Hey Rosetta! and Stars - Danforth (Feb 12/15)

Hey Rosetta!

Disclaimer: As if Hey Rosetta weren't already one of my favourite Canadian bands they went and put out a disc to rival all others last year and this was my first time to experience it live.

The performance was brilliant, a perfect weight of new and old, soft and hard, build and break. It can take years and years for bands to reach this height and Hey Rosetta has been at it for quite awhile now and having started strong seem to only be improving. What a spectacular show through and through. Although it seemed like it was supposed to end earlier, technically being an opener, it just kept going as if it were a double bill. That really wasn't a problem especially considering when I first saw these two on the same bill (Feb 2010, Vancouver) Torq came out so impressed that he stated "well that's the last time those guys open for us" predicting that they were going places.

Tim is the focal point of the group but let's be honest - all seven musicians are extremely skilled in their own right. From the intro that led into Second Sight's cleverly titled opening track Soft Offering (For the Oft Suffering) with its percussion and keys into the next album cut, Gold Teeth it was on. Utilizing a second reverb mic Tim also used the acoustic for this. Breaking into the back catalog with a surging rendition of Yer Spring that had a badass bass line and extended outro they then dialed it in with an acoustic What Arrows, also changing up their instruments halfway through the tune. Seeds was the next effort before they came back with a Second Sight highlight in Neon Beyond that I assumed would be the closer due to its crashing ending. I was far off though as Cathedral Bells showed off both acoustic and electric guitar solos before the absolutely stunning Harriet - my personal new favourite even before this hair-raising rendition. They weren't done as the rollercoaster of Red Heart totally brought it down but no! there's more! Kintsukuroi truly was the set closer. And boy, oh boy, what a set!

Stars
Yet again Stars reminded me why I have practically lost count of their shows that I have attended. With confidence and charisma they charmed their way through a dazzling set, they have which experience to know the sweet spot between new tracks and old faves. I may not be over the moon about their latest release, No One is Lost, but it translated better coming direct from their fingertips and mouths. Actually Trap Door, the current radio single, hadn't really caught my attention until I stood in front of Torq laying it bare and with rapt attention realized its strength. When they pulled out perhaps their marquee Elevator Love Song from breakout Set Yourself on Fire, the he-sang, she-sang still hit all the emotional cues while the weird bass line made it just different enough to be extra interesting. Some of the strongest moments came from their Bedroom album which I recently revisited on vinyl and think despite liking it on initial release that I have been undervaluing it since. Take Me to the Riot is a fantastic call to arms while Up in our Bedroom was also endearing. Torq didn't spout off too much which is almost a disappointment for no matter what he says he is thoughtful and passionate and entertaining. (I was waiting for a 'Fuck Harper' that didn't arrive.) The set was brimming and bright and while the encore was compact it was still great and what Stars fan doesn't want to relive their breakups courtesy of Your Ex Lover is Dead?

Fitz & the Tantrums - Danforth (July 6/14)

Holy Child

The leading lady may have been a child but she seemed nothing but holy with her attempts at provocation, primarily expressed through suggestive dancing and deep crouches. It was distracting from the upbeat synthy derivative pop the other three were pumping so at least it gave us something to ingest. If I wasn't mocking so hard I might have even danced a little more!

Max Frost

Now this band deserved their opening spot. They poured out energy, especially their unstoppable drummer, with rather enjoyable music that had a deep groove accentuated by the guitar solos. Max, the leading man from Austin arrived with his band fully assembled with a relaxed demeanour and face that will sell a few records. However it's his voice, with a definite southern sound in speaking, that will push them over the top if anything. They attempted and hit on a Rick James cover that the female synthesizer danced her way through, as with much of the set. Another interesting touch was that for more than one song Max would play the majority on his acoustic before picking up the electric to drop a few mean licks of a solo - now wearing both guitars around his neck! Keep an ear to the ground.

Fitz & the Tantrums

This show was everything that I was looking for - good sound, good tunes, good vibes and dancing! With a nifty heart that lit in innumerable patterns and further programmable spiralling spotlights (that spelled '6' during 6AM) the stage was set for a fun close to a gorgeous weekend in Toronto. (Perhaps only coincidentally exactly one year removed from their TURF performance.) Hell, even the sound in the Danforth - notoriously spotty - cooperated so we could just get down to damn near every song from their breakthrough album More than Just a Dream. They've got a big sound and hence a big band, including a couple pieces of brass and a hype woman to create it. Michael Fitzpatrick, the band's namesake, was cool throughout in a hot room that only heated up as they dropped hits like Out of My League and The Walker. It's sad to admit but Toronto's rep of anti-dance often rings true but on this eve a fair cut of the mixed demographic crowd let loose. Refreshingly the encore cheering didn't seem forced but was a legitimate outpouring of love and desire to be entertained one more time. They did not disappoint with a rocking rendition of Moneygrabber to squeeze the last ounce of sweat out of us.

M.I.A - Danforth (July 18/13)

A lot of swagger comes in this little package as M.I.A. celebrated her birthday at the Danforth Music Hall with us. The stage was full, top to bottom, with large, intricate wheels that were a cross between a snowflake and a doily, until MIA bounded onto the stage and they lit in all sorts of strobe patterns to invigorate the set. This didn't leave much room for equipment besides a partial drum kit and a small sampler table so it was primarily a singalong for the leading lady, dropping lyrics onto her own tracks which at times was lacking but for the most part was fine. Throughout the night these tunes proved too quiet for the dance party she was attempting to create as she pleaded for her songs to be cranked further. It didn't seem to bother the intensely sweaty crowd though who took their cues from the dance pack hype crew who broke it down all over the stage. She opened with a forthcoming song, closed with a recent one and dabbled throughout her catalogue in between - not always finishing the track before jumping into the next. Tunes from her gloriously received debut such as encore-included Galang, and its follow-up, including Bamboo Banga were greeted with enthusiasm though even the recent banger Meds and Feds got people grooving despite the heat wave. In under an hour she had exhausted herself to the point of needing a break - probably a bad decision to put that sweater back on overtop of your gold outfit. However after a number of minutes in the dark, including an attempt at a birthday serenade, MIA and her crew returned to lay it down - asking for tequila and faking a sit-down session of puff-puff-pass. You knew Paper Planes would go off so it was especially exciting when at its conclusion she announced they had one more trick in their bag and dropped the most excellent song from her recent repertoire, Bad Girls. People worked up an absolute shine before pushing into the only slightly less oppressive air of the outdoors.

The DJ was spinning in the hall and kept it up as Le1f arrived on the scene. At least I assume it was Le1f judging by the silhouette of a man in a maid of the mist poncho through the blue fog as it was very dark. With hints of contemporaries like Childish Gambino he whipped through a sometimes repetitive set, going back and forth with the DJ from time to time. Nearing the end he broke out some more outlandish dance moves, called out people of all sexual orientations and dropped a couple of his stronger tracks to finish well.

Stars, Yukon Blonde - Danforth (Mar 20/13)

Yukon Blonde

Unfortunately for those who hadn't yet arrived to fill the spacious Danforth Music Hall, Yukon Blonde came bursting out of the gate with three strong tunes. In front of a mosaic of a tiger's face they ripped My Girl, Radio and Six Dead Tigers on their guitars. They've certainly got the rock'n'roll look down with the shock of hair on all heads and most faces, the gaunt guitar-arms (minus the avocado tats) and the tight, is-it-ironic?-retro Wallflowers tee and the sound to go with it. Brides Song ended with some sweet guitar  and Loyal Man featured shaker percussion off the top which fit the laid back crowd who didn't really give much of a response until Stairway dropped. Could have been a set closer but instead they went with a longer, slow jam to ease off the stage and make room for the main even.

Stars

A night of sex with Stars. It was the first of two darn-near sold out nights in what they were lovingly referring to as their hometown all of the evening (where they grew up, despite starting the band in Montreal) and they were dressed for it. Glasses abounded as Torq went for a hip professor look, and Chris Seligman (keys), Evan Cranley (bass/keys) and Pat McGee (drums) all glammed out in sunglasses, while the relatively recent guitarist was the most subdued of all. Amy attracted attention in her black dress to complement her sultry voice. That voice that was eventually uncovered once they worked out vocal sound issues on opener Theory of Relativity (though as is becoming apparent, the Danforth is never perfect when it comes to sound). With their massive back catalogue it was interesting to note the song choices to fit the theme, though 2012's The North was still well-represented as this is their first solo tour following its release (having opened for Metric's stadium tour late last year). Fixed followed and then string wizard Nick Zubeck unostentatiously joined them for A Song is A Weapon.

To this point the few songs had all come from the previous two releases but the next was to please many more in the now-filled room as Amy played guitar and wonderfully sang Ageless Beauty from their breakout release from way back in 2004. Following a very minor rant from Torq, one of surprisingly few, about the winter weather they sang The North as a duet while 'snow' fluttered down upon us but it ceased for the still-should-have-been-a-hit We Don't Want Your Body. The song oozes with sensuality and the enduring chemistry between these stars allows it to be continually believable live. Amy's enthusiasm was notable for Backlines and then the mood changed.

Everything stops when they sing this song as it is so emotional and utterly devastating in its simple delivery. That is why it is understandable that I've only seen it performed once before, immediately following its release, but given the right circumstances it is a punch to the stomach. The crowd went silent and sucked in the beautiful, heartbreaking Personal.

Following Personal is surely a challenge and they went with a rare song that I didn't recognize, introduced by Amy saying it was about losing your virginity in a park - which Torq claimed he didn't know until that point. It was an upbeat number sang by Amy. They brought it back with a familiar number following this - Soft Revolution - but then reached way back for another treat for long-time fans. In fact Torq thanked those in the audience who'd come back to see them "two, three, four.." and proceeded to count to "15 times. Thank you!" [This was only my eleventh] and then played a song from the very early Stars days that had fallen out of rotation (if it had ever even been in it). Krush was the song, the opening number from The Comeback EP released in 2001, and it still played very well twelve years later (as Amy softly sings "Fuck you Hollywood, I'm the glory.") From a throwback they merged directly into last year's Loose Ends Will Make Knows seamlessly.

Sure they'd had to build up steam but it seemed around here that the momentum took hold and they bustled along with the audience fully on board. Burning through the acoustic guitar featuring Life Effect, Midnight Coward, and The First Five Times they had us by the heartstrings. Torq was also feeling the moment and demanded the house and stage lights dim - and I paraphrase "Screw the movie, we can't sing a song about fucking someone until death with the lights on" and then played that exact song - One More Night. This also allowed the swooping lights to be cast on the walls for North highlight Hold On When You Get Love.. which saw Torq embracing his tech with a beaming smile while the tech frantically tried to fix some gear.

Now Take Me to the Riot had the crescendo of a showstopper; it really soared and crashed and had hearts and heads and voices high but it would not close the show. No, they went with Walls - a gorgeous new song  that allowed the members to leave the stage, drifting away in the falling snow as if in the dream they sing of.

If they thought they'd leave after a set like that, they were mistaken. (I'm sure they didn't think that at all). Amy returned with the touring electric guitarist (no slouch either) and she sang My Favourite Book - a lovely rendition of the song that finally allowed the song to win me over. She even had us sing the echo which was a nice touch. That served as a vocal warm-up for us as we couldn't help but take over Your Ex-Lover Is Dead in a union of voices and good cheer. To close the night out right the band meandered around the stage and eventually found themselves all sitting on the front edge of the raised drum platform, enjoying each other and the crowd as they used The 400 to send us off right. It was a noteworthy moment to cap a night that reminded me just why I have seen them as many times as I have, and why I will be happy to see them again.

Dan Mangan, Rural Alberta Advantage (Danforth Music Hall, Oct 25/12)

Dan Mangan

Kicking off with the new single from the Radicals EP surprised me slightly but I quickly came around to We Want To Be Pleasantly Surprised, Not Expectedly Let Down. It even descended into the disparate instruments jamming away before melding right back together straight into the other mouthful of a song title About As Helpful As You Can Be, Without Being Any Help at All, signalled by that telltale violin opening. Following Oh, Fortune's title track the first Nice, Nice track, Sold, was met with very enthusiastic crowd support. Next was an intro about the minuteness of human existence in history before Dan dropped Leaves, Trees, Forests with a mini interlude (well more of a pregnant pause). 

From the always impressive whistle showcase by 'Mr. Kenton Lowen on the drums' on If I am Dead they absolutely crashed right on into Post War Blues. What a fantastic song given a righteous live treatment as the keys and violin plucking fill it out beautifully. From this high, after which the band appeared momentarily physically exhausted, Dan almost had no choice but to give them leave and give us the wonderful solo rendition of Basket. The Dan Mangan Band returned for Starts with Them, Ends with Us that may as well have been titled "Starts with Them, Ends with Triumph" based on the feeling portrayed by the onstage band in its closing. They had no problem with classic Road Regrets, nor the quintessential Dan Mangan song Robots, that saw the author crowdsurfing as we belted out the refrain. Rows of Houses is an amazing song and the band did it justice, especially as Dan and Kenton had a standoff with Dan signalling all of "my hype man, K-dizzle"'s drum crashes.Mr. Mangan led us through Death and Dying before the final number, Jeopardy. Not only is this a well written song but it was cute that a group in the audience answered the majority of his questions (far enough away from me to be cute and not annoying) and then the band absolutely rocked out the ending of it. The crashing of this set was fantastic and essentially guaranteed an encore. 

Back out solo, Dan played The Indie Queens are Waiting before reintroducing the band. But not exactly everyone as in true rockstar form Kenton came running in just before the drumming in Tina's Glorious Comeback, smoke from his lit cigarette streaming behind his bottle of booze. It didn't affect the quality of the song however as they brought it down. In finale Dan obviously knew what he wanted to do.. Hauling a chair into the middle of the crowd he requested that as much as we love the internet we put down our phones and raise our voices instead. So from this lofty position he lead us in Postcards'.. So Much For Everyone. This may have been the best crowd participation I've ever seen for this song as 1500 voices joined Dan's in singing to the heavens. Gorgeous.

The Rural Alberta Advantage

The RAA have been at it a long while; working shows to gain fans. With the release of their first album Hometowns the fruits of their labours were reaped, gaining much critical adoration and blog praise. As they continued to slug it out, releasing their second album Departing (more of a continuation than a departure) their already won-over fans couldn't be overly disappointed but it seemed as if they had plateaued. Now a year or so following that release they continue their hardworking tour efforts, still as openers though, not headliners. That being said it was a massive hometown crowd who knew to arrive early for this rockin' folk trio. By this point most songs from the two albums are tried and true 'classics'. Lucky for the devoted fan there were a few new pieces to provide some variation, such as the new Love on the Rocks track. It was an upbeat acoustic number, ending, as so many RAA songs do, with everything falling away but Nils' voice and light acoustic strumming. The other new track (only played live on this tour, so third time ever), coming later in the set, had a wicked drum beat provided by Paul, and once again ended on a Nils acoustic note.

In a decently long 70 minute opening set there were a lot of solid moments (solo Nils' Littlest Hobo not included). These included the yelling on Frank, AB as Nils doesn't strum but pounds on the body of his acoustic guitar. Summertime was lovely as always, especially when Amy pipes up on the last few lines. A personal fave is Four Night Rider that always seems to hit its mark in the short time it is allotted. While the crowd wasn't outwardly excited they did get into the closing sequence of Deathbridge, North Star, the rocking Barnes' Yard and finally the well-known Stamp. Another very good performance in their long line of performances, though it would have been more rock and roll if Nils had smashed his guitar when it got unplugged seconds before the end of the set, instead of plugging it back in.

Elliott Brood, Wintersleep (Danforth Music Hall, Oct 21/12)

Elliott Brood

With popcorn on the brain, from the classic red and white striped Elliott Brood signage and white draped backdrop to the scent in the air at the Danforth Music Hall, the scene was set for a show. The trio delivered in fine fashion as all the props helped to fill out the stage. It had all the great things an EB show should have - banjo, harmonica (Without Again), filthy, seated guitar playing (If I Get Old) and heaps of shout-it-out, clap-along tunes. There were also a few additional oddities in The Banjo Song and an old kazoo "standard" Old Dan Tucker. It seemed to only improve as the show progressed, from early-on Northern Air through Valley Town, Ambassador and the crowd-favourite Oh Alberta. What else would wrap this opening act than Miss You Noooooooooooooow?!

Wintersleep

Yes, I've seen Wintersleep a lot lately - and yes they are worth it every time. Some extra production seemed to have gone into this tour too as Elliott Brood's stage was dismantled and replaced by the lighting system and two cool, large Hello Hum cover-esque stands that appeared to be translucent fogged and etched glass boxes (but were more likely wooden with neat lighting). Not only the stage and lighting but the show opened with a projected video before the five of them took to the stage with amazing album opener Hum. The set list wasn't all that different from previous shows but the musicianship was just as high, so to see amazing music performed live by skilled musicians is still a treat. 

Highlights: That ending on Resuscitate just floors ya. The reverb on Smoke once it finally drops sounds so great live. Oblivion! Closing a set with Laser Beams and then Miasmal and the Yellow Bellied Freaks doesn't get much better. Still having Dead Letter and the Infinite Yes in the tank as part of the two-song encore (with Nerves Normal, Breath Normal.)

They were inundated with requests from the audience and although they couldn't get to them all promised to be back real soon. Not a problem with me - I'll gladly do it again!

Other tunes: In Came the Flood, Jaws of Life, Archaeologists, Nothing is Anything, Weighty Ghost