Cam Carpenter's Late First Nights At CMW Fest

By Cam Carpenter

Someone should give Cam Carpenter a television interview show because there's just no one quite like him in the business. He knows all the faces and the stories behind them. As is our routine, we set the cat among the pigeons to report on the late night goings-on at CMW. Here's his first report.

The 37th edition of Canadian Music Week kicked off Monday night with New York legends Television headlining a show at The Phoenix Concert Theatre.

Spotted at the pre-show mixer were fellow scribes FYI's Kerry Doole, MEAT Magazine founder Drew Masters, Keith Sharp from The Music Express (celebrating a big win by his beloved Manchester City), along with Lisa Zbitnew from The Phoenix, legendary booker Yvonne Matsell, Radio Starmaker's Jerry Leibowitz, Arts & Crafts President Kieran Roy and proud father Neil Osborne (54.40), who would soon grab a tambourine and join his daughter Kandle on stage as she opened the show for Television.

Seen enjoying the headliner’s set were CMW's John Kastner, NXNE's Michael Hollett, Collective Concerts Amanda VanDenBrock, superfan David Macmillan and daughter Blair, Steve Jordan and Aaron Brophy from the Polaris Prize, Sam Roberts Band manager Dave Spencer, India Coran and Mike Rice from RPM Promotion, Exclaim!'s Ian Danzig, Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning, The Bovine's Darryl Fine, SOCAN's Howard Druckman, AM to FM's Andrea Morris, journalist Steve Mclean, and curious CMW artists Taija New and the Monowhales.

With no panels or events scheduled at The Sheraton on Tuesday the lobby was rather quiet, but I did spend some time with Brittney Macfarlane from SaskMusic, Mobius Management's Jennifer Hall, and CMW production whiz Scott Carmichael.

Early evening at The Rivoli, British Columbia's Sam Weber was wowing local musicians, including Derek Downham, with his stunning guitar playing and great band. Hamilton's Basement Revolver drew a strong crowd for their set at Cherry Cola's including Inside Pocket's Dan Hand and Dexter Brown, Indie Week's Dylan Weeler, and local guitar hero Dylan Hennessy. 

Although not quite warm enough for a packed crowd at the outside Tiki Bar, The Bovine had a good early crowd for Ya No Casino and Puce, and I am sure the bar was still rocking very late into the night. Too early in the week for this guy.