Last Thursday Trombone Shorty played the Opera House as part of Toronto’s Nujazz Festival with support from the Toronto Jazz festival. Growing up in New Orleans’ treme neighbourhood, Troy Andrews a.k.a. Trombone Shorty has taken his jazz roots and fused them with funk and soul to create something that’s, well, pretty badass.
It was like watching Kanye play if Kanye knew how to play the trombone.
Having recently started watching HBO’s Treme, I’ve only just come to learn about this vibrant part of New Orleans culture. The show is a fascinating look into a post-Katrina New Orleans and Trombone Shorty himself even appears in few episodes. It’s clear that music is deeply ingrained into the fabric of New Orleans, and it’s just as deeply ingrained in her musicians.
It’s hard to describe how effective this fusion of jazz, soul and funk really is. There’s no mistaking the fact that band was tight. However it was woven even tighter with Troy’s intense trombone and trumpet playing. The man knows how to play. He knows he can dig in with the best and that gives him some serious bravado. It was like watching Kanye play if Kanye knew how to play the trombone. By the second tune the audience was hooked. Although I probably could have done without some of the vocal tunes, the sheer intensity of the instrumentals made this show kick ass.
There are many similarities between seeing a band and making love. The first time with someone new is always filled with anticipation, uncertainty and intrigue. If you’re lucky it turns out pretty great. But with a repeat performance, the parallels become even more poignant. Sometimes you are more disappointed than you were the first time. Often as one matures, there is slow improvement as skills progress; and rarely, like Thursday night with the Rural Alberta Advantage, it’s like seeing someone you’re completely in love with after being apart for a while. You know that what’s coming is going to leave you entirely fulfilled – and then somehow, it’s even better.
Speaking of first times, I did have a first time with one of the opening acts – a young gentleman named Darren Eedens. Taking on the expanse of the Phoenix solo with his guitar, banjo and borrowed mandolin, Darren managed to captivate the early-comers with his songs that debated what is important in life, and captured his feelings about a bunch of girls that were mean to him along the way. With an endearingly awkward presence, and fun bluegrass folk style, the most remarkable thing was his amazing technical skill. In such a big space, the show could have benefitted from a backing band. I have no doubt that he would amaze in a small venue. Lucky for us, Darren has upcoming shows at Not My Dog, C’est What and the Painted Lady
“Characteristic of all great lovers, there are little things that they do that are ‘just right’. Things that you wait for with baited breath during repeat performances.”
Following this and wearing the biggest smiles ever, the RAA took to the stage for their last show of a busy touring 2011. They seemed just as excited to play the sold out house as the audience was to see them. By the time the time they hit Don’t Haunt this Place, I knew that the night’s tryst was going to be the best show I’d seen them play. Characteristic of all great lovers, there are little things that they do that are ‘just right’. Things that you wait for with baited breath during repeat performances. Amy Cole’s perfectly timed xylophone in Under the Knife and Ballad of the RAA, as well as her angelic vocals and base drumming that started in Rush Apart were captivating. Nils Edenloff’ strained, genuine, passionate lyrical performance hit that spot deep in your chest that makes you hold your breath. Paul Banwatt’s beaming smile while playing complex percussion was positively infectious.
Playing songs from both albums Departing and Hometowns, the audience was with the band for every step. At one point, Nils wistfully reminisced about writing and practicing these songs at a space they had rented just up the street – never imagining an audience like this would be singing all the words back to them. In typical RAA fashion, they also did a few fun covers – this time with a Canadian twist: The Littlest Hobo, Canada Geese by Gord Downey, and my favourite of the night Lover Lover Lover by Leonard Cohen.
The highlight of the night was the encore. Not even able to wait for the slow clap to culminate, the band jumped back on stage, said “this is our last show of the year, so we’re just going to play as much as we can okay?” and threw it down. North Star and Sleep All Day got the audience swaying, and then Barnes’ Yard and Deathbridge in Lethbridge brought back the dancing and clapping fury that had been going on throughout. Finally, leaving the stage and heading for a place atop the side bar, the acoustic Goodnight to a silent Phoenix audience was like a forehead kiss at the end of it all – the perfect goodnight.
Toronto – I will openly admit that the last time I saw Mister Heavenly, I went largely because I was curious to see Michael Cera (their bassist at the time)performing with them. Not the only reason, mind you – I like Islands and Modest Mouse and I’ve at least heard of Man Man (hey, there’s a lot of bands out there, I can’t be expected to listen to everything …) so I knew the band had a pretty decent pedigree. But for me and a large part of the crowd at that show, Cera was certainly a draw. Yet the band existed before he joined on bass and they continue on after. So this tour is sort of a proving ground for them to see what the reaction is without some famous guy on bass … not that they need to prove anything.
The band displayed some solid musicianship and songwriting chops, with Nick Thorburn and Ryan Kattner splitting the vocal duties, often sharing them during the same song. After touring these songs around for awhile, they certainly seemed quite polished in their performance with the songs sounding pretty good. The offered up a couple of great covers too – Cody Chesnutt’s “Look Good In Leather” (a highlight of their set) and a raw version of The Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments.”
Thorburn generally took on the role of frontman, interacting with the crowd by telling stories about parents texting and editing Wikipedia and making a couple of odd references to SARS (does he know something we don’t?) while the absence of Kattner’s trademark ‘stache kind of took me by surprise, especially during Movember. Was he regrowing it for the month or does he like to not have a ‘stache in order to stand out while everyone else around grows one? And of course, Michael Cera was nowhere to be found, not even in a guest spot in his hometown. This can only mean one thing – the Arrested Development movie is on for sure! They must be filming it right now! Yeah! SARS!
Toronto – “Hi, we’re the openers.” This was the rather unassuming introduction given by Daniel Brandon Allen, singer/guitarist for Indian Handcrafts, who were indeed the openers for this show. Their music, however, is anything but unassuming. It could best be described as down and dirty stoner rock. With their thick, driving riffs and vocals half shouted and half sung, they join a long line of hard hitting duos that make a lot of racket – LullabyeArkestra, Lightning Bolt, Japandroids, godheadSilo – and prove that less can often sound like more. They even threw in a cover of Nirvana’s “Negative Creep” for good measure.
Between acts, I decided to wander outside for a bit and grab a snack (fascinating story, I know) and when I returned shortly before Chicago’s Russian Circlestook the stage, I was surprised to find that the crowd near the front had grown considerably. I did not know these guys were as popular as they are, but when you consider the reception that bands like Isis, Mogwai, or Explosions In The Sky have garnered in the past here in Toronto, I suppose it’s not too surprising that their particular brand of instrumental post rock/metal would go over well. And Russian Circles did not disappoint. They played a fairly long set that was trippy when it needed to be and heavy when it needed to be.
Speaking of trippy, I found myself somewhat entranced by the shadow of the drummer that appeared on the ceiling as the band played. Probably realizing that having no frontman means there’s no one to naturally grab the audience’s attention and also realizing that Dave Turncrantz is a powerhouse drummer who is something to see, the band have made him the centrepiece of their show, both literally and figuratively. With lots of backlighting (hence the shadow on the ceiling) and the other two members content to just play, Turncrantz is the de facto focal point. Not that the other two members were slouches by any stretch of the imagination, but were there a lesser drummer (or even just a different drummer), this show would not quite be the same.
The only gripe I might have about this show was the encore. Now I have mixed feelings about encores in general, but if you’re going to do it, go for it. That means an encore should be something that hits the audience right away and goes for the gut, so to speak. Not so for Russian Circles. After taking the stage, they played maybe a minute or two of kind of ambient sounds. Now I realize that many of their songs do have a bit of a slow build to them, but it just didn’t seem right. Maybe I was just impatient and maybe it’s a moot point since the song (once it really got going) was a great way to end things off. Regardless, it was a solid show.
