I had previously seen German folk/pop act BOY this past March (read Gary’s review of one of their SXSW sets here) and I will admit that they charmed me. Never having heard of them before, it was a pleasant surprise and I enjoyed it enough to take in a set by them the following week during CMW (though I walked out a few songs in as I didn’t really like the chatty crowd). For those shows, core members Valeska Steiner and Sonja Glass were accompanied by a single guitarist, which made for a much more stripped down presentation that probably accounted for a bit of the charm in their sound. For their early evening Friday night show at The Mod Club, however, they were backed by 4 or 5 other musicians for a band that included keyboards and at times, two drummers. The added heft brought by the extra musicians definitely downplayed the “folk” aspect of their sound a bit, though they still came across as rather charming. Maybe even at times a little too charming.
I’m not suggesting that the band was being insincere at all, but at times, the charm was laid on a little thick, with Steiner’s stage banter including lines like, “This song is for everyone who just moved to this beautiful town of Toronto!” or “This is a very very beautiful night for us” or even stating that their first North American tour with a full band was “a great adventure for us.” Like I said, I don’t think she was faking it; she’s probably just really nice and very enthusiastic about everything. I’m sure it has something to do with her being Swiss. I’m sure that playing to a pretty receptive crowd also had something to do with it.
Highlights of their set included “Little Numbers” (which inspired a bit of a “whoa oh” singalong) and a cover of The Black Keys’ “Lonely Boy” as well as a shout out to Canadian Thanksgiving. Speaking of “Little Numbers,” when I hear the lyrics, “Seven little numbers/Baby, I know yours by heart,” I have to wonder if anyone knows anyone’s phone number off by heart anymore these days. But that’s neither here nor there.
Though I’m still more partial to the stripped down set I caught them playing in a smaller venue, this was an enjoyable show regardless.