Toronto – So there’s two big festivals going on in march – SXSW and CMW, so in the next few weeks, we’ll be posting up some random stuff about bands that are playing at these festivals. First up is Floridian band Surfer Blood. These guys are currently riding a wave of critical acclaim (Pitchfork gave it 8.2) into Austin and you can be sure their showcases will be packed. Their album Astro Coast was released on January 19th and reviews have generally been favorable. Also, they have TWO songs named after a WWF catchphrase (“jabroni”). It’s kind of hard to pin point what kind of music they sound like. I guess it’s mostly indie power pop, filled with big riffs, occasional feedback and reverb. Check out the song Swim, aside from all the big elements I just mentioned, it also has a Vampire Weekend-ish instrumental in the middle.
Surfer Blood will also be at Sneaky Dees, March 6th as well as at SXSW.
Toronto – Yup, your favorite trip hoppers are touring North America once again. I saw them last time at the Carlu (2006) and it was my favorite concert of that year, they even brought Liz Frasor and Horace Andy. People were passing out, it was so good (or crowded). Highly recommended. I will even venture to the fifth level of Hell (aka the Sound Academy) for this one. Here are the tour dates thus far:
Massive Attack – 2010 North American Tour Dates
5/07 Toronto, ON – Sound Academy
5/09 Toronto, ON – Sound Academy
5/11 NYC, NY – Terminal 5
5/12 NYC, NY – Terminal 5
5/18 Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
5/19 Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
5/25 San Francisco, CA – Warfield Theater
5/27 San Francisco, CA – Warfiled Theater
5/30 George, WA – Sasquatch Festival
Toronto – With two Swedish bands playing, it was Nordic night at The Mod Club. In fact, taking into account the documentary on Norwegian black metal that I saw on Saturday, this was a whole Nordic themed weekend for me … but I digress. I will add though that El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees seem much nicer than Count Grischnach and are highly unlikely to burn down any churches.
When I arrived at the club, Taken By Trees were already more than halfway through their set, which was a bit disappointing as they sounded really good, a bit reminiscent of bands like Belle and Sebastien or Camera Obscura, but with maybe a bit more of an exotic vibe. They incorporated some bongos into their sound at times and the keyboard player had a nice trippy flute type sound he used from time to time, giving me the impression of the aforementioned bands jamming with Rick Wakeman or Kitaro. Awesome. The trippiness was further enhanced by the video screens showing nature images in a loop – things like flowers, raccoons, and what I think was people riding horses through the water. One of their last few songs was introduced as “a rare song … a b-side” and it ended up being the best of the bunch in my opinion, having a bit of a twangy vibe.
After a break, El Perro del Mar took the stage and I was surprised to find that singer Sarah Assbring was backed up by the same band that made up Taken by Trees (minus the keyboard guy). This is a good thing as they were a pretty solid band. The rhythm section was especially impressive, with the drummer hitting harder than I had expected and the bass was loud as hell, maybe a bit too loud at times, at least from where I was standing for the first few songs. Still, the bassist laid down some solid grooves, even sounding a bit dubby at times.
Sarah Assbring has a powerful voice and put it to good use this night. While singing, she alternated between playing an acoustic guitar and doing a sort of swaying dance that reminded me of something you might see from an 80s pop group like Bananarama or Boy George (I know he’s not a “group” but you get what I’m saying and besides I’m not sure if the other members of Culture Club did much dancing) or maybe a scene from some long lost John Hughes movie set in Sweden. The songs ranged from slightly uptempo tunes to some more downbeat yet lush sounding ballads like “It Is Something (To Have Wept).” She also engaged the crowd with some awkward but endearing attempts at stage banter that didn’t always elicit much response. That could have something to do with the fact that it was a Sunday, something she herself mentioned on stage.
“I know it’s a Sunday, but we’re going to try and get a groove going.” she said. They did.
Toronto – This was the third of four Wednesday night performances by Gentleman Reg at the Drake in February. Opening up the night was Dance Yourself To Death. My theory about the word ‘dance’ is that if you use it as a song title or in your bands name, then your music needs to make me want to dance. The same theory applies to the words ‘clap’, ‘shake’, and ‘party’ as in Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, The Cajun Dance Party, Harlem Shakes and You Say Party! We Say Die! All of these bands make me want to clap, shake, party and dance.
Anyway, I really liked Dance Yourself To Death, and yes, people did dance. They reminded me of Heart and Pat Benatar. As a band, they were really, really tight. For a band that I hadn’t heard of before, I really enjoyed their set. It looks like their rehearsal time has paid off since they are opening up for Sia in April at the Phoenix.
Next up, Sheezer. Yeah. Sheezer is an all girl Weezer cover band from Toronto. The band consists of Laura Barrett (Hidden Cameras & Herself), Dana Snell (The Bicycles), Magali Meagher (The Phonomes), Alysha Haugen and Robin Hatch. This was their second show ever.
Weezer songs tug at my heart and each one comes with a memory. I have an emotional connection with Weezer because they remind me of my younger, care free, jobless days when I had nothing better to do than sleep in until noon and make my 2:30 class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was emotionally ready for this show and the girls certainly satisfied.
Alysha Haugen on lead guitar was amazing. Watching her rip it up kept my attention for most of the show. Her slacker guitar stance really sold it too, as if to say to the crowd “Yah, I’ll play this for a while, now I’m gonna do some of this, now I’ll take a break, now some of this”.
The highlight for me had to be El Scorcho, not because it is my favourite Weezer song, but because Magail Meagher took over lead vocal duties. Magail is cool. I like her style. Of all the girls on stage, it was obvious that she was having the most fun and this totally sold the song, along with her entire performance.
It was clear to me that Sheezer still needs to work on some of their songs. Laura admitted that they were still in the process of learning the Weezer repertoire when somebody shouted out “In The Garage” and Laura responded with “Yah, I’d like to hear that too”. There was a lot of looking around on stage. Everybody was checking in to see what everybody else was playing. It was fine because the crowd could see and feel that they were kind of winging it, but as audience members, we were right there with them.
We didn’t stay for Gentleman Reg, but he is back next Wedbesday at the Drake with Evening Hymns opening up.
My girlfriend bought me a pin and all the way home we told each other that our names were Jonas.
