BEIRUT
w Alaska in Winter and Colleen
October 2, 2007
Danforth Music Hall
Went into this show with very high expectations, I missed Beirut's debut Toronto show at the Horseshoe last fall due to a scheduling conflict (Joanna Newsom played the same night at Mod Club). The night couldn't have been more perfect, the venue is probably my favourite seated venue in the city and the performances were excellent.
Alaska In Winter opened the show. Not a band, but a one-man show which took on the feel of a performance art piece. Multi-instrumentalist Brandon Bethancourt graced the stage alone, backed by pre-recorded instruments and a large screen where multiple small frames of video were projected of him playing the various instruments. It was interesting to say the least, he sung live and I could connect with his material, it just seemed a bit self-indulgent at times. The music can only be described as guitar-less indie-rock in a similar vein to Postal Service or Small Sins. Next up was Colleen, a solo artist that did a 40 minute set of looping various instruments a la Owen Pallett to create experimental soundscapes. I found her set a bit tedious and boring.
Zach and his crew of merry makers began their set with A Call To Arms, the first track on The Flying Cup Club and from their first note, totally won over the capacity crowd. People went pretty crazy for Beirut's old world gypsy indie-rock, they danced in the aisles and eventually took over the stage. It blows my mind how young Zach, and that he can produce such a high caliber set of songs (two full albums no less!). So many highlights, see below for a video of Scenic World (my favourite track off The Gulang Orkestar), Cliquot (which I also have video of and features Owen but I'm having problems getting the video off my camera), Postcards From Italy and the title track of their first album. Simply amazing.
w Alaska in Winter and Colleen
October 2, 2007
Danforth Music Hall
Went into this show with very high expectations, I missed Beirut's debut Toronto show at the Horseshoe last fall due to a scheduling conflict (Joanna Newsom played the same night at Mod Club). The night couldn't have been more perfect, the venue is probably my favourite seated venue in the city and the performances were excellent.
Alaska In Winter opened the show. Not a band, but a one-man show which took on the feel of a performance art piece. Multi-instrumentalist Brandon Bethancourt graced the stage alone, backed by pre-recorded instruments and a large screen where multiple small frames of video were projected of him playing the various instruments. It was interesting to say the least, he sung live and I could connect with his material, it just seemed a bit self-indulgent at times. The music can only be described as guitar-less indie-rock in a similar vein to Postal Service or Small Sins. Next up was Colleen, a solo artist that did a 40 minute set of looping various instruments a la Owen Pallett to create experimental soundscapes. I found her set a bit tedious and boring.
Zach and his crew of merry makers began their set with A Call To Arms, the first track on The Flying Cup Club and from their first note, totally won over the capacity crowd. People went pretty crazy for Beirut's old world gypsy indie-rock, they danced in the aisles and eventually took over the stage. It blows my mind how young Zach, and that he can produce such a high caliber set of songs (two full albums no less!). So many highlights, see below for a video of Scenic World (my favourite track off The Gulang Orkestar), Cliquot (which I also have video of and features Owen but I'm having problems getting the video off my camera), Postcards From Italy and the title track of their first album. Simply amazing.
posted by Daniel Josef at
6:23 p.m.
1 Comments:
great show indeed. i recorded from the balcony. you can grab it from either of the two links below.
http://www.davecaley.com/blog
or
http://www.archive.org/details/Beirut
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