Concerts

Concert Review: Memoryhouse, Peter, Bjorn, and John, September 2, Lee’s Palace

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Allison in Concerts | 1 Comment
From NXNE

From IKVDK

Friday night marked the first labour day in recent memory in which I didn’t feel a dire need to escape Toronto for the long weekend. There’s something about the last real long weekend in our short summer that prompts a mass exodus–but  the groundswell of Peter Bjorn and John’s popularity since their 2006 breakthrough album Writer’s Block made for a packed house in the first of their two-night engagement at Lee’s Palace.

Fellow Swedes Memoryhouse accompanied them for this part of the tour–Subpop records is releasing “The Years” on September 13, and it’s got some great songs, with a lot of the arrangements able to compete with the best nu-gaze. 19-year-old Vocalist / photographer Denise Nouvion and her partner Evan Abalee are both transplanted Swedes who had lived and studied in Guelph, and are now in Toronto. So considering this is their first real forage into live music performance, it’s hard not to want to be easier on Denise’s sometimes inconsistent vocals. Maybe this exposure with PBJ will help develop their banter and compel them to add some back-up vocals to help out their frontwoman. Instrumentally, they are well on their way.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theswedebeat/page9/

As for Peter (the singer/guitarist), Bjorn (the bassist/vocalist), and John (the drummer), clearly a lot has changed as a result of their frequent touring. Like a lot of the better high-energy shows I’ve seen, this one had an “opening” that the band ran out to. In this case it was the opening to A Space Odyssey.

Of the three of them, Peter in particular has become a seductive showman, able to pull off a full cream suit while jumping off speakers and taking a few songs to the floor. It’s not really fair to think of these guys as the one-hit “Whistling Song” wonders (Peter introduced this as the “X-Files” David Duchovny’s theme song from Californication to our bafflement, then jumped into the audience to the song most people probably came to hear). There were a lot of other better moments from their new album Gimme Some (Second Chance brought down the house). Part of what made Friday such a good show is that the band collected the best singles from each of their albums and incorporated it into their setlist. Their second show from Saturday dug a little deeper into their back catalogue but looks like it struck the same balance. If there was only one approach I’d change it’d be extra-long encore tacked onto the end. I’m not a fan of encores in general (it just always feels like a rouse), but think that if they must exist, they should be short.

For some reason, no one has posted the setlist from the first show in Toronto, but this one from the previous night in Detroit seems comparable.

  1. Tomorrow Has to Wait
  2. Move Me
  3. Eyes
  4. Breaker, Breaker
  5. DALD
  6. Amsterdam
  7. Macabre
  8. Young Folks
  9. Second Chance
  10. Objects of My Affection
  11. Down Like Me

Encore:

  1. Stay This Way
  2. NTWA
  3. Coffin
  4. Lies
  5. Lay it Down

Peter Bjorn and John – Young Folks by Wichita Recordings

Concert Review: Glen Campbell, August 31, CNE Bandshell

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Paul in Concerts | 2 Comments

Toronto – Glen Campbell is a bona fide music legend.  When I get a chance to see one of those (whose music I actually like), I take it.  Combine that with the fact that this would be the 75 year old Campbell’s last tour ever due to a recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis and this show was pretty much a must-see for me.  Many others must have had the same thought, as the area surrounding the Bandshell was fuller than I ever recall seeing it before. 

Starting his set off strong with the 1-2-3 punch of “Gentle On My Mind,” “Galveston,” and “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” he had the crowd’s attention from the get go. He also had me wondering what else there was left to play, as those are most of the songs I know by him.  The answer? A lot more.  He played a good mix of tunes, practically all of them hits either for him or someone else, including his own “Southern Nights” and “Wichita Lineman” as well as The Everly Brothers’ “Let It Be Me,” Conway Twitty’s “It’s Only Make Believe” and even “Dueling Banjos,” the latter actually a banjo/guitar duel between Campbell and his banjo playing daughter and one of many opportunities which he took to show off his impressive guitar picking skills.  One thing is for certain – this guy can still play.  I suppose you get pretty good after playing with Phil Spector, The Beach Boys and Elvis, not to mention years of solo work and hosting your own TV variety show back in the day.

There’s something impressive and endearing about watching an old school performer with years of experience under his belt.  This show definitely had a “showbiz” vibe about it, not in the sense that it was schticky or smarmy in any way, but just based on the fact that he comes across as an old pro, even with the occasional flub.  Near the end of his set, he played “Rhinestone Cowboy,” probably his best known hit.  Normally, one would expect that to be the end, but he went on the play a few more songs, including a couple from his latest (and presumably final) album Ghost on the Canvas.

I went into this show with an understanding of Campbell’s status and an appreciation of some of his biggest hits, but I really didn’t expect this show to be as good as it was.  This was definitely a nice way for him to go out on a high note and certainly seemed to be appreciated by the fans. 

And just because, here’s “Rhinestone Cowboy” being covered by Radiohead:

Radiohead – Rhinestone Cowboy (Glen Campbell Cover) by fernandopso

Festival Review: Live at Squamish, August 20th and 21st, Squamish, BC

Posted on August 25, 2011 by sarahw in Concerts, Everything, Music, Reviews | Leave a comment

Live at Squamish

Oh British Columbia, the beautiful left coast of Canada.   Where the tiny town of Squamish lies quietly nestled in between Vancouver and Whistler.  Not seeing much action for most of the year, other than people checking out the mining museum and bathroom breaks on the way to Whistler.  That is until Virgin schedules a music festival there and thousands of hipsters descend upon the tiny town for 2 days of beautiful music and mayhem.  Thus Live at Squamish was born.

Quite frankly, I was more pumped about being in the mountains than about any of the bands playing.  However, a combination of Kokanee, Pulled Bison and nostalgia made it worth the trek.

Two headliners

Two bands I’d never seen

Two festival highlights

1. Weezer

For some reason I wasn’t that excited to see Weezer, so it was a nice surprise when they absolutely rocked live.  Talk about Nostalgia, Weezer was huge when I was in high school, which means that I knew just about every song.

You’ve got to hand it to Weezer’s ever-oddball front man, Rivers Cuomo for always being consistent – wearing his signature collared shirt with sweater on top.  He jumped around on stage with boundless energy singing classics like Buddy Holly, Island in the Sun, Say it Ain’t So, The Sweater Song, My Name is Jonas, We Are All on Drugs and many more.  Everyone knew the words.  Everyone sang.  It was amazing.

I’ve heard murmurs of  The Weezer Cruise, a music festival…ON A BOAT.  If you can, GO!  It’s bound to be awesome, with accompanying acts such as: Dinosaur Jr., J Mascis, Sebadoh, Wavves and a bunch more.  Sounds pretty epic.

2. Girl Talk

After seeing him at the festival, I still honestly don’t know what Girl Talk does at his live shows other than press play on his iTunes playlist and proceed to remove layers of clothing as the concert progresses.  However, since he’s the king of generation-Y-pleasing mash-ups, this was one amazing dance party that started with audience members dancing on the stage and ended with confetti cannons.

Other festival honourable mentions include Jon Butler Trio, Stars and the Emily Haines/James Shaw acoustic show.

As far as music festivals go, Canada doesn’t have many.  Squamish, however was well organized, beautiful and scored a decent bill of bands! See you next year!

Concert Review: Mike Evin, Language Arts, Aug 23, Bread & Circus

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Mark in Concerts | 5 Comments

Toronto – Earlier this week singer-songwriter Mike Evin played to a small but appreciative crowd at Kensington Market’s Bread & Circus. The Montreal-born and sometimes Toronto-based musician has just moved back to the big city. He brought an upbeat attitude to his set, playing songs from both the archives and his latest album “Do You Feel The World?”

Opening for Mike was Toronto-based Kristen Cudmore of Language Arts. Hailing from Nova Scotia, Kristen alternated between nylon-string & electric guitars, a synth, and a loop machine to weave her music. Listening to her play made me want to buy a loop machine. They look so fun. Easily the best part of the set was Kristen’s bubbly, adorable, nerdy, slightly vulnerable but super genuine personality. I can only imagine that a little maturity and experience will do wonders.

The transition from one singer-songwriter to the next was smooth. The set featured an eclectic mix of songs about hot secretaries, soapbox car racers, and of all things, the stage banter of the late-great trumpeter Percy Heath set as lyrics for Mike’s own song. The piano playing was tasteful. Mike threw himself into it with abandon. He was clearly having fun, and that fun was clearly infectious. As much as I love Bread & Circus as an intimate and friendly venue to see live music in the city, I do wish that it could draw a larger crowd so more people could enjoy what it has to offer.

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