Concerts

Pop Montreal Review: Municipal Waste, September 30, Club Soda

Posted on by Paul in Concerts, Everything, Pop Montreal | 1 Comment

 

Montreal – You know, Pop Montreal has a very broad definition of what the word “pop” means.  On this somewhat rainy Thursday night, I made my way from the kind of classy and adult pop of Clare and the Reasons and Van Dyke Parks to the thrash metal of Municipal Waste, which kind of made me feel like a teenager again.  Appropriately enough for a band that has been described as “party metal,” (and who have a song called “The Art Of Partying”) this show was literally a party presented by Vice Magazine

And what a party it was – copious amounts of alcohol and the craziest mosh pit ever.  Municipal Waste sure knows how to work a crowd into a frenzy.  Watching from above, the mosh pit was quite the sight to behold.  People were moshing of course, and crowd surfing.  Literally surfing in many cases – somebody brought one of those flutter boards which was then used as a platform upon which to navigate the crowd.  In addition to that, there were so many failed stage dives, one after the other.  This may sound cruel, but this was one of the more entertaining aspects of watching the pit.  I guess seeing people get hurt because of their own reckless actions is entertaining somehow (This is pretty much the entire appeal of Jackass).  They got up immediately afterwards though and seemed to keep going so I didn’t feel too bad.  (Although the guy who seemed to take a running start and then kept running on people’s heads is a total dick)  Also, a note to Vice Magazine: giving out free copies of your magazine was appreciated, but probably not so much by the staff at Club Soda, who would have had to clean up the hundreds of ripped up magazines that were strewn about during Municipal Waste’s set.  It was kind of like really large pieces of DIY confetti.

While they take their music seriously (as I previously mentioned, drummer Dave Witte is amazing), the guys in Municipal Waste do not take themselves too seriously.  I mean, they do have songs with titles like “Headbanger Face Rip,” “Beer Pressure,” “Drunk As Shit, and “Terror Shark.”  Vocalist Tony Foresta was really hamming it up onstage too.  Most amusing was his continuous mocking of the gigantic security guy who stood on stage right.  This guy looked like a cross between Peter Stormare and Vin Diesel and he pretty much became a part of the show.  “Look how tiny I look next to this guy!” said Foresta at one point and he later jumped up and hugged him, forcing security guy to actually crack a smile.  Security guy must have started to feel pretty comfortable up there because during bassist Philip Hall’s solo, he just strolled across the stage kicking stray Vice magazine pages off the stage. 

Further evidence of the band’s sense of humour (or maybe Vice Magazine was responsible for this.  Who knows?) was seen in their choice of post-set music to be piped in.  During the time between them first leaving the stage and their encore, instead of music, we were treated to a snippet of an old Andrew Dice Clay routine.  After that bizarre interlude, the band returned for a brief encore, and then the first song as the lights went up?  Third Eye Blind’s “Semi Charmed Life.”  This pretty much ensured that the metalheads would leave swiftly.  Probably many of them headed up the street to Katacombes.

Municipal Waste – Wrong Answer by ScionAV

Pop Montreal Review: Van Dyke Parks, Clare & the Reasons, Daniel Isaiah Schachter, September 30, Ukranian Federation

Posted on by Paul in Concerts, Pop Montreal | 1 Comment

Montreal – Van Dyke Parksis a pop music legend.  Having worked with Harry Nillson, Joanna Newsom, The Byrds, Tim Buckley, Rufus Wainwright, Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson and a whole lot of others, his pedigree is pretty impeccable and it’s obvious that he is both talented  and in demand.  Yet at 67 years old (a fact he mentioned at least a couple of times during his set almost as if he couldn’t believe it himself), here he is embarking on his first tour ever. And that tour brought him here to The Ukranaian Federation on one of the rainiest nights I’ve seen in awhile.  Yet the rain did not deter people from coming out. 

As I arrived at the venue, partly soaked from the downpour, opener Daniel Schachterwas already on.  His rootsy, singer-songwriter-ish tunes were pretty good and he and his band had a nice laid back, loose vibe onstage.  He closed out his set by inviting a female singer to join him in performing “une chansonne,” and the song was probably the best of the set.  The French lyrics also served to remind me that I was indeed in Montreal.  Ironically, even though I was in Montreal, Schachter would be the only local performer I would see during the festival.

Next up were Clare & the Reasonsfrom Brooklyn.  Pretty much from their first note, I knew this was a band I was going to like.  They had  a very good chemistry onstage as well as pretty good stage banter.  Said banter included little asides in French from multi-instrumentalist Olivier Manchon and at least one slightly corny yet kind of funny play on words – “This next song is called “Ooh you hurt me so.  It’s either about me getting hurt or soup in Japan.”  Clare’s voice is slightly reminiscent of Martha Wainwright and probably some other singers  that I can’t think of right now.  It has a sort of old school yet timeless vibe.  Clare and her three bandmates are all really talented musicians, each of them playing multiple instruments  and drawing on various influences ranging from classic pop to jazz to chamber music and much more.  One of the highlights of their set was a cover of Genesis’ “That’s All” which was a whimsical, gentle reworking that made me realize what a great song it actually is.   Speaking of their instrumental dexterity, I have to mention Manchon’s ability to play the glockenspiel with one hand while simultaneously playing the recorder.  It’s probably not as easy as he made it look.  Also, how many bands actually incorporate the recorder into their performances?  No others that I can think of.  They were joined at the end of their set by Van Dyke Parks himself for a version of “He Needs Me,” a song co-written by Parks for the soundtrack to Robert Altman’s Popeye film.  They were definitely one of the standout bands of Pop Montreal for me.

The Reasons (minus Clare) would retake the stage as Van Dyke Parks’ band for the entirety of his set, thus displaying further evidence of their instrumental prowess as they joined Parks on both his own songs and a few from various other writers.  At least one of those songs stretched way back to the 1800s.  “I come from a country that no longer exists.” he said as an acknowledgment of his affinity for a bygone era of American life.  Parks was a pretty engaging performer, telling various stories about his life, his songs, and his inspirations.  He’s a very eloquent speaker.  I would probably not have minded that much had he spent half an hour just talking about his songs, but I suppose that’s what his songwriting and arranging workshop held earlier in the afternoon was for.  Too bad I didn’t get into Montreal til later in the afternoon or I would have caught that for sure.  He also got political at times, telling stories such as that of the sinking of oil tanker The Prestige, which inspired him to write one of his songs.   Despite his at times almost curmudgeonly demeanor, he was also very gracious and pleased to be playing, telling the crowd, “I love you” at the end of his set.  He closed out his set with a version of the Beach Boys classic “Heroes and Villains” before returning for a brief encore of 2 songs.  Definitely a unique and talented performer.

Check out Clare and the Reasons’ Daytrotter sessions here.

Clare & The Reasons – Rodi by senseless

Concert Review: Holy Fuck, Sept 29, Phoenix Theatre

Posted on by sarahw in Concerts, Everything | 1 Comment

Toronto – Holy Fuck is not your typical electronic band. Unlike the plethora of digital ensembles equipped with laptops and pre-programmed backing tracks, Holy Fuck set themselves apart by using a 35mm film synchronizer and toy keyboards to produce their analog noises.

Say what you want about bands with expletives in their name: they’re all about shock, they won’t be able to reach the mainstream, or they’re just offensive. Holy Fuck is the perfect name for this band. While watching the show I kept thinking:

“Holy fuck, there are reels of film flying out of that keyboard contraption!”

“Holy fuck they don’t have a laptop!”

“Holy fuck are they using a toy gun to make that noise?”

Yes, it’s that kind of show and if you’re a fan of their albums then you must see them live. Their act on stage looks fantastically precise and intricate while the sound they produce is so raw, experimental, and psychedelic.

The set featured songs from their junior album Latin. Infectious Latin America grabbed the loyal audience as Red Lights, Stilettos and my new favourite Stay Lit made them say holy fuck again. A lot of their songs sound like they could be the soundtrack for a chase scene in an action movie, very fast-paced rhythms with driving beats. To me their music resembles a mix of Ratatat (Stay Lit sounds like it could be one of their songs) and Caribou (both having a very layered, original sound).

Holy Fuck was the brainchild of obscure sound machine creator Brian Borcherdt. Alongside Brian is keyboardist Graham Walsh, Drummer Matt Shultz and Bassist Matt Mcquaid. The combination of conventional instruments with layers of non-instrumental noises creates music that sounds bigger than the quartette, an electronic orchestra if you will.

The only disappointment at this show was that it was only about half full. I suppose electronic music doesn’t appeal to everyone and that Holy Fuck pales in comparison to Justin Bieber. Regardless, I would recommend seeing this band live before listening to the album and I’ll leave you with a cool mini documentary that I came across by City Sonic.

Holy Fuck – Stay Lit by alexman9

Concert Review: James, September 30, Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Posted on by Ricky in Concerts, Everything | 4 Comments

James, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Toronto

Toronto – WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Just one day after I wrote about not wooing at shows, I found myself doing it excessively at the Queen Elizabeth Theater. The difference however, was everyone in the audience was also doing it. Still, kinda hypocritical. Anyways, James was in town Thursday night to play to a sold out show at Queen Elizabeth Theatre. They were here to promote their double releases this year – The Morning After and the Night Before but lets not kid ourselves here. Everyone in the crowd (most nearing 40 or over) was here for the hits. To say James delivered in spades would be an understatement.

At 9:15. The lights went out, except for a singular spot light pointing to an entrance near the end of the crowd. Whadyya know? It’s Tim Booth and Larry Gott, kicking off the show in a spectacular fashion – an acoustic version of Sit Down. Watch my video here, and excuse my singing:

It’s such a brilliant start. I would imagine that 80% of this crowd was here for the Phoenix show a few years ago and they, like me, made a mental note about how Sit Down was not played at that show. So what happens? James starts off with that song, and walks through the crowd. Fantastic.

It’s hard to describe what it feels like to be at a James show except that if you are a fan, or even a casual music fan, it would be hard to not get caught up in the tidal wave of enthusiasm that goes through the crowd and ultimately reflects back on the band. Tim Booth does his usual Tim Booth dance and is a master on stage, often engaging the crowd, leading us on, guiding us on a journey through out the night. Sure he does it every night, but you never get a sense that it’s a routine. There’s a certain amount of humility and genuine honesty that James has that makes them seem like such a personal band, despite making pretty standard (but completely awesome) pop music.

The one obvious highlight for me was that they played Tomorrow, a song they decided to skip the last time around. It’s easily one of my favorite songs of all time and has been for well over a decade. So needless to say, when you hear a favorite song of yours live for the first time ever, it gets pretty freakin epic.

Obviously, the middle stages of the set featured some new tracks off the double album, including Porcupine, Dust Motes and It’s Hot. I don’t think everyone in the audience was familiar with these songs and reacted accordingly, which may have frustrated Tim Booth a little. He tried his best to get the crowd dancing, but while a lot of them where, there were more who didn’t. Perhaps it was the seated arrangement. It’s always a bit odd to dance in a seated venue, but maybe that’s just me.

Following Dust Motes, the band went into overdrive – a steady flow of hits followed – 5-0, Stutter, Say Something, Laid and the set closer Sound. Laid featured an onstage invitation and was as awesome as you expect it to be:

A rapturous ovation lead to the band returning for a planned encore of Out to Get You and Sometimes, the latter resulting in a massive sing a long. A second encore did not occur. I was kind of expecting them to come back out to sing Come Home but the Queen Elizabeth Theatre people quickly turned the lights on and played background music. Maybe they wanted to go home. I dunno, I don’t think anyone else did.

In conclusion, it was an epic night and this was my favorite show of the year so far. The great thing is, I get to see them twice more this year in England. 2010 has been good to me.

Set list (stolen from wearejames.com)
———————
SIT DOWN
RING THE BELLS
SEVEN
DREAM THRUM
PORCUPINE
TELL HERE I SAID SO
IT’S HOT
GETTING AWAY WITH IT
TOMORROW
JAM J
DUST MOTES
5-0
STUTTER
CRAZY
SAY SOMETHING
LAID
SOUND
———————
OUT TO GET YOU
SOMETIMES

Porcupine by ‘James’