the todd harrison rock archive 2001 shows january 2 the oasis, toronto players: me: acoustic guitar, vocals louise simpson: spoken word on "mr. precious" set list: homecoming queen | sparklehorse these rails the fake ones breathe | pink floyd mr. precious joyriders january 5 "a nite of rockstars" free times cafe, toronto players: me: acoustic guitars, vocals will culbert: drums danny monette: backing vocals and percussion on "a day in the life" suzanne mclean: backing vocals on "where did you sleep last night" set list: add it up | violent femmes drag you down eastern avenue freeze me a day in the life | the beatles the fake ones these rails flagrante delicto where did you sleep last night? | lead belly joyriders ...and some requests, including... american music | violent femmes wish you were here | pink floyd free fallin' | tom petty d'yer mak'er | led zeppelin tainted love | soft cell brian wilson | barenaked ladies schizophrenia | sonic youth a fairly frenzied night. second gig with a new guitar, and i started off the set facing a room packed full of, well, drunk and irritating people. so will and i laid on the abrasive texture real thick, and i cleared the place out nicely. heh heh heh. an average set -- the high points were my collaborations with danny and suzanne, and the all-request bit at the end. february 2 free times cafe, toronto players: me: acoustic guitar, vocals approximate set list: castles made of sand | jimi hendrix the wakening freeze me the drugs don't work | the verve shame drag you down the peeker | the unseen guest i tried to play a "laid-back" set at this show. who was i fooling? everyone just requested my energetic material. can't let the kiddies down, after all. so i played some rave-ups at the end -- but i can't remember which ones. amazing how quickly shows fade from one's memory. march 13 free times cafe, toronto players: me: acoustic guitar, vocals set list: n/a [all-request] this was the first gig where i heavily promoted my "todd the human jukebox" concept. i figured it would either be an amazing show and i'd make a fortune, or else it would suck and nobody would come. turns out, it was somewhere in between. the crowd was fun but the opener didn't really draw, so it seemed kinda empty even though there were a good number of people there. the worst part about this show was that i discovered to my horror that playing covers all night destroys my voice. my theory on this is that i'm imitating other people and straining my throat in the process. ah well, call it all another "learning experience." june 29 canadiana night free times cafe, toronto players: me: acoustic guitar, vocals set list: n/a [all-request] one of ryan ayukawa's highly successful "tribute nights" (there were also tribute nights for the beatles, bob dylan, neil young and ani difranco). highlights of this gig: singing jeff stone's tune "worst apartment in the city" with laura, dominic, jeff and everyone else in the room; and playing "lost together" for louise. august 22 songwriters in-the-round free times cafe, toronto players: me: acoustic guitars, vocals set list: these rails flagrante delicto freeze me she is the chorus of a song crawling back to you | tom petty gee-hosephat trigger put that pea shooter down megan and ryka joyriders shame drag you down i experienced pretty much every possible emotion in the time leading up to this show. at first, i was thrilled at the thought of playing original songs after several consecutive covers-only gigs. then i was annoyed that i wouldn't get an actual set -- the in-the-round format works by trading songs, one by one, with the other performers on the bill -- and i started to feel extremely competitive. on the night of the show, i grew nervous that the audience would reject me, since the other performers (harmony trowbridge, leah erbe and rahel kay) were all beautiful songwriters with beautiful voices, while i'm all grit and energy. after the show, i just felt tired. it was a very draining night. but, in retrospect, it was definitely worthwhile. november 28 free times cafe, toronto players: me: acoustic guitar, vocals suzanne mclean: vocals louise simpson: spoken word probable set list: she is the chorus of a song karen downs are feminine balloons | mercury rev dream in moss park flagrante delicto gee-hosephat trigger put that pea shooter down cortez the killer megan and ryka joyriders this was the release party for "ghost," and the thing i remember best about it was that a certain person named in a certain song of mine showed up unexpectedly. i immediately realized i had an ethical dilemma on my hands; if i played the song, i'd single this person out, but if i didn't play it, i'd be admitting that i'd written something i shouldn't have written -- and i didn't believe that to be true. i played the song. some people were really pissed off. more stuff coming soon! top :: home