Airplane Boys - Mod (July 20/14)

With advertising as an early show followed by hours of security lines and DJ sets the crowd was getting impatient, I know I was, and began chanting for the boys. Fortunately the DJ blew a speaker or something around then and the focus shifted to the curtain that had been closed on the full-band set-up behind it. Sure enough it revealed a keyboardist, their elementary school teacher on drums, guitar and bass and the incognito man behind the laptop. Everyone was here for the fronting duo and they didn't disappoint, quickly heating up in their jackets. Dressed all in white Mannie and Jay tore through the first track and quickly began shouting out to their family and friends in the crowd. After all The Airplane Boys are hometown heroes who rarely seem to play here, making this a homecoming of sorts having rhymed off their resume Coachella, O2 Arena and other impressive gigs. Despite that they proudly claimed to still ride the TTC and one of the biggest cheers of the night was in response to the statement "public transit!" There was a great deal of gratitude shown by the band, "Yo, we sold out the mod club!" With obscenely cheap tickets for the quality of the show it didn't cheapen the feat in any way. Mannie admitted to being overwhelmed with emotion, making him forget words, but along with his cohort they played hype men well. It was all positive vibes all night which made for a loose atmosphere. First there was the Toronto love, "All Toronto - we just happen to be from Scarborough" as was a good-sized chunk of the crowd "but this is the best city in the world. North, south, east, west." They went on to list off the big acts coming out of this city recently, hitting mostly the obvious in Drake and The Weeknd, then encouraging us through song to follow our dreams. There was plenty of hand waving and shouts for us to let loose which really started to take effect as the set cruised along. Didn't hurt that Jay was getting down on stage and then in the crowd too, one upped by Mannie who surfed over it. Besides a couple from Alignment, Where You Been, and Brave New World a bunch of the tunes were new to me, making a good case to run home and download the latest Egos and Expectations tape. To close out they used Beau Monde as an opportunity for the many, many Beau Monde guests (crew?) in attendance to join them onstage (as well as a few randoms who climbed up.) In the end they closed it down without encore by having us all bounce and laying it out there. Good vibes - I'll leave you with this All Points Bulletin, Toronto - listen up and appreciate because the APB is out there.

The 1975, Linus Young - Mod Club (Oct 13/13)

The lights dropped and a prerecording blasted into the darkness. After a few moments the four boys from Manchester sidled into the shadows on queue. The punk-undercut singer raised a tumbler in greeting before raising a guitar strap over his head and strumming into The City. As expected half the capacity Mod Club crowd went a little wild. The other half raised their phones to take a picture of the bright white rectangular border that has been the band's signature on each of their well-received LPs that finally culminated in a similarly-adorned full-length this autumn.
Along with another guitar player, a big, bearded bass player and a singing drummer, plus some extra keys and synths (and maybe occasional backing tracks?) there doesn't seem to be any one thing that sets them apart. Yet they have a sound that does set itself apart despite its myriad influences, from hip hop to electronic to folk - perhaps it is more aptly due to the blending of these. Regardless of what it is they were doing a fair job of performing it while the strobes pulsed and the girls screamed. Undercut, aka Matt Healy, seemed to enjoy the attention as a young leading man is wont to do - receiving it with a wink and dose of bravado. That being said the music resonates with the male audience too as many young gentleman also jumped up at each new song and belted out the lyrics.
Not only is Chocolate one of the singles, it is also one of the stronger songs and received the biggest response, hands down, getting everyone's attention. Some brazen folk near the front lit up so it smelled more like pot than chocolate and Matt spooked them by yelling "Security! Run!" but unfortunately nobody ran by frightened. At the conclusion of the song rather than the requisite pause for an encore they acknowledged this would be the time and then launched Sex. Personal fave it went over quite well and to wrap the trifecta, and the gig, they played EP-only You closing in an epic breakdown in the blinking darkness. Promising another show next year they left the rabid crowd happy and hungry for more.

"Are they Amish?" whispered somebody as a bearded fellow stepped to the mic beside a young lady in a matching wide-brimmed hat. They cooed out the first few lines before the rest of the fledgling Linus Young band appeared behind them. It was an enjoyable set of indie music not entirely dissimilar to the headlining act. Only a couple times did the female sing on her own, preferring to blend their voices. They did City of Sin early in the set to try and gain some traction which they seemed to do successfully. In a slight departure the final song heavily featured the electronic drum set and still went over well. Not a bad outing.

Hannah Georgas - Mod Club (Feb 1/13)

Hannah Georgas took the stage for a headlining Toronto show flanked by three gentleman playing her music on guitar, bass and drums. The leading lady herself primarily played the keyboard, or at least pressed play on pre-recorded beats. It all seemed a little too polished without much room for unpredictability. Perhaps she's following in the footsteps of Mother Mother and Tegan and Sara who are all smoothing things right out for a radio-friendly sound, which doesn't seem to come without sacrifice. She did swap over to guitar for a few songs and even picked up a uke for another. The one constant was her vocal delivery, her signature, and she sounded great throughout. Dancefloor brought some pep to the set and they closed out with The Deep End. The encore had a couple odd choices - yes, The Beat Stuff had a deserved place being her breakout however I wouldn't have had her play it solo, and the final song was Ode to Mother, a downbeat way to wrap up.

Aidan Knight's big Toronto reveal of Small Reveal - Mod Club (Feb 1/13)

It was a surprisingly, and amazingly, attentive audience for Aidan Knight's early opening set at the Mod Club in Toronto on Friday night. Yes, he was acting in a supporting role for Hannah Georgas but [spoiler alert] he stole the show with his orchestral arrangements of hauntingly beautiful songs and revealing lyrics sung in earnest. The five-piece played the A-side of the most excellent, late-2012 release, Small Reveal, by opening with the quiet intro to Dream Team. Here the violin was accentuated and even the soft female backing vocals made their subtle inclusion known before the percussionist finally swapped in his guitar for sticks, and the violin for bass. As the set progressed I could see likenesses to fellow Vancouverite, Dan Mangan, though the hooks aren't quite as emphasized (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). While we're doing comparisons, the well-documented act of building from soft to crashing loud was performed just as well as anyone - akin to Patrick Watson but with a guitar instead of Patrick's primary piano. Mesmerizing from the beginning it only continued to engage through the faithful rendition of A Mirror. The female on keys also brought out brass to flesh out the sound and another lady joined in with her trombone on You Will See the Good in Everyone. 

Aidan has a likable confidence that won over the aforementioned well-behaved crowd and he joked that he didn't even need to curse at us to quiet down before playing Margaret Downe solo with just his guitar to a warm response. Promising to close with two songs from his back-catalogue the band returned for Versicolour's closer, Jasper, and a perhaps ill-advised singalong attempt. On the final song all hands were on deck as the trombonist was once again smiling as they crashed the set to a close. Too bad they couldn't have continued but as I mentioned to Aidan after the show - he needs to return to Toronto soon for a set of his own. Hell, if that CMW showcase at a place like the 'Shoe that we mused about were to happen we could probably get that singalong to work. Come back and we'll give it a shot.

Freelance Whales, Hundred Waters - Mod Club (Jan 17/13)

With three members twisting knobs and pushing buttons, and the other two wielding drumsticks (and sometimes a flute), Hundred Waters isn't a conventional five-piece band. They're unconventional in more than their instruments too as they are carving out a new sound, akin to Braids but different still. There are so many sounds and sonic themes happening simultaneously that at times it can be difficult to even find the beat, especially with this being my first real exposure to their music. Despite that I could still appreciate what they're doing and feel that it would have been great to have spent some time with it through headphones to try and decipher it before seeing them live and having all the secrets given straight away. Unlike Braids there isn't as much build-up and looping, rather relying on layering of their varying keys and synths with the sometimes seemingly misfiring percussion. The two ladies covered the vocals - both together or back and forth - singing sounds as often as they did words. The percussionist of the two could really bring a lungful of air out as a strong high breath that was quite impressive. It seems that Hundred Waters have a great deal of sonic potential, though it may be best exhibited in the studio.

Out of the gates Freelance Whale's lead singer played his banjo which necessitated a slightly quieter sound, allowing for the accordion box played by the female bassist to resonate. Once the banjo was swapped in for the guitar the energy amped up a little though things never completely got airborne despite a fairly full Mod Club on a snowy evening. Throughout the core of the set they hit on a few of my favourites, culled primarily from their debut Weathervanes, including Hannah and Generator ^ First Floor. On that album they really struck me as an upbeat Death Cab for Cutie (ya know, if Ben Gibbard was actually happy) and having now seen them live I firmly stand by that. Yes, this likening is primarily due to the vocals but there are other hints too. There are traces of Belle & Sebastian as well - but then again where would DCFC be without B&S? As the set progressed the instrument swapping became more varied and there was a reemergence of the banjo, as well as horn and xylophone. Nearing the end an acoustic guitar joined in to bring it down. Not done yet, they returned with a two-song encore of entirely great songs I'd completely forgotten were theirs. The encored earned another hearty though not over the top response from the Toronto crowd who then donned their toques and headed back into the blustery night.

Said the Whale, Sarah Lowe (Mod Club, Sept 8 '11)

Said the Whale had a darn near full house for their Mod Club gig and looked pretty happy about it. The dual lead male vocals are a huge advantage for the 5 piece, and their female keyboardist rounds them out nicely. Hopefully not a smug reflection on Toronto from this Vancouver band, they opened with This City's a Mess before a non-album cut in Love is Art. Actually there would prove to be a great deal of unfamiliar songs played as they debuted a large number of new songs from an as-yet unreleased album. (From my perspective, having never seen them before, I would argue a few too many bumping my favourite Out on the Shield.) The new stuff sounded decent, with some clap-alongs and sing-alongs (if only for repetition). However there was a standout from the bearded and chapeau-ed singer, whom I prefer, in the very uniquely paced Hurricane Aida. Otherwise it was great to hear Camillo, and dance to The Light is You. They also did the quieter Holly, Ontario, Black Day in December, Emerald Lake, AB, and False Creek Change amongst others. In finale was the appropriate Goodnight Moon that starts slow and sweet but saw the backing crew from Hollerado crash the stage for the closing clashes.

For their encore they asked to play two new songs and who were we to say no? Following these we were asked to stay real quiet for a somewhat uncommon live version of Curse of the Currents. It is quite the song and even though the rumble from the downstairs club was impossible to fully ignore it still carried great weight and was a stirring ending to a complete show.

Rah Rah did a helluva job opening too.

Sarah Lowe opened with just herself and a piano (okay, keyboard tuned to piano). You have to cut her slack for not hauling a piano from Manchester, and the Toronto crowd, as we're apt to do, did do just that and welcomed her warmly. The show was somewhat lackluster as the majority of solo performances are, and it didn't help that she kept telling us to imagine the six musicians that normally fill it out. Despite this her voice is rather lovely and the songs nice enough.

Rah Rah smash The Mod Club (Sept. 8 '11)

Rah Rah have been a delight every time I've seen them so I was excited to discover they were warming up the Said the Whale crowd. Off the top the sextet got The Betrayal Pt. 1 out of the way with the most fun a betrayal ever has. The arrangement saw women on drums, keys and accordion/violin, while the guys were more traditionally posted on a couple electric guitars and a bass. This wasn't to last much beyond Henry and Tentacles though. Following the drumming-on-the-speaker slow-down of Beaches the rotation began; bass to drums to keys to bass. The drummer-turned-keyboardist with the large quaff of hair also picked up vocal duties on the tired/sleep lyrics of Salty Cities that approached proggy territory on the outro. Another song with a strong ending came next in Duet for Emmylou before the keyboardist returned to her original post and added vocals to My Guarantee, while the multi-talented drummer now slipped a bass over her shoulder. It didn't end there either, for those of you keeping score at home the female violin player then took the keys and lead vocals for What About Love while the the key lady grabbed keys of a different sort - synths. Next was a slightly odd interlude where the dude on drums led a call and response about all the bands playing that night (I say - you say) followed by Ghosts. More swapping saw the lineup close to the same as off the top but with the lead male vocalist doing a turn on bass. It worked for Arrows, which prominently featured the violin in a great way. All of this to say the band is dynamic.
To add to this they tossed massive R A H balloons into the crowd to be batted around under a blast of confetti (something to do with Hollerado in the crowd?). There was a joyful feeling as they carried on with an instrumental intro to Breaking Hearts then stormed through Cuba/Peru in finale. It was a smash just like the pinata they destroyed during it. The band is so upbeat, so multi-talented and so much fun! Every time I see them is a joyful experience.