Author: Paul

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Show Recap: Live as Batman & Robin at The Central

Dog Is Blue live at The Central as Batman & Robin on 03-12-11

    Set List:

  • Tortoise
  • Dusty Bones
  • Batman Theme*
  • The Way It Goes
  • People
  • Song Written Upon Getting Cut By the Argos (CLF Sessions cover) w/Henry Adam Svec
  • Stan & Georgie
  • Jingle Bells, Batman Smells*
  • Till the End of the Day (Kinks cover)*
  • Young Enough
  • Laura’s Song
  • Southern Ontario
  • Raise Your Dead
  • She Said
  • *First time

Years from now it won’t matter what songs we played at the 100 Days of Batman show last weekend, or even how hampered we were by technical difficulties for the first half of the set (check your cables, kids), because the above photo* will still exist in the ether of the internet as proof that we actually performed in full Batman & Robin costumes.

In fact, there was apparently some higher power at work (the spirit of Batman, maybe?) making sure that there was no further evidence, as BOTH video cameras we brought mysteriously didn’t capture a single shot and our audio recorder was never even turned on.

All told it was a fun, if sloppy, change of pace and we figured out the technical difficulties just in time to crank up the distortion for a rendition of The Kinks’ “Till the End of the Day” (using the latest of my Saturn electric guitars live for the first time…and promptly breaking a guitar cable at the end). Pulling out some Batman related tunes was also a hoot (we’ll probably record the three new songs listed to the left for a fun EP).

Henry Adam Svec and WL Altman put on a great opening set, as expected. I can never get enough of the subtle humour and great songwriting in Henry’s projects.

*Taken by our stalwart supporter/friend Justin Heldsinger
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Art: Batman Drawings On Display

Batman on the toilet - Paul WatsonRight before we left for our show in Manhattan/San Francisco honeymoon (updates from that trip to come soon) I was invited to hang a handful of the most popular Batman drawings from my previously mentioned 100 Days of Batman blog at Broadview Espresso. The show runs for the month of November and includes 8×10″ prints of 16 drawings, including Batman on the toilet to the left, which was actually a request by kid who hangs out at the shop.

The framed prints are going cheap and I’ve heard from folks back home that they are moving like hotcakes, so go grab a coffee at Broadview Espresso and check them out before they’re gone. In the meantime, the 100 drawing challenge is still going strong—I’m well into the 80s now!

Speaking of art, Laura’s much more impressive portraits are on display at Rouge Concept Gallery in Leslieville right now, so show her some love and stop by. Don’t you want a photorealistic drawing of my face?

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Happy Halloween!

Here’s an oldy, but a ghouly for your trick or treating playlist.

Happy Halloween everyone!

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New Music: Thirteen – Big Star Cover

Dog Is Blue - Thirteen (a Big Star Cover)Boom. Married. We’re now officially “Canada’s garage-folk power couple” (I can put things in quotation marks that only I said, right?). In honour of our recent nuptials (held at the amazing Daverne farm house where we did some recording last year), we covered our favourite song/first dance— Big Star’s “Thirteen” (originally released on the amazing album #1 Record in 1972).

It’s been recorded over the years by some amazing bands and we’ve always wanted to put our spin on it. In this case, that involved the usual amount of homemade guitar pedals, weird old drum machines ($10 Yamaha RX17 mostly) as well as throwing the entire thing through a hand-me-down Yamaha MT-8X cassette recorder with some homemade delay and wah for good measure. Of course, as usual, Laura’s voice is the real standout here…

The result is something we’re really happy with, as it’s different than any version we’ve heard.

Listen by clicking the “play” button below, or download it for keeps by clicking the arrow on the right side. Thanks for listening!

Thirteen (a Big Star Cover) by Dog Is Blue

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Hall & Oates Batman Drawing Will Conquer the Internet

Hall & Oates Batman Drawing by Paul WatsonSure, I’m proud of all the music Laura and I make, and especially of the progress we’ve made as a band this past year, but I’ll be damned if this drawing of Hall & Oates as Batman and Superman isn’t my crowning achievement.

Based on the cover for 1984’s Big Bam Boom album (the one with “Out of Touch”…so good), this is drawing #46 for my 100 Days of Batman collection. It’s also the 5th album cover I’ve parodied (others include Al Green, MC Hammer, Louis Armstrong and Weird Al). You can see all 5 album cover Batmen here.

Check the site often, as I post a new drawing every day but Sunday (crime rests on Sundays).

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Show Recap: Broadview Espresso with Bernice

Dog Is Blue & Bernice Live At Broadview Espresso 08-09-11

  • When: Sept. 8, 2011
  • Where: Broadview Espresso, Toronto ON
  • Who with: Bernice
    Set List:

  • Dusty Bones
  • Southern Ontario
  • Thirteen (Big Star cover)
  • This Will Be Our Year (Zombies cover)
  • She Said
  • Tortoise
  • Song Written Upon Getting Cut By The Argos (CFL Sessions cover)
  • Slow Boat To China
  • Raise Your Dead
  • Laura’s Song

A week before this show, when the poster to the right was still in pristine condition (I love taping one to the counter and watching it deteriorate over time…), one of Broadview Espresso‘s regular customers said to me “aren’t you worried about playing with Robin (front-woman for Bernice)? What if she blows you out of the water…you’re not going after her, are you?”

Funnily enough, we did play after her and I was a little worried that her phenomenal voice might be a tough act to follow. Thankfully, we’re nothing if not foolishly brazen.

These Broadview Espresso shows are often really intimate and not as crowded as others, so I thought it was a good idea to bring out my trusty little homemade tube amp, but when there are suddenly close to 50 people crammed in there 5 watts just doesn’t cut it. Laura’s Microkorg got rave reviews after the set though.

Oddly enough, of all the songs we played that night “Slow Boat to China,” a tune we usually avoid or butcher entirely, was the crowd pleaser (this happened when we played in Montreal as well, actually). We also debuted our version of Big Star’s “Thirteen,” a tune we may or may not be recording very soon (re: it’s 90% done).

All told it was another one of those wonderful shows that reaffirms why we do this in the first place…

…for the drugs, money and babes, obviously.

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Press: Popmatters Review of Tortoise

Dog Is Blue - Tortoise Album CoverThe good folks at Popmatters posted a very flattering review of Tortoise this week. Amongst the praise was this humbling quote for the books:

“It’s refreshing to hear a record almost entirely free of irony and informed by a childlike curiosity that reminds us how pleasant and important the human imagination can be. Sit back, enjoy, and smile all the day long, for Dog Is Blue is as unpretentious as they come.”

Read the entire review here. Suffice to say that we’d never heard of Greg Brown before, but are very happy with the comparison…

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