Concerts

Concert Review: Anamanaguchi, January 21, Wrongbar

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Toronto – Honestly, this was a bit of a crazy night.  I started off the evening at the Monster Jam monster truck show, followed that with Anamanaguchi‘s set at Wrongbar, and then capped off the night with a trip to the Bovine.  That’s at least one too many things for one evening, yet i did it anyways.  Consider it conditioning for all the club hopping I’ll be doing in a couple months’ time for SXSW and CMW.  Except without the monster trucks.  Really, SXSW should have monster trucks though.  I mean, it is in Texas after all.  Everything’s better with monster trucks, right?

I’ve got to say, Monster Jam is a bit of a weird scene.  It’s mostly made up of just watching these crazy machines race each other around a track in order to “qualify.”  What exactly are they qualifying for?  I don’t quite know.  Finally, after a bunch of these races and a couple digressions into ATVs and Motocross bikes, the audience finally gets what it came for – trucks smashing shit.  So I guess that was satisfying.  Yeah!   

After getting all amped up from that whole scene, I was ready for Anamanaguchi’s set of energetic chiptune rock.  In a weird way, they weren’t all that far removed from the world of monster trucking.  I mean, videogames and trucks smashing stuff are both things that might appeal to one’s inner teenage boy … or outer teenage boy if one still happens to be a teenager. 

For the uninitiated, Anamanaguchi make use of a hacked NES to create much of their music.  Live, they play in a traditional rock setup playing along with all the Nintendo-ish sounds.  As I said, it’s fun and energetic and since they’re an instrumental act, they rely on a few gimmicks to make the show a bit more interesting.  The band handed out glowsticks to the crowd as we were entertained by weird and wacky series of images projected onto a screen behind them.  Images like furbies and kittens and weirdly pixelated oddities combined with ’80s level AV tricks that sort of reminded me of the Gerry Todd Sketches from SCTV.  It was somewhat psychedelic in it’s own way.  Oh, and the band worked in a Britney Spears cover early in their set.  See?  Fun.

Concert Review: Herman Dune, January 19, Horseshoe Tavern

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Toronto – Before I begin with the review proper, allow me to digress right away and launch into a story about the last time I saw Herman Dune.  It was in Paris, so of course the band was speaking French (because, you know, they are French) and it was a good show, of course, but the reason I’m telling this story right now is to let you all know that playing the role of confused foreigner can work wonders for you sometimes.  Having shown up at the show late, I approached the ticket vendor guy and, in my best French, asked to buy a ticket.  He told me the show was almost over, and looking confused (I had checked when doors opened and estimated set times based on the number of bands playing), I motioned to the door and said, “Est-ce que Je …” and dude just waved me in.  Little did he know the band had just started and I saved myself a whole pile of euros that night. What does this have to do with the band’s set this past Thursday at The Horseshoe?  Well, nothing of course.  But for all of you looking to see a show in a foreign country I suppose it’s worth a shot to try this.  So in a way, it’s a public service I’m providing.  Still not as cool as Ricky’s story about crashing a high school dance in Istanbul though, but whatever. 

What’s that you say?  Oh right, the show at The Horseshoe. The band’s somewhat classicist take on folk rock always goes down well.  Frontman David-Ivar Herman Dune is not only a great songwriter (highlights included “In The Long Long Run” and “I Hear Strange Moosic”) but seems like a nice guy as well.  “I’m liking this place, it’s pretty nice,” he said in response to the enthusiastic crowd.  Also enthusiastic was Julie Doiron, who joined the band onstage for a couple of songs, including a cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Threw It All Away.”  Julie was so into it that she seemingly made a request onstage just so she could sing along with it.  Of course they obliged.  It’s always nice to see performers truly enjoying themselves onstage.  It shows that they’re not just going through the motions.

And so, while I have no story as thrilling (well, thrilling to me, at least) as bluffing my way in to go along with this show, it was still a solid performance from a band at the top of their game.  Plus, any band who can change a string onstage and not have it stop the show dead in it’s tracks deserves some recognition.  So bravo, Herman Dune.  You guys are alright.

Concert Review: Jaymay, January 19, Schubas

Posted on by Celeste in Concerts | Leave a comment

Chicago – A woman and her guitar. That’s all it was at Schubas on Thursday night – no props, no synthesizers, no suits, no suspenders, no nothing. It was lovely in its simplicity. Jaymay made her way through the small crowd in the intimate quarters at Schubas Tavern and took the stage in jeans and a blouse and immediately started loving on Chicago (smart woman.) The theme of the night was low key – Ms. Jaymay chatted and interacted with the audience throughout, and she simply brimmed over with charisma. Being a singer songwriter, she has many poignant and emotional songs, but she brought so much self deprecation and humor to the stage that the often very personal songs never felt stuffy or overly intimate. At one point during the night, at the exact moment when she was about to resolve her chord and bring one of her songs to an end, a patron dropped their phone with a loud crash, and she ended instead with, “gravity…it always wins” which earned her whistles and cheers from the crowd. Another crowd pleaser was her incorporation of mouth trumpet sounds into her songs. She’s quite good at it, and when the crowd laughed she laughed right along with them. But personally I’d have to say that my favorite part of the night was when she sang the wickedly funny Tragedy. I wasn’t really paying attention to the song until I heard the bit where she sang “…and it’s so so sad, you’re such a mush. Everybody heard your body go sploosh.” The combination of Jaymay’s melodious and sweetly innocent voice with the lyrics, “and just leave the janitor the body to clean” was an unexpected and funny treat. The night consisted mostly of songs about lost love and flawed relationships but somehow I think everyone ended the night with a smile.

Jaymay – Long Walk To Never by wirralaudio

Concert Review: Dirty Fences and the Cults, January 14, Black Cat

Posted on by halley in Concerts | 1 Comment

Dirty Fences and Cults – such a good combo at the Black Cat on January 14.

I had never heard of the Dirty Fences and don’t usually go for the punk-rock sound they create, but I found myself thoroughly enjoying their performance. I was also suitably impressed by the four dedicated fans who came out and made a mini-appropriately-contained-mosh-pit scene in the middle of an otherwise detached hipster crowd anxiously awaiting the Cults. The three Dirty Fences guitarists were all super adorable in their hard-core personas – all sporting matching leather jackets. The lead singer engaged in some intense synchronized head-banging/shoulder nuzzling with one of his band-members which was… memorable. The drummer was also a remarkable asset to the band – he eschewed the leather jacket bandwagon for a super vintage looking tee which he decided to take
off about half way through. Good choice, sir. He was also remarkable for having the best (and only) line of the night, when he announced at the end: “Thanks. We’re a rock and roll band.” Great closer. I especially enjoyed A Thousand Miles an Hour and Can’t Tame Me.

11 Can’t Tame Me by DIRTY FENCES

Then… the Cults! The Dirty Fences may have been impressive in their matching wardrobes but the Cults totally one upped them by being… matching people! No joke, each of the male/female five-man band were carbon copies of each other, from the long black tresses to the dour face to the hypnotically rhythmic swaying and bad posture. Soooo well done and such a good look for a band named after spooky social clubs. Unfortunately, their sound was not as impressive as their look. Although I really enjoy the band’s music, it’s honestly better recorded. The lead singer’s voice often came across as weak on stage and, while I enjoyed the glockenspiel live, it somehow works better with the pre-taped music than the live sound. Nonetheless, the band had a great stage presence and was super friendly despite its dark look – repeatedly thanking the early crowd (I was a the 6:00 show) for coming out. Go Outside remains my favorite song, but the band also performed “The Curse” for the second time ever live which got the crowd excited.

Really fun show overall – one of those odd pairings of bands that somehow works out perfectly.