Little City

Us kids know

Arcade Fire’s meteoric rise to indie fame following the release of their 2004 album Funeral is well documented. Less well documented (but available for readin’ on this blog) is the attempt of a ragtag bunch of Toronto folks to perform the entire album in a big Toronto church on a warm Toronto evening.

Powerout (by the Arcade Fire)- Funeral at Knox from Little City on Vimeo.

Since I was there for both of these phenomena (one in the chronological sense, the other in the flesh), when Arcade Fire announced that they’d be playing back-to-back shows at the Danforth Music Hall, with one-per-person tickets being sold the day of each event, it didn’t take long for me to step into the nearest phone booth, make the necessary transformations, and emerge a proper adolescent.

Adolescent because I waited, with good friends and few breaks, under an ominous sky, for four and a half hours before the ticket window opened at noon on Saturday. (Despite the early arrival, I was thirty-seventh in line.)

Adolescent because once my wristband, gloriously emblazoned with the band’s name, was snapped on, I naturally joined a new, shorter line, made up of sixteen-year-olds who had made the trip from suburbia and now had nothing better to do than wait for the show to begin. At 8:30 p.m.

Adolescent because I couldn’t resist subtly flashing the hot-pink wristband to those way back in line; to sullen counter girls who wanted to attend but had to work; to underhoused elderly men clutching brown bags as they tripped past the queue. Shamelessly, I brandished that wristband like a trophy.

And, shamelessly, I got my six-foot self right to the front of that auditorium, right between the elbows of my eager pals, right beneath the sweaty hair flings of Richard Reed Parry. When I was able to stop fretting that I was behaving like a besotted h-skooler, the show blew me away. Win’s tortured vocals and massive presence. William’s enthused glockenspiel chiming. Régine’s robotic, doleful dancing.

So, a thirteen-hour wait thoroughly worth it, we agreed. We acknowledged that we might have shown up at 4 p.m., joined the line, and wound up in roughly the same position at the stage, but comforted ourselves with the fact that we couldn’t have known this. We spoke of how we couldn’t have brought ourselves to give up our “advantage” near the front of the line. This advantage was our rallying cry, what sustained us through the obnoxious banter of linemates and sudden downpours. Our real advantage, of course, was living in a city where music and friendship can intersect in such sudden and thrilling ways. And the luxury of acting like kids with nothing better to do on a Saturday than wait all day for a really good band, and finally fall asleep with their songs in our heads.

Written by Lisa Devries
Arcade Fire stage photo by Jesse Hair

Pen Story

There are plenty of stop motion videos out there, but this one gets me. The use of photographs draws me in (no surprise there!) It is after all an advertisement for a camera – but kudos to the creators for creating a concise and wonderful narrative.

The PEN Story from PENStory on Vimeo.

All the reasons to Make.

What do marketing, economics and photography have in common? The answer is Mark Mclean – a student at Wildred Laurier who started taking photos last year stating aesthetics as the initial draw. “I’ve discovered that, although putting thought into a photo is important, there are times when it’s nice to just sit back and say, I just really like the way this looks.”

As he took more and more photos he realized that relationships factored in as well. “I love portraiture and getting to know who my subjects are. It’s really satisfying to capture something reflective of someone’s character, whether through expression, context, colour, etc.” Finally he realized he just simply liked learning something new.

Above you’ll see some of Mark’s most recent photos. Right on Mark Mclean! Keep on making.