WE'LL KEEP ON WHISPERING OUR MANTRAS


Jose Gonzalez w Psapp and Juana Molina
St. Paul's Trinity
June 26, 2006

Arrived at St. Paul's at 7pm and was surprised at the lack of line. The last time I was at the venue for Antony and the Johnsons, the line wrapped around the side of the building 45 minutes prior to doors. The lack of line worked to our favour as we were able to score second row seats. Psapp opened the show with their brand of bedroom electronics, think Lali Puna, with a little bit of the Notwist’s live instrumentation thrown in. Psapp are best known for their tune “Cosy in the Rocket”, which is the theme song for the U.S. medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. Their set was good but lagged in the middle due to a lack of energy on stage and the fact that their songs began to all sound the same.
Juana Molina was up next and was the highlight of the evening. Molina is from Argentina, where she is better known not for her music, but as a former comedian with a popular television show. I think she surprised the vast majority of the people in attendance. She does a Final Fantasy/Owen Palett thing live, using a small bank of keyboards, a couple effects/recording petals (bear with me, I don’t play any instruments and have very little knowledge of the technical side of performances), and acoustic guitar. Her voice is Incredible, not only does she sing, but also chants and harmonies over her multi-layered tunes. If you haven’t heard her new album, Son, I suggest you pick it up pronto, it’s amazing. Molina’s stage banter was very cute, she discussed the origins of songs which made me like them more. It was absolutely stunning.
Jose Gonzalez closed the show with a quick 45 minute set that included the majority of Veneer, one new song, and two covers (Massive Attack’s Teardrop, which can be downloaded at Chromewaves right now, and a Bronski Beat song that I don’t know the name of). I was hoping for a cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart, which can be found on his Australian tour EP, but it didn’t happen. Gonzalez is a great musician and performer, his voice was strong and his guitar work was impressive. But the night belonged to Juana Molina. I would see her again in a heartbeat.




Check:
Psapp's myspace.
Juana Molina's myspace.
Jose Gonzalez's myspace.

6/24 SHORELINE



Broken Social Scene w Raising The Fawn, J.Mascis, Feist and Bloc Party
Olympic Island
June 24, 2006

I'm probably the last of the T.O bloggers to post about last Saturday's Olympic Island show featuring Raising The Fawn, Broken Mascis Scene, Feist, Bloc Party and Broken Social Scene. We got down to the ferry docks at 2:30pm and had to wait for about an hour to get over to the island. We missed Raising The Fawn's entire set, but according to other blogger reviews, they played a good set. We were all pretty hungry (I took the syblings and my BFF Shauna joined us) so we hit the food booth for half-cooked hot dogs (yup, still cold on the inside). While in line, Broken Mascis Scene began their set with "Feel The Pain", and I melted on the inside. We scarfed our dogs, and Shauna and I headed into the beer garden for a much needed break from the heat. We met up with the kids for Feist's set. I have to admit, I was slightly underwhelmed by her performance. Maybe it was the fact that we didnt bother getting too close to the stage, but I felt that her tunes didn't transform well live in such a large space. It seemed like background music to me. I'll have to check her out next time she plays a smaller show in the city, maybe then, I'll enjoy her set. Between Feist and Bloc Party's set, we moved wayyy up, about ten feet from the stage. Bloc Party's set was incredible, it was my second time seeing them (saw them at the Opera House in April 2005) and they were even better this time. Kele is such a likeable frontman, he's bubbling full of smiles. They played a couple new tunes from their forthcoming sophmore release which were darker than Silent Alarm, they have an early New Order sound. The highlight of their set was closer Helicopter which got the crowd dancing.
What can be said about BSS performance that hasn't already been said by others. It was epic.






For truly brilliant pictures, see Look Out Kid/Sucking A Lemon and Rock/Paper/Pixels.
Both also have reviews.

Janice over at Just Keep Bloggin' was also in attendance. Oh and she met Feist. Read about it here.

Now Magazine feels the same way I do about Bloc Party's set.

Finally I've been able to post our pics from the show. All photos by the lovely Shauna Patterson.

CHI-CHING ITS MS. SOVEREIGN DA TICHY TING


Lady Sovereign
State Theatre
June 23, 2006

Fern and I took in the litle white midget's after-show (Streets) performance at the State Theatre last night. First things first, the venue was incredible, sooo tiny and intimate. It's not really a concert hall, but more of a boutique lounge. Very nice. Drinks were pricey ($7 Corona???), but the intimacy of the venue made up for everything. Her Dj spun some interesting UK beats previous to her set. As with all hip hop shows, Sov hit the stage an hour and ten minutes late (set time was slated for 12am, she went on at 1:10am). Even though she was incredibly drunk (mooching Champagne off a dude in the audience), she was spot-on, her rhymes were tight and her beats were heavy. Setlist was as follows:
Chi-Ching
Hoodie (aborted)
Love Me or Hate Me
Random
Public Warning
Fiddle With The Volume

Yup, only 5 & 1/2 songs (and tickets were $24). But the fact that the venue was soo small, and wasn't very full made for an excellent show.




Ps. Sorry for the small pictures, I didn't take my camera and instead used my phone.

Check her myspace here.

CAUSE WHAT'S SIMPLE IN THE MOONLIGHT, BY THE MORNING NEVER IS



Bright Eyes w Gruff Rhys
Massey Hall
June 14, 2006

It's taken me over a week and a half to get to this post. What can be said. Front-row seats for Bright Eyes was....a little bit scary and a whole lotta goodness. Scary, because Connor was ultra-intoxicated, and kept staring at the people in the front row. It made me nervous, because he wasn't smiling, but just drunken-staring. Also, he spit a lot when he sang, which means he was giving it his all...as were the rest of his band. The tour was in support of nothing in particular, just a precursor to his appearance at Bonnaroo. The setlist consisted of many songs from I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, and a few old songs thrown into the mix. Connor vox were great as usual, and the only song that seemed a bit sloppy was Lover I Don't Have To Love. I would have liked to have seen more material from Fever And Mirrors, and would have killed to see a cover of Feist's Mushaboom. Overall, a good Bright Eyes show, not the best I've seen them play, but as far as shows go, it was good.


Ps. Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals opened the show. Nothing spectacular, if it wasn't for his interesting because of his Welsh accent stage banter, it would have been pretty boring.

I've come to the conclusion that I need to buy a new digital camera. Im currently using a Konica/Minolta SiMage x50, but it's terrible in low light. Any suggestions of what I should get?

CITIZENS OF TOMORROW
Tokyo Police Club @ the Paperbag Records Showcase
Mod Club Theatre
June 9, 2006

Fern invited me to this XM sponsored, non-NXNE Paperbag Records showcase last night and I jumped at the opportunity to finally see Tokyo Police Club live. I've been mildly obsessed with their debut EP A Lesson In Crime for the last couple months. Their sound is nothing new, but everything about their songs is sooo right, from their quirky organs to their thunderous hand claps. The boys (yup boys, I don't think anyone in the band is over twenty) could potentially be huge, they just need the right push. They've been getting some blog press in NYC, Central Village loves them, and so does Brooklyn Vegan. My advice, book a shitload of shows in NYC right now, and play your hearts out like you did last night. For some reason TPC were first on the bill, I'm guessing because they had to leave early to make their way to their next show (they mentioned where, but I can't remember). Their set was short, but great, they had everyone in attendance on their side. They played their entire EP and I believe a couple new tracks which were similar in style and totally fun.
We stayed for two more bands, Cities In Dust and Uncut. Cities in Dust were good, not really my thing (new rock meets Screamo) but I still enjoyed their set. Uncut's set was great (but when aren't they). We left somewhat early as Fernage had to be up and out of the house early this morning to attend a wedding in Ottawa, so we missed Magneta Lane and Controller.Controller (who we attempted to catch at the earlier show, but there was a mix up with the guestlist). Good times.





You Tube:
TPC If It Works live at the Pavillion on March 23, 2006

TPC's myspace.

More Photos from of Tokyo Police Club
The Mod Club Theatre
June 8, 2006

NOW THAT YOU'VE FOUND IT, IT'S GONE
Radiohead, Hummingbird Centre
June 8, 2006

I've always had a soft spot for Radiohead in my heart, I became a mega-fan after hearing The Bends in grade 10, and was automatically drawn in to their honest, emotional lyrics, and excellent songwriting. Needless to say, I've somewhat outgrown them in the past couple years, Hail To The Thief was a hard album for me to get into. I loved a few songs (2+2=5, There, There, Go To Sleep) but had a hard time connecting with the majority of the album. And as always, their best songs from the HTTT sessions were saved and released as b-sides (Fog, Gagging Order).
When the current North American tour was announced, there was no question that I was going to attempt to secure tickets for one of the Toronto dates. To see them at Hummingbird, one of my favourite seated venues in the city was something I couldn't miss. The last time I saw the band in a small venue was back in 1999 at the 9:30 Club during the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Washington DC. We arrived at Hummingbird just after 8pm and had already missed Willy Mason which is a shame because I've only heard good things about him. Radiohead hit the stage at 8:35 and launched into The Gloaming which was utterly amazing. I decided not to see the band on the HTTT tour due to the concert being moved from the Molson Ampitheatre to SkyDome due to the blackout, so this was my first time see HTTT material live and was pleasantly surprised by how strong the songs are in a live setting. After The Gloaming, they played a string of new tunes including Bangers n Mash and 15 Step which has a Idioteque feel but much more dancey and fun. The band have become a lot more comfortable playing live, I have never seen Thom so animated, he danced his ass off and seemed to be enjoying himself. Oh a he even smiled alot!!! A small set of old songs followed including 2+2=5 (fucking great), Kid A, and Fake Plastic Trees (surprising). More new songs followed, but it's hard for me to comment on them because it was my first time hearing them. Highlights from the rest of the show were a chillingly beautiful performance of Climbing Up The Walls, Idioteque, a full venue sing-a-long of Karma Police and Nude (aka Big Ideas), which I have never before seen live, and absolutely loved (it's my new favourite RH song). For the encore, they band made my one RH-related dream come true, I finally got to see them play Let Down, which has been the one RH song that I have always hoped to see live. The encore concluded with a stunning, drum-heavy There, There. Here is the full setlist (via AtEase):

The Gloaming
Bangers n Mash
15 Step
2+2=5
Kid A
Fake Plastic Trees
Videotape
Arpeggi
Idioteque
Climbing up the Walls
Down is the New Up
Karma Police
Nude
House of Cards
Myxomatosis
Spooks
Paranoid Android

Encore 1
You and Whose Army
Bodysnatchers
Just
Let Down

Encore 2
There There

Overall, the show was good, It wasn't the best I've seen them play (nothing will ever compare to their set at Molson Park on the Amnesiac tour), but it was the closest I have ever been to the band (10th row!).

More blog posts/reviews of their Toronto shows:

Look Out Kid/Sucking A Lemon has the most beautiful pictures from night one, and a great song by song review here.

Janice over at Just Keep Bloggin' secured last minute tickets via TM. Check her review here.

Beth over at Rock/Paper/Pixels was at the same show as me and has an excellent review and great pics from the show.

Ben Rayner's review.

You Tube links:
Idiotique from Night One
2+2=5 from Night Two
Kid A from Night Two
Clip of You And Whose Army? from Night Two
Clip of Down Is The New Up from Night Two (First live performance ever of the song)

MOVE YA ARMS 'ROUND LIKE FUCKED UP KARATE

Emerge has just confirmed that Lady Soverign will headline her own show on June 23rd after her opening slot at The Streets show at the Phoenix. The gig will take place at the State Theatre on Bathurst with tickets going on sale this saturday. Sorry kiddies, this one is 19+.

Check her myspace here.