7, 2009)

fraser said:


> i dunno- big sugar was plenty loud in 92-93 over here. maybe they toned it down for yu western types lol. couple instances back then when shows got shut down due to excessive volume.


Yea, maybe they did tone it down for that show, cause I saw them about 5 yrs later and they were ear bleedingly LOUD!!! they were great at both shows, but the second one was better, both in volume and song writing.
I wish they were still together.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

hollowbody said:


> I'll +1 Cake, but the one band in the last few years that _really_ got my attention is The Decemberists. They're very indie - as in checking off all the required indie criteria...accordion? check!...glockenspiel? check!...and so on. What really got me about them was the lyrics. It's rare that you find a pop/alt/indie rock act that is so thoroughly steeped in literature but is also able to translate that into dense and interesting lyrics.


I got into the Decemberist for awhile. Crane wife is a nice tune


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

*local twentysomething metalhead enters thread*

I remember when my friend's band opened for Veil of Maya - Marc's guitar playing just floored me. 4 peace band, guitarist uses a looper pedal to play 2 lines at once, super tight and melodic. Great energy as well - the guitarist is pretty much engaging in foreplay with his guitar the whole set, and you can tell he loves his job.

After The Burial - Oh. My. Word! First time hearing 8-strings live (I think), first time seeing this band, hadn't really heard them before hand.. Pro musicianship, the best sound of the night, really nice guys, and one of the best blends of catchy pop-esque parts combined with "How do they play that?" harmonized melodies, breakdowns and progressions.. one of my favourite bands to watch. The 2nd time I saw them, I never thought I'd see that difficult a guitar line played behind the head flawlessly 5 feet from where I stood.

Did I mention these bands are really nice dudes, and signed my CD's? 

Other bands that brought the "woah" factor (live at least):
Johnny Truant
Baptized In Blood
Cancer Bats
A female fronted band from Toronto I think, Ally something...
Casey Baker and the buffalo sinners
Leh-Lo
underoath.

Yup. Haha


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## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

Powdered Toast Man said:


> Danko Jones live opening for Sloan in 2000. I was like "WTF is happening!?!" Literally ran to the merch table to see if they had a CD for sale.
> 
> Also, an indie band from Calgary called The Villains. We opened for them one night when they came to Winnipeg. They played and it was unbelievable how good these guys were - not only their musicianship, but their songwriting, arrangements, and performance. What an incredible band!


I've been a Danko Jones fan since the first time I saw them, by accident, at the Horseshoe, in early 1999. I was there with some friends, we weren't there to see anyone in particular. I asked the ticket-seller "Who's this Danko Jones? Is he any good?" She was like, yeah, he's like a hard rock guy. It was $5 to get in, so we had nothing to lose. He took the stage, and it was a real "Hell, yeah!" kind of experience. He commands the crowd like a gospel preaching minister, except the gospel is about chicks and Danko. It's hard to explain the energy he creates, but for me, he set the bar as the best live act I've seen. Not the best guitar player, not the most complicated songs. But the energy is palpable. In between songs he started berating someone at the front for talking. "You don't speak while Danko is playing. You give Danko your full and undivided attention." About 10 minutes into the set, people were taking their shirts off. At two Danko shows I've seen women friends of mine do some seriously uncharacteristic things, if you know what I mean.

The funny thing is, he's quite articulate and seems to be relatively mild mannered. He hosts a radio show in Europe called "The Magical World of Rock", which is highly enjoyable and worth checking out. He's a great story teller and his love of music is the real thing. But when he gets up on the stage, he assumes this other persona... he's the Mango Kid, the Mocha Moses, a bunch of other nicknames, and he is a rock star.

I will never forget the first song he played that night at the Horseshoe, "Sugar Chocolate". You want some chocolate with your sugar? Some cream with your coffee? Some butter with your scotch? You can call it cocoa butter or you can call it white chocolate, but baby, I just call it... delicious!

The shirts come off, the ladies go wild. 

--- D

Edit: Just found a great link to a short film featuring Danko Jones talking about Maple Leaf Gardens. Very cool. http://blog.citysonic.tv/category/artists/danko-jones-artists-2/


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## whammybar (May 7, 2008)

Garrett Mason 'Love & Sound'. Ba-low-n away. The absolutely most raw sounding blues recording I have ever heard. One of those driving looking for a pencil and piece of paper before they get to the whose playing announcement at the end of the song moments.


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## Andy (Sep 23, 2007)

Radiohead. Every album from The Bends onward has blown me away, over and over.
The Arcade Fire. Absolutely incredible arrangements, incredible songwriting, just the polar opposite of vapid modern pop.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Andy said:


> Radiohead. Every album from The Bends onward has blown me away, over and over.
> The Arcade Fire. Absolutely incredible arrangements, incredible songwriting, just the polar opposite of vapid modern pop.


Yeah, them too!

Also, I got to see Blur in a little theatre in Kitchener-Waterloo near the end of their run. It was a great show.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...hmmmmm:

white stripes (or anything that jack white does..)
porcupine tree
swell season


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