[direwolf74]

Just got back from tonight's show. Amazing! Anyone else from Calgary going to see them this week? They're in town doing five straight nights at the Big Secret Theatre (Epcor Centre). Each night they're playing one of their albums in it's entirety. Tonight they did Whale Music, plus a couple of extra songs for the encore. It was absolutely brilliant! For anybody who's interested, here's what their schedule looks like for the rest of the week:

Melville: Wed. Jan. 11 - 9:30 PM - $22
Group of Seven: Thur. Jan. 12 - 9:30 PM - $22
Best of: Fri. Jan. 13 - 9:30 PM - $22
Harmelodia: Sat. Jan. 14 - 3 PM - Adults $18/ Kids $12
2067: Sat. Jan. 14 - 9:30 PM - $22

[dreyfuss]

If it hadn't come so close after xmas I would've flown out there to go, I went to 4 nights in Toronto this past run and they were all great, the whale music night in Toronto is one of my favorite all time shows, if you go to the hip tracker you can find some of the shows from this year

[Graham]

Man I wish they'd come to Winnipeg and do multiple shows like that....If I wasn't in school right now, that'd be worth travelling for.

[direwolf74]

Speaking of the Rheos, I picked up their latest album "2067" at the Calgary show I attended, and I think it's one of the best things they've ever done. "Marginalized" is probably my favorite on the album. Such a fantastic tune! I think it's a crime how far under the radar these guys have been for their entire career. Even all those tours with the Hip and a 1994 hit single (Claire) didn't bring them the attention they so richly deserved.

They're certainly one of the most original rock bands out there, and they're so uniquely Canadian. There's no other band on the planet that sounds even remotely like them. Funny how all these bands like the Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene get all the attention and glory for writing intelligent, unique indie-rock, while the Rheostatics have been doing exactly that for the better part of 2 decades. Without the Rheos, there would be no Arcade Fire. Not that I don't like those bands, because I do. It's just that the Rheostatics have been criminally under-appreciated for so many years now. In my opinion these guys deserve to be in the Hall of Fame right alongside Das Hips, Gordie Lightfoot, and Neil Young. These guys are what Canadian music is all about.

[Graham]

I am in TOTAL, absolute agreement with you, Direwolf.

I don't see the appeal in Arcade Fire, really, just to name one. I've only got Introducing Happiness and 2067, but just from those two I've heard enough to know that they're a killer band. Me and Stupid as well as The Tarleks and Dig Music are just...simply...well, you sit there wondering "why the f*^& don't these guys get radio time?" Nobody the hell listens to CBC Radio 3 to even know about this amazing band.

I hope at sometime they DO get recognized. Especially after 2067, a more, uh, "conventional" rock album so to speak. And it proves that if these guys still don't have "it", then they're getting BETTER.

[dreyfuss]

I started my trip into the Rheostatics with a sampler cd I got at an edgefest called "big wheelz" that was issued by CHART. It had a live version of Record Body Count (that as it turned out was quite different than the album verion) Than someone posted a thread about favorite live albums on the tragically hip newsgroup and there were a few people mentioning the Rheostatics "Double Live", so I went and bought it. I couldn't name another song by the Rheo's (although after getting the live album I realized that I knew the song Claire) but I thought what the heck , they're Canadian so they've gotta be good. I was blown away and then I finally got to see them at the the mellenium show as direct support (meaning on right before) the Hip and they were great. I've now attended at least 1 show every fall national and a few inbetween. They are one of my all time favorite bands and the only 2 albums of theirs I don't have are Soundtrack for Whale Music as it seems to be no longer available in music stores (although I keep forgetting to look for it at used stores) and Music inspired by the Group of 7, just havn't picked this up yet, don't know why but I just never seem to have the cash when I find it. A lot of the songs from 2067 were being played for quite a few years before the album came out, the one I can think of most is I Dig Music, this song was instantly a favorite of mine, its quite a journey through genres. And as the last 2 posts pointed out this band is seriously under the radar. The edge played The Tarleks when it came out and quite often during the nooner you'll hear some old Rheo's but this band doesn't get the airplay they deserve, especially when they've got like 11 or 12 albums (not including the live cd's from online, zooner or whatever that page is called) and they've been together since 85. I've often wondered if they also work day jobs but I don't want to ask them incase they do.

Anyway bottom line is this band is fantastic, if you havn't already checked them out you should

[direwolf74]

I've often wondered if they also work day jobs but I don't want to ask them incase they do.

Not sure if you would call them day jobs, but aside from their Rheostatics duties, each band member is involved in several other projects. Dave Bidini is an accomplished author (On a Cold Road, Tropic of Hockey, The Best Game You Can Name), Martin Tielli is a gifted painter, as well as having released a few solo albums (check out <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.martintielli.net">www.martintielli.net</a><!-- w -->), Tim Vesley has a side project called the Violet Archers, and their current drummer Michael Phillip Wojewoda is a well known producer.

[dreyfuss]

I had forgotten about their other jobs, even though I have a few of Dave's books, 2 of Martin's CD's, I don't have Tim's disc yet but I was aware of it and I'm sure I have some stuff produced (besides Rheo's) by Michael.