Off to an early start at the Phoenix, Said the Whale kicked off the night with their lovable indie pop. Fortunate to have two distinctly great leading vocalists (and presumably songwriters) Ben and Tyler traded back and forth alongside their bass player and female on keys. On this night their happy-go-lucky drummer really stood out, first grabbing attention through his drumstick twirling work on Sleep Through Fire as he used both the regular hard tip and the cushioned soft tip interchangeably for different effects. Despite running through a string of solid songs including recent single Lines through The Gift of a Black Heart, The Light is You, and the magical Camilo, the set never quite caught fire. This may have been the early slot, or the pent up anticipation for sets to come, or perhaps just the band itself. Regardless many in the crowd enjoyed the closing Goodnight Moon, even if it wasn’t accompanied by its album companion Holly, Ontario.
Fronted by Luke and his wonderfully controlled voice the Born Ruffians were back in Toronto and ready to let loose. Adorned in terribly hideous Christmas sweaters for the occasion they rocked through Retard Canard including a badass bass solo from the man with the presence – and the hair. The boys have been tweeting about new material they’ve been writing so it was a nice glimpse at a song about “dancing on the edge of a grave” even if the song never seemed to fully take off and go anywhere. There were classics tossed in too, though these were often at least partially remodeled into new sounds, such as Foxes Mate for Life and What To Say. Hummingbird had a new intro but retained the shout-along “fly away little hummingbird.” Before the finale they included another freshly minted song (Sex 5000? Probably misheard lyrics..) which was also rather slow and shows that the band seems to be continuing their downward spiral that has been happening since their first frenetic self-titled EP release. A shame I say, both for the records and the live show, however slamming out I Need A Life in the fleeting moments showed what they’re still capable of.
Tokyo Police Club curated the night and did a heckuva job with the bill but then were faced with the daunting task of headlining it – meaning they’d better bring it. Out onto the festive stage, complete with gift-wrapped amps and decorated Christmas trees, they trotted, also sporting ugly sweaters, to try to do just that with Favourite Colour off the top. From the get-go it was a love-in on this the second of three sold out nights. The group ran through a laundry list of hits from their catchy albums and even crammed in a new track (“top of the stairs”). Not only that but they included the Kelly Clarkson chart-smasher that they recently covered for their 10X10X10 series, Since U Been Gone, and not surprisingly it went over quite well as two guitarists slid together on their knees mid-song. The biggest reaction must have been when the Phoenix became very un-desert-like and it began to snow upon us. Ending the set strong was Breakneck Speed, Wait Up and finally Your English is Good however it was the festive encore that did us all in. An obviously rehearsed, but still wholly welcomed, rendition of Santa Claus is Coming To Town shut down the night as Born Ruffians, Said the Whale, members of the Elwins and others (numbering 15+ in all) streamed out to partake in the joyous send-off. It was Graham Wright rocking the sax that really made it. Welcome to the Christmas season! (Does an annual tradition await?)
Notes: TPC, wrapped amps. Colour. Nature. Liar like me. Happy belated. New, top of the stairs. Spark. Shell. Tess. Slow, hands. Snow. Blast. Since U, double guitar kneel. Breakneck. Wait Up. English, last. Plaster. TPC. Santa Coming, 15 plus, Graham sax, elwin, see green.
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