Exploring “The Things We Left Behind” with Blue Rodeo
Written by: Matt Wardlaw
Every now and then, you have these spontaneous reminders that tap you on the shoulder to let you know that indeed, "maybe we ain't that young anymore." Like the other day, when I realized that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Casino, the 1990 album that introduced me to Canadian alt-country imports Blue Rodeo. Which means officially that I've been buying Blue Rodeo albums religiously for 20 years now - there's never a question or any waiting around to read a review - as soon as I know the release date, it's on my purchase list.
And in those 20 years, they've never let me down with any of the albums that they've released. There have been a couple (Palace of Gold, Small Miracles) that have taken a couple of extra listens, but overall, the consistency has been admirable and it always interests me that these guys don't have more of a fanbase here in the U.S., particularly with Wilco fans.
They've certainly done okay for themselves, and with the release of The Things We Left Behind, which is studio album #12 for the band, they show no signs of running out of steam anytime soon. Featuring a total of 16 new tracks, it really is an interesting listen that breaks the traditional rotation between Keelor and Cuddy numbers in favor of an overall flow, tracked specifically with four sides of vinyl in mind. That's right - this sucker is a double album, and the vinyl has the full gatefold sleeve treatment and a nice bonus inclusion of CDs for on-the-go listening. It's worth a few extra bucks to import the vinyl from Canada, but if you're not a vinyl person, you can buy the CDs or digital download too.
Blue Rodeo are currently in the midst of a 15 date U.S. tour that will bring them to St. Louis tonight (for the first time in a loooong time), and Chicago on Saturday night, where they're booked at their traditional Chicago home away from home, Martyrs'. I spoke with Jim Cuddy about the band's long overdue return to St. Louis, the new album, and quite a few other topics. Although the chat had Chris Farley fanboy overload potential, I kept it professional.
Check out the interview here (via the Riverfront Times) and also some additional "outtakes" from the interview.
Enjoy!
P.S. - for those that are heading out to a show, you'll enjoy this review of the recent Atlanta show. It's nice to see that they're apparently changing up the set a bit from night to night. "It Could Happen To You" has been a recent opener, and for Atlanta, it was "Cynthia" from Five Days in July that kicked things off! And in even better news, they've got longtime BR associate Anne Lindsay out on the road with them, playing fiddle!
View CommentsBlue Rodeo: California or Bust!
Written by: Matt Wardlaw
You guys all know what a big Blue Rodeo fan I am, right? One of the things that I've been looking forward to in the new year is the nearly-certain possibility that I will see Blue Rodeo at least once this year, and hopefully more.
One could definitely say that this legendary Canadian group march to the beat of their own drummer. As proof, I surfed over to the band's official website last night and found the following message posted:
Blue Rodeo are on their way to California for a handful of shows. If you're lucky enough to find yourself in San Francisco, Los Angeles or Santa Barbara near the end of February, head on over to the BlueRodeo.com Store to grab some tickets to these shows. Full concert details can be found on the Events page.
Here are the tour dates:
February 18, 2009 San Francisco, CA The Independent
February 19, 2009 Los Angeles, CA The Mint
February 20, 2009 Santa Monica, CA McCabe's Guitar Shop
February 21, 2009 Santa Barbara, CA Lobero Theatre
Cool venues, and the McCabe's show is acoustic! The Santa Barbara show looks like a co-headlining date with Tim Easton.
I would give my left arm to go to the acoustic show. Since I kinda like having two arms, I'll listen to my copy of their recently released acoustic live album Blue Road instead.
So why now for the CA dates? No idea. My random guesses? Okay, here ya go:
A. Some shows on the way to Los Angeles to discuss business details of some sort?
B. Shows to continue breaking in a new keyboard player?
C. Because Cuddy and Keelor SAID SO!
I'll go with C. Safe bet.
Speaking of Cuddy and Keelor, they just played an acoustic duo benefit show last week with the coolest setlist I've seen in AGES. I would have given my other remaining arm to hear "Sad Nights," one of my FAVORITE cuts off the typically-ignored (by the band) album The Days in Between.
Check out the complete setlist courtesy of the Blue Rodeo Forums:
* What am I Doing Here
* How Long
* Blue House
* 3 Hours
* Fools Like You
* Somebody Waits
* To Love Somebody
* Walk Like You Don't Mind
* English Bay
* Rage
* Rena
* Cynthia
* 5 Days
* Palace of Gold
* Lost Together
* It Could Happen to You
* Bad Timing
* Hasn't Hit Me Yet
Encore:
* Disappear
* Till I Am Myself Again
* Bad Timing
* Good Year for the Roses
For those of you in the California area - get out and check out one of the upcoming dates, and if you can't make it out - grab yourself a copy of Blue Road - a purchase you certainly won't regret!
Cheers!
Blue Rodeo - Joker's Wild (live 2008)
About Blue Rodeo:
Twenty some years after the formation of Blue Rodeo, Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor are widely respected as one of Canada’s best songwriting teams. Since the release of their debut album Outskirts in March 1987, Blue Rodeo has established themselves as one of the most successful and well known contemporary bands in Canadian music history. Over the course of their stellar career, Blue Rodeo has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, a Greatest Hits collection and an award winning DVD, selling in excess of 4 million copies around the world. Blue Rodeo has won numerous Canadian music awards, including eleven Juno Awards.
(above taken from BlueRodeo.Com)
Relevant Links:
Blue Rodeo official website
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