Concerts

Concert Review: dead prez, December 21, McPherson Square

Posted on December 23, 2011 by halley in Concerts | Leave a comment

Love it, hate it, or tolerate it, the Occupy Movement has made a lasting mark in 2011. I’m of the ‘tolerate it’ camp most of the time (as long as they don’t block the Metro they can camp out as long as they please), but the Washington, DC’s McPherson Square installation of the Occupy movement actually rose in my esteem December 21st. As I was walking back from lunch to my j-o-b (shh, don’t tell the protestors!) I could not help but stop when I noticed theOccupiers had managed to put together a pretty impressive concert.

Immediately adjacent to the Occupiers’ make-shift medical tent and in front of the outdoor market/library, some entrepreneurial soul had put together a tarp (it was a rainy day) and enough stereo system equipment to enable a hip hop duo to perform. I only stayed for a few songs (or is ‘beats’ the correct terminology for hip hop?) that touched upon several Occupy-esque themes, including Free Love, Raging Against the Machine, Anti-Consumption Ranting and Socialist/Communist Motto Shouting.

After I finished at the office for the day, I took a peek at the impeccably suave occupydc.org website (it’s honestly almost corporate looking in its technical savvy…) and found out that the duo is called dead prez, made of two artists: stic.man and M-1. The duo was founded in New York City (also the birthplace of the Occupy movement – very appropriate). (Apparently another hip hop artist, Head-Roc, was also performing, but the combination of rain, angry looking youth, and disease-infested dreadlocks made me scurry back to the gleaming surfaces of the corporate world before they took the stage.) The occupydc.org website described the performance as intended to build awareness around the four Wal-marts slated for construction in DC. Well done, Occupy – I wouldn’t have been the wiser if not for the performance. Ironically, however, I admit I was sort of excited about the prospect of the stores’ arrival in the District – I’m looking forward to some good ol’ fashioned American-capitalist-competition to make sure the city’s one Target keeps its prices on consumer goodies low.

All in all, although I don’t agree with the stark divide the Occupy movement tries to draw between the 99% and 1% and the frustration I feel at their lack of a coherent message, I must say I enjoyed their music! I guess it’s something all 100% of us can get behind.

Concert Review: Sloan, December 21, Great Hall

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Ricky in Concerts | Leave a comment

SLOOOOOO-OOOOOAN
SLOOOOOO-OOOOOAN

The chants for Sloan echoed throughout the Great Hall Wednesday night, and what a night it was. Playing their classic album “One Chord To Another” to a sold out and enthusiastic crowd, last nights show ultimately became a celebration of a great Canadian band, nostalgia and Toronto all in one.

Taking the stage shortly before 11 to a rapturous applause, the four piece group quickly launched into the albums first track and one of the album’s biggest hits – The Good in Everyone. Who doesn’t remember that music video? For the older types in the crowd, the thrill of seeing Sloan in a small setting must have brought back memories of high school all over again. Nostalgia, it’s a powerful tool.

Most people associate One Chord to Another with three tracks – The Good in Everyone, The Lines You Amend and Everything You’ve Done Wrong. Claiming to have gone all out for this show, Chris Murphy brought out a horns section for Everything You’ve Done Wrong, introducing the three members by name before admitting he doesn’t know which one in which in the typical smarmy Chris Murphy way. The horns provided a nice energy (also, makes it sound closer to the album version) to the track which was probably the highlight of the One Chord to Another set. One of our favorite blogs, Mechanical Forest Sounds recorded the track, which we have provided below. You should read his take on the show though, it’s probably a lot better than this one. Joe takes notes at shows, I down Stiegls.

As the One Chord to Another set progressed, the realization set in that I had forgot most of the other songs on the album already. Equally, the band seemed timid on some of the lesser popular tracks, channeling their usual rock star energy into making sure the song was properly played. This was expected since the band has probably not played some of those tracks in a long time. Still, the set was full of energy and it’s always great to hear tracks you enjoyed so much growing up in a live, intimate setting.

Sloan’s encore is one of the reasons why living in Toronto is great. In a city where so many bands call home, it’s not a surprise to see other musicians collaborate on stage. Nevertheless, it’s still a thrill when this happens. In-between classic tracks like 500 Up and Snowsuit Sound, Sloan managed to bring up not only Damian from Fucked Up for a song but also the incomparable Feist for the set closer She Says What She Means for their encore (although if they sang The Other Man, the internet might have blown up). It might not sound that impressive when you read it in a post but when you are there, it’s pretty cool.. and it can only happen in a city a bunch of musicians call home.

As I left the Great Hall, still buzzing from the show, Frank from Chromewaves said to me “See what you get when you go to local shows?” If this is what I get from attending local shows, count me down for a lot more in the new year.

Do yourself a huge favor and check out the charities that this show was put on for as well.

Barriere Lake Legal Defense Fund

COUNTERfit Harm Reduction Services

Sloan – Everything You’ve Done Wrong (live 2011-12-21) by panicmanual

Best of 2011: Top 5 Shows I Saw But Didn’t Bother Writing About At The Time

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Paul in Concerts, Year End Reviews | Leave a comment

Much of my 2011 was dedicated to travelling to various locations around the world and seeing as much music as I could.  As a result, I saw a lot of music, and tried to write about as much of it as possible, but of course a number of great shows fell through the cracks for various reasons – laziness, distraction, or simply not knowing what to say at the time.  The end of the year is a perfect time to revisit some of the “ones that got away.”  Now their stories can be told …

Hazel Dickens, March 16, Driskill Room, Austin, TX

Hazel Dickens was one of the performers I was most looking forward to seeing at SXSW simply because I figured it would be my only chance to catch the pioneering bluegrass legend in concert.  This ended up being truer than I’d thought as Dickens passed away just a little over a month after this show, which I believe was her final performance.  While looking a bit frail and older than her 75 years, her voice was still ridiculously powerful and resonant.  I’m definitely glad I got to see this.

Yoko Ono, March 19, Elysium, Austin, TX

Yeah, she’s weird.  Yeah, she can get noisy and the potential for pretentiousness is high.  But here’s the thing: that’s kind of what made this such a great show.  That, and a top notch crew of musicians assembld for her new Plastic Ono Band that included her son Sean (looking a bit goofy in top hat and goatee), Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Mr. Bungle’s Trevor Dunn, and Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto fame.  With a group that like backing you up, you can get as out there as you want and it’s still going to sound fantastic.  On top of all that, tUnE-yArDs opened things up with a cover of one of Ono’s songs that sounded pretty good as well.

Swans, May 28, Primavera Sound, Barcelona

Epic, noisy, and a little bit scary, Michael Gira and Co. also bring a strange kind of beauty to their sound as well.  Still don’t have that much to say about this set (to quote the title of the song they opened with, I have “No Words/No Thoughts”) but I felt this show was worth mentioning at the very least.

Tindersticks, June 23, BOZAR, Brussels

Performing as part of the Brussels Film Festival, British band Tindersticks put on a special show made up entirely of the music they’ve composed for the films of French filmmaker Claire Denis.  As they band played a bunch of pieces I was unfamiliar with against a backdrop of scenes from a number of Denis’ films, none of which I has seen or ever really heard of before, I was totally drawn in.  Not only by the music, but by the images, which I attempted in my mind to combine into one weird continuous narrative.  The show got me interested in looking deeper into Denis’ works, but on the other hand, I’m not sure if the fake story I made up in my head isn’t better. 

Mercury Rev, May 29, Primavera Sound, Barcelona 

While Ricky will tell you that Pulp’s set at Primavera Sound was hands down the best show he’s seen in his life, for me, it wasn’t even the best set I saw in Barcelona.  Don’t get me wrong, Pulp was fantastic, but for me, this show was much more compelling.  Sure, I was only going on a couple hours sleep from the night before and has just spent an inordiante amount of time waiting to buy a train ticket that afternoon, but after one last trip to the beach and a stroll through the streets of Barcelona taking in the post-Champions League win reverie, i was ready to tackle the Catskills band’s festival closing set at Poble Espanyol.  And what a show it was.  The band sounded amazing and frontman Jonathan Donahue was a sight to behold onstage, progressively getting more drunk on a bottle of wine throughout the set and making pretty much every second of the set a photo op with his dramatic, grandiose gestures.  It’s a shame my camera’s batteries went dead right before I arrived.

So there you have it. 2011 was a pretty good year for live music. 2012, you’ve got a lot to live up to. Don’t let me down.

Concert Review: Sunparlour Players, December 10, Great Hall

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Brian in Concerts | Leave a comment

Toronto – If there is one thing that I hope people have taken away from my years of writing for the Panic Manual, it is this: I highly recommend that you go see the Sunparlour Players live. Judging by the size of crowds the band still gets in Toronto, either I have failed to be very convincing, or I’m just not being read by that many people.

It’s too bad, because if there’s one thing that the SPP show last Saturday night cemented in my mind, it’s that this is the best live band I know, by far.

It was a particularly satisfying evening. Not only were SPP fantastic, but the opening acts were decent (one a lot moreso than the other, but still), and my wife and I successfully managed to have our first real evening out since our baby was born several months ago. We enjoy parenting more than I can express, but I’m not going to lie: getting away for an evening felt great.

The Strumbellas were up first, a self-described “bluegrass-inspired indie rock” band that I wasn’t familiar with, but who impressed me enough that I likely would’ve bought their album at the show, if only that were possible (their debut comes out sometime in February). Inspired, high-energy stuff from this seven-piece band, who really ripped it up. You have to wonder if the energy of their live show will translate into a good record, something the Sunparlour Players struggle with sometimes, but they seem to have some interesting lyrics so that should help. A band worth keeping an eye on. They were followed by Harlan Pepper, a group of 19 year olds (or so they claim; if I were working the door, I would’ve carded them for sure) with a surprisingly retro roots-rock sound. Though they started tight and impressed with a few of their tunes, their set largely dissolved into chaos after frontman Dan Edmonds declared his guitar was “f***ed up,” at which point he switched to keys and the music switched from recognizable songs to a long stretch of solos and noodling punctuated by the occasional familiar riff and ending with a half-hearted cover of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London.” Not a bad set, but it could’ve used a little more coherence.

The Sunparlour Players, subsequently, started off somewhat gingerly. Their set opened nicely enough with “Runner,” the opening track from their new album, but during the first four or five songs the band was tentative, particularly frontman Andrew Penner, who seemed almost nervous to be back playing in Toronto in a headlining role after touring Ontario with the Sadies for the last couple of months.

However, five songs in the band launched into their infamous cover of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” a tune which is worth the price of admission to a Sunparlour Players show by itself. Afterwards, Penner remarked something along the lines of “that’s more like it,” and the band was back to their familiar, dynamic selves: Michael Rosenthal killing it on percussion, looking to all the world like he’s having the time of his life, Dennis Van Dine looking relatively composed on bass and keys, effortlessly driving the fast-paced numbers and slowing time for the ballads, and Penner, singing as though his sanity depended on it.

The band stormed through the rest of their set and two encores, breathing life into some songs on their new album that sound a little subdued on record, hitting only a couple of highlights of their second album, Wave North, like “O Captain” and “Point Pelee is the Place to Be!”, but really bringing the house down with the songs they played from their debut, Hymns for the Happy. “If the Creeks Don’t Rise,” “Dyin’ Today,” “John had a Bell and a Whistle,” “The Detroit River is Alive,” and finally “Talk it to Death” to end things off – these songs are the ones that sent their longtime fans home happy, even if some of them (including my wife and I) had seen them done four or five times already.

I’ll say it again: if you like live music, see the Sunparlour Players sometime. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

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