Toronto – Last night brought Cardigans singer Nina Perssons and her solo project A Camp to Toronto’s Mod Club. Nina is on tour with her band to promote their latest release, Colonia. You can read my review of this album based on Colonialism here. The show was fun, and it was great to see Nina in such an intimate venue.
Opening for A Camp was the indie rocker Gentleman Reg. The band seemed to be happy to be back on home turf after spending some time south of the border. Apparently they hated playing in Washington, a fact that Reg mentioned perhaps 5 or 6 times. In any case, it was a solid opener, and set the tone for A Camp.
Contrary to (my own) popular belief, A Camp, is NOT pronounced like “A Team”. It’s literally just “a camp”, as in “if you look around that tent, you will see a camp.” I learn things every day.
When Nina finally hit the stage a little after 10, you couldn’t help but notice her stage presence. This is a woman who has owned the spotlight ever since the Cardigans broke out in the late 90’s and it’s apparent that she is comfortable being front and centre. Her stage banter was relaxed and playful, often with fists endearingly planted on her hips. She was wearing a black dress; both Nina and the stage were adorned with colonial themes.
Contrary to (my own) popular belief, A Camp, is NOT pronounced like “A Team”. It’s literally just “a camp”, as in “if you look around that tent, you will see a camp.” I learn things every day. In any case, A Camp played songs predominantly from their latest album and on the whole the live show was more enjoyable for me than their studio album.
By the time they truly hit the the end of their set, A Camp had already used up their A List material.
I have to admit that “Golden Teeth and Silver Medals” is one of the tracks on the album that I typically skip; it feels like a trundling tune and the male vocals seem wonky and out of place. The live version of the song was spiced up with a cameo by Gentlemen Reg, not to mention feeling more upbeat than the recorded version. It ended up being a highlight of the show, along with the more standard singles: My America, and Chinatown.
If there is one thing preventing this show from getting a 4.5/5, it was the ending/encore. There was a period near the end of the set where Nina left but the band kept playing and did a bit of an instrumental thing before she returned. This was cool, but it wasn’t clear if it was the actual end of the first set. But that wasn’t an actual ending; Nina came back and played her hits. By the time they truly hit the the end of their set, A Camp had already used up their A List material. As such, their encore consisted of two new tunes. The first was a slower song and it sounded OK. The second was a rocker, but just wasn’t terribly catchy and no one was familiar with it. I felt the crowd lose their gumption for the song a few minutes into it.
The ending could have been a littler better planned. But all in all this show was a solid show.