Concerts

Concert Review: Erasure, September 30, Danforth Music Hall

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Ricky in Concerts | Leave a comment

erasure

If you ever need a night to witness the greatness that is living in Toronto, just look at the concerts on the ticket for September 30

Robert Plant @ Massey Hall
Erasure @ Danforth Music Hall
Kasabian @ Mod Club
Ema @ Drake
Lykke Li @ Kool Haus

And those were only the big acts. There were a ton of not too big names playing too. With so many options on the plate, the question is .. what show to go to? After a long internal debate in which many factors were calculated, including:

– ticket price
– distance from home
– venue
– bands touring frequency (btf)
– band breakup risk rate (bbrr%)
– approximate show length
– quality eating and drinking establishment nearby
– commute difficulty from work
– how much I like the band

I decided to go to Erasure. How can you go wrong with Erasure? Andy Bell and Vince Clarke have been making records for nearly three decades now and the last time I saw them was a revelation for me, as I went from casual Erasure fan to an actual Erasure fan. Anyone who reads this blog will know that I love my synth pop and there are very few bands with such standards of excellence as Erasure.

The ninety minute show did not disappoint any of the fans at the sold out Danforth Music Hall for sure. While less theatrical then the Sound Academy, Andy Bell, Vince Clarke and two accompanying singers turned the venue into one large disco party filled with glitter, top hats and dance routines that should somehow make it’s way to Pride week sometime. Have they played Pride before? They should headline that every year.

Playing the typical BIG HIT some new songs HERE COMES THE HITS show that I’m now completely accustomed to, Erasure managed to turn the crowd into a dancing frenzy. You know it’s a good show when the people in the balcony start dancing. How could you not? Starting with Drama! and Victim of Love, the set was relentless in hits, with Vince Clarke providing a steady dose of beats between tracks that had you a) questioning what song it is and b) remember it was his remix of Happy Monday’s Wrote for Luck that made that song so damn awesome. Andy Bell was his typical flamboyant self, minus the extravagant costumes he had last time, but still managed to dance his tail off. Chains of Love closed off the main set, but no one was leaving without an encore. Their 90’s hit Always and Sometimes ended off the show at a lovely time of 10:30pm, allowing people like me to go home at a respectable time. Much like everyone in the crowd tonight – respectable adults.

You couldn’t really go wrong with any of the shows happening in our amazing city last Tuesday night. Frankly, you can never go wrong when you decide to go to an Erasure show.

Concert Review: Buckcherry, October 1, The Phoenix

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Paul in Concerts | Leave a comment

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“It’s such a fine line between clever and stupid.”

As I watched Buckcherry in concert I couldn’t help but be reminded of that line from the 1984 classic This Is Spinal Tap. In many ways they kind of exemplify that concept. After all, this is a band whose biggest hit was all about loving the cocaine and whose latest release, simply entitled Fuck, is a concept album of sorts, the thematic concept being that all of the songs have the word “fuck” in the title. See? That’s clever AND stupid. Furthermore, with songs like “Crazy Bitch” and “Too Drunk…”, they lean towards Spinal Tap-esque parody while still presumably being sincere about it all.  And then there’s the band’s name, which is basically a goofy spoonerism of Chuck Berry.  OK, perhaps they lean more towards the stupid than the clever, but stupid has its place, and these guys are not without their lunkheaded charm.

Some of that charm came across when singer Josh Todd addressed the crowd:”For those of you who don’t know us, we’re called Buckcherry. We’re from Los Angeles, California. Sometimes we like to wear tight pants.” More of their big, dumb rock n’ roll persona was on display in Todd’s stage banter as he waxed philosophical on the merits of g-strings and told the crowd, “If you ain’t dancin’, I don’t wanna see you no more!” Also, the drummer had some serious wind machine action going on continuously throughout the evening and the moment that he and the bassist were left alone onstage to jam was legitimately one of the highlights of the show.

The pièce de résistance in their set though was their cover of Icona Pop’s “I Love It” slightly rewritten as “Say Fuck It” so as to fit into the aforementioned “fuck” theme of the new EP.  The crowd reacted strongly to the song, despite the fact that most Buckcherry fans likely wouldn’t be caught dead listening to the Swedish pop act were it not “rocked up” by the band. It was a move that definitely showed some cleverness while still serving up a decent helping of stupid. Turned up to 11, of course.

Concert Review: The Drums, Beverly, September 25, Adelaide Hall

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Paul in Concerts | Leave a comment

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One sign that you’re getting old: when you still think of a group as a “new band” even though they’re already on their third album. Yes, even though The Drums just released their latest, Encyclopedia, on September 23, their 2010 debut still seems like practically a new release to me. I’m old. I also realized that my enthusiasm for this show went down somewhat when the venue was changed from The Danforth Music Hall to Adelaide Hall, ever so slightly less convenient to get to by subway. Old and lazy. Now please excuse me while I go listen to my 8 track cassettes and 78 rpm records now. Because I am old.

As I entered Adelaide Hall, Brooklyn-based band Beverly were already in the midst of their opening set and if I happened to be feeling old, their ’90s influenced sound at least had me safely within my comfort zone. While they may have gained some attention for the involvement of Frankie Rose on their Kanine Records released debut Careers, singer/guitarist Drew Citron would seem to be the mastermind behind Beverly’s fuzzed out, shoegaze pop sound. Definitely a band to keep an eye out for.

As they took to the stage, it was clear that The Drums have a fairly dedicated following who were eager to see them play. The show may have been downgraded to the Adelaide Hall, but a smaller venue with the crowd packed in more tightly likely worked to the band’s advantage. In return for being such an enthusiastic crowd, singer Jonathan Pierce promised a nice healthy, generous set and they delivered, playing for roughly an hour. The band put on an entertaining, engaging performance, with emphasis on the word “performance.” In some ways, Pierce almost seems as if he’s playing a character up on the stage, from his odd enunciation of the words “thank you” to his affected dance moves. But hey, it works, and who am I to argue with something that works?

Concert Review: Slow Club, September 24, Horseshoe Tavern

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Wini Lo in Concerts | Leave a comment

slow club

Remember when Slow Club was a twee band? When the Sheffield, UK duo made their 2009 debut with Yeah So, I could not get enough of their precocious and adorable boy-girl harmonies. Their music was like a junior Belle and Sebastian mixed in with the reckless abandon of the White Stripes.

Fast-forward five years later, with two more album under their belts, Slow Club are a much more sophisticated and slicker band, especially with their latest, retro/R&B-tinged release, Complete Surrender. Rebecca Taylor and Charles Watson are still Slow Club but they’re older, more polished. Though they’re still charming (the British accents ensure that, really), Slow Club are definitely twee no longer.

The Horseshoe was an appropriate upgrade (size-wise) from their 2012 Rivoli show to promote their second album, Paradise. Rebecca joked several times that she couldn’t believe anybody even showed up to see them play. She confessed she’d been in a bad mood prior to coming onstage but seeing the audience made her feel much happier.

Both Taylor and Watson are strong singers and talented musicians, switching instruments (guitar, keyboards, drums) throughout their set. The band was rounded out with a bassist and drummer (who switched to guitar when Taylor played drums). Taylor and Watson’s voices complement one another’s when singing together (“Tears of Joy,” “Two Cousins”) but on their own, each is fantastic in their own right. Taylor demonstrated her powerful voice in the very 60’s Motown-esque “Suffering You, Suffering Me” and emotive quietness in “Not Mine to Love” and “Dependable People And Things That I’m Sure Of.” Watson took the lead on “Paraguay And Panama” and “Wanderer Wandering.”

The only tune they played from their debut album was “Our Most Brilliant Friends,” which produced the loudest audience singalong.

After a three-song encore, Rebecca hopped off the stage into the audience, with Charles trailing behind her with his acoustic guitar. The crowd parted for the duo to walk through and gathered around as Charles quietly began to strum his guitar. With awestruck fans smiling and surrounding them, Slow Club played “Hackney Marsh.” It reminded me of the first time I saw them play a small, intimate show at the Dakota (in 2009, their first time in Toronto). Though I may never love any of their albums more than Yeah So, it’s always thrilling to witness a band’s musical evolution.

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