The Automatik

Elizabeth Sheppard Trio
Melissa McClelland
Jason Falkner
Femme Generation
Amy Millan

The Reverb (North By Northeast)
June 9, 2006

For the last five or six years, I think Jason Falkner has managed to make an appearance on every mix CD I’ve made, either via Jellyfish, his solo stuff, or his work with musician pals like Air, Roger Manning, and Brian Reitzell. Live performances have been more elusive – I had to travel to Austin, Texas when I lived in New Orleans to see him play guitar and sing for Air’s 10,000 Hz. Legend tour in 2001. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to witness a bona fide Jason Falkner show. So when I found out this past Tuesday that he was participating in North By Northeast this year (thanks Beth!), I was thrilled.

We arrived early as I had been warned that the tickets might sell out quickly due to headliner Amy Millan (Broken Social Scene, Stars). We were treated to two great sets before Jason: Elizabeth Sheppard Trio and Melissa McClelland.

I should warn everyone that I am basically clueless when it comes to jazz. I have heard a few names and bits of music over the years, but it’s never been anything on which I’ve been educated. But Elizabeth Sheppard and the other two members of her trio were impressive. She has one of those voices that seems to fall effortlessly out of her mouth and wind its way around music in a way that is quite pleasing to the ears. Her drummer, Colin Kingsmore, has impeccable timing. I also enjoyed the stand-up bass of Scott Kemp, but I couldn’t help but be amused by his “bass faces,” which were (unintentionally) hilarious.

Photo © 2006 RockPaperPixels

Melissa McClelland also has a lovely voice and her sound is a bit reminiscent of The Cowboy Junkies. It’s probably a little too “alt-country” for my tastes, but was enjoyable nonetheless. And her guitarist, Luke Doucet, had an absolutely gorgeous white and gold Gretsch that I could have stared at all night long.

I kept sneaking looks at the crowd, hoping for a glimpse of Jason Falkner, but no luck. When I did see him on stage left, I barely recognized him as his hair was a bit darker and had an almost scraggly beard! He performed without a band; it was just Jason and a beat up black guitar. There were a few hardcore fans in the audience but he received nowhere near the kind of enthusiastic reception that the other two bands did.

I think he won the crowd over quickly as it was clear that Jason Falkner is a talented and witty man. He looked dishevelled, yet dapper, in dark jeans, a fitted jacket, and a faded Ghost in the Machine t-shirt that was probably his original shirt from the ’80s. He entertained us with numerous funny quips and faces and at one point, pulled the top of the mic stand out and blurted a line from Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” complete with faux-Freddie Mercury pose. After we all cracked up, he flashed a wry, confused grin and said, “I always thought it was a putter.” We all cracked up again and then every time I thought of it afterwards, I had to force myself not to giggle. Later during the set, he jumped up to the front of the stage and whipped out a quick riff from “Spirit of the Radio” by Rush and I was reduced to giggles yet again.

I know that he writes and performs practically everything on his solo compositions, so of course, he’ll know what bits to play in order to fill in the gaps when it’s just him and a guitar. Yet I couldn’t help but be a little bit amazed at how good it all sounded without the drums, keyboards, and bass. My appreciation for him, particularly his guitar playing and his ability to belt it out when necessary, has increased a thousand fold. I was surprised that he did nothing from his latest, still unreleased album or 2003’s Bliss Descending EP. But hearing “Revelation,” “Eloquence,” “Holiday,” and his phenomenal cover of The Kinks’ “Wicked Anabella” was fabulous, so I won’t complain.

About two-thirds of the way through, he asked, “How much time do I have left?” and someone answered, “Fifteen minutes.” He nodded and smiled, adopting a deeper register and a goofy face. “Cos I could do this all night long.” Then he shrugged and added, “And I’ll probably be hanging around here for at least an hour afterwards, so you know…”

I certainly wasn’t expecting him to play anything by his old band, who he referred to as “Bouffant Jellyfish,” but he did. “The Man I Used To Be” was so blistering that I think poor Andy Sturmer’s ears must’ve been burning. It was like hearing it for the first time all over again. Incredible.

Sadly, after only ten songs, his set was over. Shaun and I threaded through the crowd of Falkner fans and I got a bottle of water from the bar at the side of the stage. The bartender stared at me quizzically, making me feel self-conscious until she explained herself. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing at the Boy Howdy graphic on my bootleg Creem magazine t-shirt. “It looks like the artwork by my friend who lives in Vancouver, but I don’t recognize that band name.” I thought perhaps her vision was poor, and offered a bewildered, “Uh, Creem Magazine?” She shook her head. “Never heard of it.” I can only imagine the horror on my face as I struggled out a, “Um, Lester Bangs? He used to write for them?” Still, she had no clue and persisted with the idea that it was her friend’s artwork. “Well, the magazine was around in the ’70s but it doesn’t exist anymore.” She realized that it couldn’t be what she thought since her friend had only been illustrating for the last twenty years. As I turned away, I felt like the Generation Gap was the size of the Grand Canyon and that I had plunged headlong into it.

Not wanting to appear too pushy and also wanting to calm my ridiculous fangirl nerves, we waited for Jason to talk to a couple of friends, and then a couple of fans. In mid conversation, Jason turned to me. “Excuse me,” he said, pointing at my shirt, “That’s a great shirt. Is that a real one?” I laughed. “No, it’s a bootleg, but shhh! Don’t tell.” “I didn’t think so,” he added, “I mean, that would be worth like, a thousand dollars in L.A. But that is really cool.” Validation washed over me. Shortly thereafter it was our turn and I got my coveted autograph and more amusing banter from Jason. We thanked him for the great set and said our goodbyes.

By that point, the next band, Femme Generation, was about to come on, but it could have been Generation X fresh from a time machine and I wouldn’t have even noticed, so much was I spinning after that little encounter. Femme Generation turned out to be horrid. As Shaun put it, “They’re like the 56th generation Xerox of Franz Ferdinand.” My emo-dar was going crazy as they started with a cover of “The Twist” that sounded as if they’d just heard The Cure for the first time the week before and their minds had all been blown.

Shaun and I couldn’t tolerate more than a few minutes of that, so we left, knowing that we’d miss Amy Millan, who was possibly even good. No matter. I got to see Jason Falkner!

Here are more of RockPaperPixel’s excellent photos of the show.