Kongos hit road with Egomaniac
KONGOS
When: Oct. 1 Where: Louis’ What: This is a safe space, right? Every week I reveal another, usually very weird, thing about myself. Why stop now?
I only listen to commercial radio on the way to and from work. It’s a roughly seven-minute drive.
That’s enough time to have heard Come With Me Now by Kongos around 785,083 times since it got popular in 2014. Naturally, I made up a dance for the song. It involves a lot of punching and stomping.
You can punch and stomp to the song live on Oct. 1 when the band plays Louis’. The four-piece is touring in support of its new album Egomaniac with Welsh group The Joy Formidable. Kongos’ new single is called Take It From Me. That dance feels like it should have a lot of claps and squats. I’m obviously a great dancer. Now who’s the Egomaniac? When: Sept. 30 Where: The Bassment What: The Internet is a wonderful thing. It’s given us double rainbows, Grumpy Cat and PPAP (Pen Pineapple Apple Pen ... look it up). For Coco Love Alcorn, sharing online led to international connections. The musician was feeling out of touch with big city music scenes and spent five years out of the spotlight while raising her daughter in an Ontario town. On her own, she started experimenting with a loop station, building layers of her voice in new songs. She shared one, called The River, on YouTube and it found fans around the world. It’s since been performed by choirs in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. On the tour for her new album Wonderland, Alcorn will have the chance to perform with choirs across Canada. When: Oct. 2 Where: Amigos What: Persephone Theatre’s opening play of the season Dear Johnny Deere featured the music of Fred Eaglesmith. Its run is over, but you can catch the songwriter himself when he makes an appearance at Amigos. The Ontario-based Juno winner just released his 20th album Tambourine and he’s still impressing listeners and critics (the record was given a 9/10 by Exclaim). Eaglesmith plays an impressive 300-plus shows a year, so I’m guessing he doesn’t spend much time wearing sweatpants and watching Netflix. His music draws from a range of genres including country, folk, gospel and rock. He even throws in some spoken word.
NOAH DERKSEN
When: Oct. 4 Where: Capitol Music Club What: Self-described “contemplative folk” musician Noah Derksen asks “What’s next?” on his sophomore album In Search of the Way. We all look for direction from time to time. Usually I’m looking for the direction to pizza, but sometimes I have deep thoughts too.
Derksen’s originally from Winnipeg but has spent the last several years in Vancouver (he studied neuroscience and oceanography at UBC). The largely self-produced record includes contributions from some of his fellow Vancouver musicians. He’s making his way back east for a string of shows, including an album release party in his hometown.
Other shows to check out in Saskatoon this week include: The Abrams, Oct. 3, The Bassment; Jessica Mitchell, Sept. 29, opening for Royal Wood at the Broadway Theatre.