NXNE Concert Review: Woodpigeon, DD/MM/YYYY, Horseshoe Tavern, June 20

Wood Pigeon

Toronto – It’s easy to cover shows that fall to one extreme or the other on the enjoyment spectrum. Great shows and terrible shows are both easy to write home about. It’s the middling shows where you really need to distill what it is you’d like to convey. I spent last Saturday night checking out bands at the Horseshoe sponsored by CBC Radio 3. Fortunately for me, the following two write-ups will be dead easy.

After a few days of listening to energetic music and brash young rock, it was an absolute treat to sit back and soak in a more relaxed fare.

The first show of the night was Calgary-based Woodpigeon and this write-up is easy in the best sense of the term. This band plays a laid back indie-folk that evokes in me the same kind of feelings as the Great Lake Swimmers. After a few days of listening to energetic music and brash young rock, it was an absolute treat to sit back and soak in a more relaxed fare. The musicians weren’t competing for your attention, but rather trying to complement each other. Fancy that! Hats off to the two female vocalists. Their harmonies were subtle, but tasteful and appreciated. This show was a breath of fresh for me, and was an understated highlight of my NXNE.

[Last song of the set] This is a song about drowning. Thanks for coming out. – Woodpigeon

At the end of the show, a CBC Radio 3 representative presented Woodpigeon with the new Canadian artist award. It’s great to see this band getting some recognition for their laid back folksy vibes.

ddmmyyyy

Listening to [Woodpigeon was like being near a calm babbling brook in the middle of the forest.] Having that followed up by DD/MM/YYYY was like 5 drunk fratboys finding your little slice of heaven and puking in it, then on you.

The following show is just as easy to write about, but for very different reasons.  DD/MM/YYYY (pronounced “day month year”) is a Toronto-based band that has been described as “A mess of spastic, specially challenged art rock with jagged, diamondback guitars”. Listening to opening band Woodpigeon was like sipping freshly made iced tea by a calm little babbling brook in the middle of the forest. Having that followed up by DD/MM/YYYY was like 5 drunk fratboys finding your little slice of heaven and puking in it, then on you.

Ouch. I don’t feel a thread of guilt for trashing this band. I’ve never seen a more negative bunch of “musicians” who had so little qualms about criticizing potential fans. Half-way through the set the singer, in the broken jargon of well read young 20-year old punk anarchist said something like, “We read in the paper, the newspaper, the paper thingies about someone saying that we were getting tired of touring. F*ck you, whoever said that, we’re not tired. We’re f*cking troupers”.

Now, I don’t work for a band, or a record label, but I’m pretty sure I know a few things about the music industry.  Number 1: alienating potential fans by throwing negativity at them isn’t going to get you very far. You could see from the very start of the set that any good vibes leftover by Woodpigeon were thoroughly trummelled by DD/MM/YYYY. Number 2: whoever said “this band has been touring non-stop and is tired” was trying to be nice. It’s industry speak for “this band sucks, but we are going to give them a graceful out by offering excuses.”  If you decide to spit on the outheld hand, then that’s not our problem.

The polite Canadian-style applause at the end of every song was entirely too generous for this band. I haven’t even described their music yet: it was unmusical. I would characterize it as loud, jarring (in an imaginative way) and jarring.

(Yes, this is 0/5)

Posted on by Mark in Concerts, Everything, North By Northeast

7 Responses to NXNE Concert Review: Woodpigeon, DD/MM/YYYY, Horseshoe Tavern, June 20

  1. Jen

    Ouch indeed. Wasn’t there, but enjoyed DD/MM/YYYY later that night at an afterparty. I’ve seen ‘em before and think they’re great as a live band. Woodpigeon I haven’t seen, but heard from some people that their set was excruciating that night.
    My favourite set of the fest was by a band called These Are Powers. Some of my friends were at the show with me, and they left ’cause they hated it. I saw Mika Miko, who didn’t make an impression, only to have the best punk booker/promoter in town tell me afterward that they were the best band playing the festival.
    So there you go. Opinions, opinions… :-)

  2. Allison

    “A mess of spastic, specially challenged art rock with jagged, diamondback guitars”.

    And people have the gall to call ME pretentious?!

  3. Ming Wu

    I had a fun time at the Horseshoe.
    Woodpigeon was amazing!
    I am YIKES! about DD/MM/YYYY. They were great in my opinion but everyone has different taste in music.

    I skipped out on Jason Collett’s set to see Said The Whale at The Reverb.
    Fun times at NXNE

  4. Pingback: NXNE Concert Review: Ruby Coast, Jason Collett, Horseshoe Tavern, June 20 | The Panic Manual

  5. Mark

    Yep, to each his or her own.

    One thing I didn’t mention was that at one point in the later half of the set a member of the band said, “I can fucking do it better than you.”. We’re still not sure what this was in response to (a heckler in the crowd? We don’t know). But the vibes emanating from this band had 3/4 of the people being as stiff as boards.

    I did talk to one person that liked the show though.

  6. Jeremy

    ive seen dd/mm/yyyy so many times and never saw them as negative! they are just too into their musical message~ if anything they are just being honest, regardless if you like it or not. ive checked out their past show list and the have already probably played with more relevant bands than most people see in a lifetime. something must be said about their drive.

  7. Pingback: CMW Review: Absolutely Free, March 24, Comfort Zone | The Panic Manual

Add a Comment