>>PREVIEW
THE SADIES
Friday, October 27
MacEwan Ballroom
There’s a moment in every gig when The Sadies clinch the this-is-the-best-goddamn-band-I’ve-seen-in-years prize. Brothers and guitarists, Dallas and Travis Good, inch closer to each other onstage until their fret boards are strategically lined-up. Each brother will continue to strum his own guitar, but will take his fretting hand off the neck of his own guitar to start fretting his brother’s guitar. It’s like watching trapeze artists at the circus, their musicianship is that impressive.
Along with the remarkable rhythm section comprised of Sean Dean (upright bass) and Mike Belitsky (drums), The Sadies are an incredible live act and clearly a favourite with some of the most legendary musicians of our time. Just take a glance at the guests on the amazing live double album, The Sadies in Concert Volume One. All 17 high-profile artists cleared their touring and recording schedules to fly to Toronto and appear on the recording.
Included on the roster that night were Neko Case, Jon Spencer, Matt Verta Ray, Jon Langford, Garth Hudson and many more. Producer Steve Albini was also invited. The day before the two-night affair began, the National Post ran a story on Albini’s involvement in The Sadies’ project. The cantankerous knob-twiddler commented that live albums are a "pain in the cock" to record. Still, he showed up, excelled in his role and perfectly captured what turned out to be the party of the year.
"We were prepared for the worst case scenario in some ways – in terms of the recording equipment," admits Dallas with a sigh of relief. "Every single guest absolutely put their heart into it… and everyone was really drunk too – to the point of, truly, I don’t remember the encore of either performance.
"I’m not trying to be Mister Cowboy. It’s just a mix of exhaustion and emotion and everything else, but that mixture of exhaustion and emotion kept us from being overly ‘you guys are the greatest.’ However, there was a lot of times when we’d have to change reels because we recorded it all to tape and in those breaks, we were forced to kill time. It got completely ridiculous. Listening back to it, it turned into ‘you’re the greatest,’ then ‘no, you are, now fuck off.’"
Listening to the double live album, there’s little crowd noise or onstage banter even though the audience at Lee’s Palace went apeshit during both nights. The intention was to be able to fit the live recording on triple vinyl format for hardcore fans and, most importantly, keep the momentum of the show as strong as typical Sadies’ performances.
"That’s what I really wanted to string together – a show that each guest kinda rolled off each other in an obvious way," continues Dallas. "There was a cohesiveness that was a little bit lost by some of the dialogue. It ultimately made the listen that much longer and I wanted to keep the focus on the songs. But I have every intention of releasing a comedy record from the outtakes from this."
The Sadies also had eight cameras rolling both nights and have every intention of releasing a companion DVD. Before that, they’ll be promoting a different film for which they’ve scored the soundtrack. Only a couple months after the release of their jaw-dropping live album, The Sadies have released an instrumental soundtrack for Ron Mann’s Tales of the Rat Fink, a film about hot rod king, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.
Like Jon Spencer and Matt Verta Ray, Ron Mann saw The Sadies open for Blue Rodeo, became instantly hooked and called on them to compose the soundtrack for his film. Produced by Dallas Good and Don Pyle (Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet), Tales of the Rat Fink is comprised of deliciously trashy surf and garage rock instrumentals. All 26 songs are named after The Sadies’ favourite watering holes across North America, including Calgary’s Ship and Anchor.
Last week, they completed yet another album with Andre Williams featuring Jon Spencer, Matt Verta Ray, Kelly Hogan, Sally Timms (Mekons), and Manny Del-Lord (Del-Lords). On top of that, they will soon be departing for Spain to record their next studio album with Gary Louris (Jayhawks). It’s a banner year for The Sadies and a solid illustration of how unique they are. No other band is attempting to do what they do, let alone do it this well.
"Well, that’s a good thing. The Grateful Dead used to say ‘we’re not the best of what we do, we’re the only ones who do what we do,’" jokes Travis.
"If we set out to do one thing, it was exactly that – be able to provide music, live music especially, in a nightclub setting where we can offer up music to dance, drink or talk over," says Dallas. "The point is, it’s not about the stage so much as it’s about creating a show and that involves in my mind different styles of music. Basically, the outcome is just a product of the four of us knowing each other so well and having played together so long. You can’t share such tight quarters with people if you don’t ultimately think very alike." |
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