The Priddle Concern -- represented on this occassion solely by Bill Priddle;  the rest of the band was rehearsing in Dunnville, Ontario for upcoming shows -- played the second set of our January 25th, ahem, bill. We wanted to try out both a daylight and nighttime shoot to see how they would look and we came away completely thrilled with the contrast.

Bill had actually joined the ride from the get-go; around 2pm that day and was entirely gracious through the two hours that we spent filming Spiral Beach’s performances. As we had hoped by pairing the two acts together, they jammed a little bit for the crew as we worked on setting up camera angles and mic’s. Definitely something we’re keeping in mind when booking future bands.

When it came to Bill’s set, he performed three songs for us. A few times each in fact. Always helping Josh (our cameraman) find the right angles and playing like a pro no matter how many takes we asked him to do.

Travelling along Queen West, between the McCaul Street Turnaround and the Roncesvalles Yards, Bill performed “Dive”, “I Had a Job”, and “Back Around” (and earlier on in the day a quick McCartney cover/jam with Spiral Beach). We loved the match between his mournful, Neil Young-esque performance and the winter exteriors as we lumbered past the boutiques and bars of Parkdale and QSW. The deep red and chrome of the car’s interior, and the January still of the night provided just the kind of mood and context we’d hoped for when we set out to create The Transit Tapes.

We turned for home around 8pm at night, feeling an almost profound sense of ‘journey’ and a warm connection to Bill and his whiskey-toned songs. Hope you enjoy the versions you see here as much as we did while Bill was performing. - cb