NXNE Live: The Sadies (with John Doe and Kathleen Edwards) LEE'S PALACE - JUNE 8 As if the countrified goodness of The Sadies' Good brothers and company wasn't enough, the NXNE showcase offered up John Doe and Kathleen Edwards to boot. The Sadies' musicianship is outstanding, with their Burrito Brothers-style twang and country-by-way-of-punk-rock sensibility. With absolute ease, they manage to make you stomp your feet then switch gears and have you crying a tear in your beer with a torch song about the dangers of falling in love. With the ghosts of Waylon, Willie, and The Boys (not to mention Merle) floating throughout Lee's, the performance can only be described as a tour de force. Doe, formerly of seminal LA punk band X, in his new guise as an acoustic-guitar-playing-songwriter, stood front and centre, while the mixture of all those years of musicianship almost made his performance look easy. Almost. Despite the ease with which this group delivered expertly crafted and played songs, one could feel the level of skill that went into the evening's work and for those of us who play instruments, it became obvious we were standing at the feet of masters. Doe sang and played with finesse and grace, providing the meat and potatoes on which his backing band could ladle delicious gravy. At times, feeling like a modern version of The Last Waltz, the primarily white late 20s and early 30s crowd was rabid with enthusiasm for these quasi-honky-tonk-heroes. Edwards' vocals delivered the expected and hoped-for pathos for which she is known — even stirring some sweet emotion in this tattooed, salty-dog reporter. While much of the evening's material stuck to themes of love and loss, there were moments when Doe left no doubt that there was still some punk-rock spirit left in him, as when he encouraged the audience to vote and referenced his country's "Empire of Evil" to an enthusiastic "Fuck yeah!" from one audience member. Perhaps the cover of The Beatles' "Revolution" was one step too far, but it didn't stop the crowd from enjoying the house-party-like atmosphere this show provided. This show was an absolute highlight of this year's NXNE line-up.