TEITUR’S NEW CD AND NORTH AMERICAN TOUR:














I heard the good news this week that one of my favourite performers 'Teitur' is getting a North American release for his second album ‘Stay Under The Stars’ and has a small North American tour planned for September. It will bring him back to the MOD Club in Toronto with his full band on September 17th, 2006. He played in the city quite a few times in 2004/2005 but hasn’t played here since he opened for Rufus Wainwright if my memory serves me correctly. Below are the tour dates.


Sep 6 2006 6:00A World Cafe Live Philadelphia, PA
Sep 7 2006 9:30A World Famous Spiegeltent New York, NY
Sep 8 2006 8:00A Jammin Java Vienna, VA
Sep 9 2006 9:45A Rams Head Tavern Annapolis, MD
Sep 15 2006 9:00A Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire Montreal, QC
Sep 16 2006 7:00A The Mod Club Theatre Toronto, ON

KEANE - AMAZING LIVE CLUB SHOW IN TORONTO:
















Well I went to see Keane earlier this week at a small club in Toronto. The band performed a lot of the songs from their latest album ‘Under The Iron Sea’ and seemed to have ironed out any audio problems that some people had mentioned in earlier recent shows to promote the new cd. Highlights were the single ‘Is It Any Wonder?’ and ‘Crystal Ball’ as well as material from Hopes And Fears.

I decided it would be cool to be up in the front row, but occasionally got whipped in the face by Tom’s mic cord, and felt at times I was a bit too close. I did manage to video tape two songs on my digital camera, so if I can get them up on-line somewhere I’ll post a link. After the show the band were presented with platinum sales awards for their debut cd ‘Hopes And Fears’ at an industry meet and greet. Tom left quickly after the photos with Universal staff ended, Tim and Richard hung around for a little while.

This was the sixth time I have seen Keane and I was happy to get to see them back in a small club as I’m sure future shows will be in much larger venues. They do put on an energetic and sonically sound live show, so go see them if you get a chance.



DAVID FORD SHOW:






















I also had the pleasure of seeing new U.K. singer David Ford at a small club recently. He sounds quite a lot like Damien Rice and put on a very good one-man show. His new cd ‘I Sincerely Apologize For All The Trouble I’ve Caused’ just came out in Canada and I highly recommend it, especially if you’re into the the acoustic singer/songwriter thing. The good news is he is supposed to be coming back on tour in September, so go check him out if you haven’t already.

KEANE TO PLAY SMALL CLUB GIG IN TORONTO:





















It looks like Keane will be playing a small club gig in Toronto on Monday June 26th. Still waiting to hear which venue it will be, but this should be an amazing opportunity to see them in a smaller venue like when they first played the city. I hope to be there as their first official scheduled date in Toronto for the new record is Edgefest at the unpleasant Molson Amphitheatre venue on July 1st.

NELLY FURTADO TO PERFORM ON 'SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE':













I'm surprised none of the blogs I read who seem to love Nelly Furtado haven't reported that she is scheduled to perform 'Promiscuous' with Timbaland on Thursday night's epsiode of 'So You Think You Can Dance' on FOX in the U.S. and CTV in Canada. We'll have to wait to see if she tries her best to imitate Gwen Stefani like she did on SNL a few weeks ago.

NEW SONGS BY ABC ARE SUPER!:

















Last night I had the pleasure of seeing 'ABC' in concert here in Toronto after being a fan for around 22 years. Martin Fry was in fine form and played a great set with a pretty tight band. Original drummer David Palmer is on the tour playing drums and looks like he's really enjoying himself on stage.

Although Martin didn't mention it during the show, the band's new album tentatively titled 'Traffic' is due out in January of 2007. I gathered from talking to the tour manager that they are waiting to get a decent label deal, so hopefully that means major distribution and promotion and another tour of North America. The two news tracks they performed were very good, 'Ride' and the funky 'Sixteen Seconds To Choose' which I loved. So we have quite a wait for the new tracks to see the light of day but I have a feeling it will be worth it. You can download a classic ABC track 'Ocean Blue' below.

Ocean Blue - MP3 (HAS EXPIRED)

LONDON BASED BAND 'CAPTAIN' - GREAT NEW SINGLE 'BROKE':











Any fans of 'The Upper Room' and 'Hard Fi' (and dare I say 'Deacon Blue' or 'Prefab Sprout') should check out the latest single from the London based 5 piece band 'Captain' called 'Broke'. The song is available on iTunes Canada as well as their debut single titled 'Frontline'. The single was produced by Trevor Horn, and HMV says 'Its feel-good, harmonious hooks and irresistible melody has already won over numerous supporters at regional and national radio.'

'Broke' is the first single to be released off their debut album entitled 'This is Hazelville' produced by Horn and due out in the U.K. on August 14th, 2006. Recent high-profile gigs have seen them support Kaiser Chiefs, The Magic Numbers, The Delays and the Ordinary Boys, alongside a couple of noteworthy appearances at SXSW in March – resulting in NME tipping them as the band everyone will be lining up to see in 2007.