By pure coincidence and not at all out of his stalker-ish fascination with me, Pat  has already talked about all of the shows I went to in his blog post. But, there’s nothing wrong with an old-fashioned re-hashing, so here goes:

• Deerhoof’s set at Central United was utterly, completely phenomenal. As in, maybe in the 10 best shows I’ve ever seen, and maybe in the top half of that list. Things started off normally enough for them (which is pretty far from normal, but… anyways), with a ripping version of “Panda” and what sounded like maybe a new track. When they busted out a Ramones cover (“Pinhead”), I figured that would be the most surprising point in the set. Then drummer Greg Saunier, who had been making incredible use of his stripped down drum kit (just a snare, a kick and one cymbal) and providing some wonderfully weird stage banter, got up from his kit to lead the band in a rousing rendition of Canned Heat’s “Going Up the Country” (sans recorder, unfortunately, but still rad). By the time he took to Central’s piano for an unmiked classical Japanese piece (maybe?), mere inches in front of me, this was already the show to beat for the fest.
Prior to that, Wild Choir put on a respectable set of surf-and-noir-inflected rock; the dynamic between the two singers was a bit odd, with the guy pulling off down-on-your-knees soul singing and the girl aiming for a detached Kim Gordon vibe, but when it gelled, it gelled quite well.

• I was desperately searching for water while Cave was playing at the Legion, but what I heard has me tempted to head to Local Library this afternoon for more. Maybe it’s just that I have a higher tolerance for jamz than most — when I asked a friend what the rest of the set was like, they said “pretty much this” and gestured, unimpressed, at the stage. To each their own, I suppose.

• Even though I saw them a week ago, I just can’t resist Calgary-cum-Montreal art poppers Braids. Nevermind that they’re just swell people — the music they make gets more sophisticated every time I see them. And every time, I find a new thing to latch on to — this time, it was the way the drummer sounded like he’s been listening to some Peter Gabriel lately. I’m not sure why, but I kept picturing his latest concert video whenever I heard the snare. Yes, that’s meant to be some sort of compliment.

• I finally took Pat up on catching C’MON at the Ship, and while he assures me that last night’s show wasn’t as rowdy as at Sleds past, I can still see why he makes it a tradition. Something in Blurton’s slightly-cleaner-than-homeless look and his scorching guitar suits the Ship to a T — I remember thinking “I never have to see another band here again,” but, y’know, in a good way.

• If I had any energy left to dance, I would've been all over Big Frieda, which Garth Paulson described as "Public Enemy without Chuck D, just Flava Flav as hype-man" and I would describe as "My God, look at all that ass." I missed "Ass Everywhere," but did manage to hear "Booty Everywhere," so all was not lost. In any case, super-glad that Quintron brought Frieda up here, and the packed dance floor seemed pretty alright with it, too.

And now that I’ve done an emergency run to the office to get a few stories online (oh, unreliable Internets, ruining my Canada Day morning) it’s time to head back into the fray. My tentative plan:
Makeout Videotape, Boy Who Says No, Chain & the Gang    and Ty Segall    @ Republik
Deadhorse, Red Cedar and Sleepy Sun @ Telus World of Science
Women @ Republik
Hard Drugs @ the Ship
Rah Rah and Jane Vain @ the Marquee