Patrick Wolf

El Mocambo

May 11, 2007

I have to admit that I've had a ton of Wolf-related posts in the last couple weeks. This should be the last one for the time being. Last night's show was long overdue, I've been waiting to see Wolf for a couple years, at least since the release of Wind In The Wires. Not to sound cliche, but the wait was totally worth it (did I just say that?).

Arrived at the venue to stand in line for tickets at about 10 after 6. This is after losing my mind and forgetting that the venue was at College and Spadina, not Bloor and Spadina (and hiking all the way down). The line was already formed, about 50 people were in front of me. Doors opened close to 7:30pm, the venue remained not a quarter full until Wolf came on, which surprises me, I thought due to the overwhelming amount of press (UK mainstream and US blog) that more people would have turned out for the show.

Wayne Petti (from Cuff The Duke) opened the show with a short set of songs from his forthcoming solo album titled City Lights Align. I haven't seen Cuff The Duke in a long time (probably since I lived in Whitby, ajacent to Oshawa where the band got their start). Wayne's set consisted of a selection of acoustic, heavily 70s country influences tracks from his album, with a couple covers thrown in (I think I heard an Elliott Smith song and also a Big Star tune, but I could be wrong). His performance was great, a little mismatched for the show (original opener Bishi dropped off the bill at the last minute), but very solid and worth checking out. He has a couple dates scheduled in the coming months.

Wolf's set began around 8:30pm to suprisingly loud fan fare. The audience in attendance seemed to be pretty diehard, I was about three people back from the stage and everyone up front danced and sang along to all the songs. Patrick's a natural frontman, he has the looks, charm and moves and is able to draw you into his world. His performance is a little flamboyant and camp which makes for an enteraining show (He had costume changes! Really! Twice! And he really does wear "costumes" on-stage), but this is not to say that style outweighs substance. His writing is incredible, his ear for pop hooks is superb and his overall approach to songwriting is highly advanced for someone of such a young age. He played songs from all three of his albums, I don't have the setlist for the show but I think it was close to:

Wolf Song>>>Tristan (Incredible, the audience chanted along the entire time!)>>>Get Lost>>>Blackbird>>>Overture>>>To The Lighthouse>>>The Libertine>>>Bluebells>>>The Stars>>>The Magic Position

Somewhere in there, he slipped in an Amy Winehouse cover (Back To Black) but I don't think it was the complete song, it may have been incorporated into one of his songs (maybe Blackbird). Patrick mentioned halfway through his set that he was surprised that he was only given an hour long set and honestly, it wasn't enough time. He didn't finish his set (there was at least three songs left on the set list that weren't played). No Bloodbeat, No Accident and Emergency, No A Boy Like Me. The band attempted to do an encore, but the sound guy wouldn't turn the house music off even though the crowd was cheering and making a ton of noise. Patrick came back on and did a quick acoustic song, don't know what it was though (with a third costume change, chain mail hat and a toy gun).

Although a short set, I can honestly say that this was the best show I've been to this year. It even beats Arcade Fire in Montreal. I had high expectations going in and Patrick fulfilled and surpassed them. A couple weeks ago, word spread around the indie-related blog web that he was planning on retiring due to the weight he felt driven by the overwhelming amount of press and shit has to do on a daily basis (he has retracted this and posted a message and on Pitchfork explaining that this is not the case). This would be a disaster, with the momentum of buzz around The Magic Position, coupled with the high profile support tours he's done in the last six months (Arcade Fire in Europe, Winehouse in North America), Patrick needs to keep going and gain a wider audience because the world needs artists like him.

Ps. I have video to post of The Magic Position. The file is larger than YouTube allows, so I have to figure out another way to do it.

See the rest of my photos here.

Check out SuckingALemon's photos here.

Watch Patrick cover Kate Bush here.

>>>UPDATE: Check out Frank's (aka. Mr. Chromewaves) incredible photos here. I'm glad you enjoyed your b-day!