The Burning Hell
Mathias Kom was back with a decent sized Burning Hell composed of Toronto and St. John's (his new home) musicians, including three women holding down violin, sax and clarinet. All told the sound was rather full as they opened with the straightforward My Name is Mathias and kept it going with a number of new Flux Capacitor songs. During a song about pirates (Pirates) band introductions were made, giving ample opportunity to showcase each instrument with a solo.
A slightly sad, slower song about pets still showcased the quirky but amusing wit of Mathias' lyrics. Our moods rebounded with some more familiar songs such as the trumpeting Everybody Needs A Body and a faux-jazzy intro to Last Will and Testament.
Working toward climax they launched into The Things That People Make 1 and 2, with a hilarious In the Air Tonight intro. For the Dance, Dance, Dance finale they upped audience participation with an on-stage then in-crowd limbo contest below the bass neck.
We roared for more and they gave it to us in the form of a medley of sorts. Okay it was more like the first half of absolute fave It Happens in Florida with a drawn out singalong to the word Loooove each time it came around, meshed clumsily into Bretton Woods. What a celebration it seems to be whenever Mathias and friends play a show - now that he's moved base from Peterborough to St. John's the shows become more and more special.
Tony Dekker
Tony Dekker took to the stage without the Great Lake Swimmers. Instead he simply had his guitar in hand as he opened by plucking through a rendition of Moving Pictures, Silent Films. However being a large Tranzac room on a Friday night the place was a little chatty for the core of the set with either less recognizable or new GLS/T. Dekker tunes. He did play the wonderfully worded Your Rocky Spine and closed with an earlier Swimmers fave in Imaginary Bars.
The Pining
The Pining were a group of women playing country music. The vocals were sometimes unexpected but sounded solid even if I wasn't a huge fan of the genre. A small number of tracks were recognizable from Radio3 listening and the familiarity improved enjoyment.
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