Run With The Kittens/ Jimmy Jazz/ Guelph/ Fri. 5th

[zero]

That's tonight for anyone in the area. This has to be just about the best 'live' band going in Ontario these days. Although McKenty and the Spades kicked my ass the other night.

[bouche]

Lucky lucky bastard!

[DevO]

I might be turning up for this!

[bouche]

where in the fuck is can-o-phish and his recording gear?

[zero]

Reminder. Two sets likely a 10:30-11:00 start.

Come up KevO!

[bouche]

you guys are killing me

[zero]

Great fucking band. They've got everything this scene is all over - chops, huge live shows, humour, great covers.

[AD]

how are their songs?

[zero]

Seriously they write GREAT songs and a lot of them. Their single, not sure of the title, 'It's Not About The Music It's About The Abuse' (is fitting 'round these parts!) sounds perfect played on a jukebox. Tonnes of great countryish ditties, hard rockers, power pop etc. Great catalogue. Great covers especially the gangsta rap with a twist.

[AD]

do they have any music out there for people? sounds interesting fer sher.

[bradm]

do they have any music out there for people? sounds interesting fer sher.

http://www.runwiththekittens.ca/

http://www.myspace.com/runwiththekittens

Aloha,

Brad

[zero]

The show just killed last night. The Kittens were purring. They said the Folkalarm gig went well and they got to play last likely James thought cause the other guys wanted to go home. But Breit and the other bands stuck around which was cool.

They arrived late and were in classic form. I was impressed that they loaded in and set up and soundchecked in what seemed like about 20 minutes then just launched into their set. Right away they did a great original Cleveland then right into their version of NWA's Gangsta Gangsta which is best described as done as a country waltz. I wish I knew their originals better but they played a lot of their surfy out there instrumentals, alot of the heavy spritzing and schticking with the audience. Nate Mills the frontman has got a wicked sharp sense of humour and the physicality of like a Belushi.

He had a puzzling bag of tacos from taco bell hanging from his keyboard and at one point sang about eating a taco off a woman's back- these things we know to be true (the tacos for instance). At one point he told a story about seeing a Pepsi Sudden Service vehicle I think it was called on the highway and how they called the 800 number because they thought it was like an emergency Pepsi vehicle like it was brought in by helicopter like famine relief. I guess they were informed it was a more basic kind of refilling pepsi machines type vehicle to their clear dismay.

I've got to email them and get the setlist cause I wish I knew these titles. They played Tool of the Opera for sure with a riffed line (a reference to recent heartache for me) about losing out to another shadow puppeteer. . They did their 911 Is A Joke cover. The whole second set I was getting sloppy but they were on fire and really cooking through. More instrumentals more intense what could be called jamming.

Their bio is actually quite good for a bio and captures some of what I'm getting at. Definitely one of the best live bands in Canada I dare say.

*Just voted Toronto's best live electric band by the 2006 Toronto Independent Music Awards*

Quite possibly the hardest working original rock and roll band in Toronto, Run With The Kittens have played almost three hundred shows in their four year career. Their weekly Tuesday night residency at the famous Cameron House has become a must see event, with the room at capacity every week for the last year or more. More recently they’ve started a second weekly gig in the lounge at the equally renowned Drake Hotel. Maintaining two weekly gigs (both on Tuesday no less) is a testament to the contagious energy of the band.

It’s like when you and your friends would put your favorite hits of the day on the hi-fi and rock out on badminton rackets and brooms, with your 'singer' letting loose into a turkey baster. Now imagine you're in the middle of that, and you've magically been transported to the world of grown-ups, arriving with a cement truck's worth of great songs and the tightest performance to be found anywhere. Got it? That's Run With The Kittens.

"The best live band I have seen in 20 years." says Terry Brown (engineer for Donovan & Hendrix, Producer for Max Webster and Rush). Terry is currently engineering/mixing the follow up to Run With The Kittens self titled debut, due early next year, entitled “Condos and Loftsâ€.

Sometimes comparisons to Beck or Ween or maybe the Pixies pop up from time to time, but they tend to wear off within a few songs. The same "modern" sound and approach is there, though. It's a mash up of 20th century popular music. Bossa Nova, stadium rock, Disco, gansta rap, children's songs, lounge jazz and art songs all appear in a usual Run With The Kittens set.

The real strength of the band is they not only manage to keep the average listener's attention through the chaos, they also create such a feeling of passion and enjoyment in their delivery, being dragged along for the laugh-out-loud ride is inevitable. Unless you like your live shows to be a moody, introspective shoe-gazer affair. Then who needs you.

With the recent purchase of an old school bus, Run With The Kittens have taken their razor sharp show on the road, halfway across Canada to Halifax. Plans for touring the other half, and showcases in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, are in the works for 2007.

[DevO]

yeah good times last night! i liked the band.. the NWA song was good but i don't know the original so i couldn't appreciate it on that level. still good though! the guitarist had a bit of an allmans twist to his craft. i'll check em out again. i took off before 2nd set finished though as i wanted to make the rounds to a few old stomping ground (ie wally's) and visit a few folks in other spots.