SXSW Review: Weaves, March 19, Wonderland

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Over the last couple of years, the City of Toronto has established a “music city” partnership with Austin, using Austin’s model as inspiration for how to build Toronto’s music scene up (although really, Toronto seems to have been doing alright for itself already) and for a few more years than that, there’s always been a strong contingent of Toronto-based acts making their way to SXSW to try to build up a bit more buzz. This year, without even really trying, I managed to see more Toronto artists than usual, including such homegrown talent as Basia Bulat, Jahkoy, Greys (twice – no regrets as they’re one of the best bands around in TO or anywhere else these days) and, um … Magic! Hey, we all make mistakes sometimes. Don’t you know I’m human too …

One of the most enjoyable acts I saw was Weaves playing the Buzz Records showcase. The band’s been around for a few years now, but I had somehow managed to miss out on their live show up until now – it took going to Austin to finally see them in concert. Sure, it might seem a bit much to fly all the way to Austin to catch a band I could see pretty easily back home, but Weaves made it worth my while. The band’s off kilter rhythms and slightly twisted pop anthems make for a compelling listen and vocalist Jasmyn Burke is eminently watchable, moving about the stage with an almost mischievous unpredictability. She made good use of the space, practically turning the whole venue into a stage – at one point she was looping the microphone cord through the roof of the tent and letting it hang down, singing into it as if she were Michael Buffer announcing a match. And after climbing onto a nearby table, she also spent a good deal of their set sitting cross legged as she sang.

“We were watching Phil Collins from, like, a 1980s video, and he was sitting,” she said, explaining some of her inspiration and I’ve got to say, I wholeheartedly approve. In my opinion, we can all use a little more Phil Collins-inspired behaviour in our lives.

Posted on by Paul in South By Southwest