Concerts

Concert Review: Art Brut, August 12, Lees Palace

Posted on August 13, 2009 by Ricky in Concerts, Everything | 5 Comments

Art_Brut3200-742648

Toronto – Eddie Argos wants you to form a band. Why? here are 3 reasons:

1. More records in record shops
2. It’s fun (“Look at how much fun we are having!…this can be yooooooooou”)
3. Because he told you so.

I believe it was Art Brut‘s mission last night to inspire the 100-150 people at Lee’s Palace to start a band…bring back rock n roll and have a good time. Touring in promotion of their third full length album (Art Brut vs Satan), the German-England outfit brought out their A game to deliver a great show to those who showed up. Anyone who has listened to any Art Brut songs will know it is mostly lead signer Eddie Argos delivering razor sharp lyrics over pseudo punk/hard rock riffs and man, the lyrics are amazing (“DC Comics and chocolate milkshakes..some things will always be great!”).

“Modern Art…makes me…want to rock out!”

Art Brut definitely rocked out last night. There was a lot of screaming, dancing, jumping around and of course, a crowd invasion during the song “Modern Art” which had Eddie going into the crowd and telling a story about visiting the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Hell, at one point, he was using the microphone cord as a skipping rope. The 80 minute set consisted of songs from all three albums and hilarious intros to most songs. Older songs that were played included “My Little Brother”, “Emily Kane”, “Good weekend”, “Bad Weekend”, “Bang Bang Rock and Roll”, “Direct Hit” and “18000 Liras”. The last of which was a request that interrupted Argos mid sentence during the encore..the exchange went a little something like this:

Eddie: “Our next song is about drunken text messagi-“
Fan: “18000 LIRAS!!!!”
Eddie: “and 18,000 liras..Art Brut, are you ready? 18000 Liras, lets go!”
*plays 18000 Liras*
Eddie: “Our next song is about drunken text messaging…”

Anyways, there were many of those nice little bits throughout the show and it made for a very intimate and excellent show from one of the most honest bands I’ve seen.

Check them out if you are in this area
13 Aug 2009 Magic Stick Detroit
14 Aug 2009 Subterranean Chicago
15 Aug 2009 Green Festival Chicago

Concert Review: St. Vincent, The Horseshoe, Aug 8

Posted on August 10, 2009 by Mark in Concerts, Everything | 1 Comment

st-vincent

Toronto – St. Vincent played the Horseshoe last Saturday night. It’s been a few years since their last visit, and having been to their last Toronto show (also at the ‘Shoe), it was interesting to see what has changed and what hasn’t. Still present is lead-singer/guitarist Annie Clark ‘s unpretentious and cute stage banter, but now she has a larger following. Not only was the band bigger, but so was the audience. This time around she played to a sold out crowd after the recent release of her 2nd album, Actor.

If you recognize this song, maybe you could yell the name of it, or clap. Nevermind, do whatever you want, I don’t want to micro-manage you.   – Annie Clark

Seeing St. Vincent in 2007 at the Horseshoe just after the release of Marry Me, her debut album, was one of the standout rock shows of the year for me. I was very much looking forward to her playing songs from her new album along with a healthy dose of songs from the first. Although they did play a smattering of songs from the debut, I would have loved to hear a few more; and the crowd was not far behind me. They did start the set with the title track from the Marry Me album, but I could tell almost immediately that a lot of the energy that I remembered from their last show was curiously absent. The first song trundled from start to finish and seemed set the pace for the rest of the show.

One of the things I remember most vividly about her last Toronto appearance was how this unassuming diminuitive young lady could shred guitar like nobody’s business. She rocked out on an extended, inspired, and gritty solo providing a definite wow factor that had the crowd thinking, “How can a girl that tiny rock a guitar like that?”. I was a little disappointed that Annie’s rock guitar skills weren’t as prominent as they were the last time. Despite the sold out crowd at the beginning, it felt like the ‘Shoe thinned out by the end of the set.

Annie did still have her distinctive two-mic setup: one mic for innocent girl voice, one mic for bad girl voice (distorted). It makes for a fun time watching her switch between the two mic’s. In addition to the standard rythm section, she had a violin player and a woodwinds player (sax, flute, and other instruments). Under normal circumstances I think the additions to the band add a pleasing padding to Annie’s haunting lyrics and soulful songwriting. This time around I felt we were only getting a fraction of what this band is capable of on a good night.

It’s the nature of live music that sometimes you’re “on” and sometimes you’re not. Maybe the band can’t find their groove, or they can’t strike a connection with the crowd. This can lead to a lacklustre performance. Despite a lot of success in the interim, St. Vincent just wasn’t able to bring the same kind of raw energy that was on display during their last visit. Here’s hoping we’ll catch them on a better night next time. I’ll see you there.

Concert Review: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, August 5, Kool Haus

Posted on August 6, 2009 by Ricky in Concerts | 6 Comments

yeah-yeah-yeahs

Toronto – Touring in promotion of their latest (and probably greatest) album “It’s Blitz!”, the YYY rolled into town with two sold out dates at the Kool Haus with maximum velocity – their singles “Zero” and “Heads will Roll” are on all the mainstream rock stations here and well, its safe to say they have made it. The sold out crowd at the Kool Haus ranged from angsty teenagers to cool brookyln wannabe hipsters to grizzled rockers, all liking the band for different reasons, and all ready to bow to the Tao of Karen O.

The band went on at roughly 10:15. The stage resembled a cross of a high school prom (confetti included) and rocky picture horror show, with a big gigantic eyeball, which sadly, was not put into play during the show. I don’t even remember what song they started off with but they did cover material from all the albums, including “Machine” off their EP from way back when. Other oldies include Y-Control, Rich, Man, an acoustic version of Maps and the set closer “Date with the Night”. Maps, in particular was delightful because it induced a Kool Haus singalong, no doubt the songs inclusion in either Guitar Hero or Rock Band probably helped out a bit. Newer material like Zero (with an extended intro) and Heads will Roll got the best reactions I say (besides Maps), but I am sure the new YYY fans will look into the back catalog after the show.

I would recommend going to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to everyone. Karen O is just so awesome on stage. She poses, she dances, she twirls, she sings to all sides of the stage, she swallows the mic, she dresses in weird clothes with tassles, she jumps around.. she pretty much does everything and it all looks so cool and natural. It’s quite mesmerizing, the band is just crazy good live and they definitely know how to whip up a good show. They say they loved Toronto, and I’m pretty sure we love them too.

*EDIT*

Here is the set list, thanks to Tanisha – I also have a very bad memory, as I thought they played Rich and Man, clearly, not.

Dull Life (It’s Blitz!)
Gold Lion (Show Your Bones)
Black Tongue (Fever to Tell)
Shame and Fortune (It’s Blitz!)
Kiss Kiss (Isis [EP])
Heads Will Roll (It’s Blitz!)
Machine (Machine [EP])
Skeletons (It’s Blitz!)
Hysteric (It’s Blitz!)
Cheated Hearts (Show Your Bones)
Zero (It’s Blitz!)
Turn Into (Show Your Bones)
Y Control (Fever to Tell)

Encore:
Maps – Acoustic (Fever to Tell)
Honeybear (Show Your Bones)
Date with the Night (Fever to Tell)

Concert review: Ida Maria, Glasvegas, August 3 at Emo’s

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Alli in Concerts | Leave a comment

Austin – Monday night felt like SXSW 2009 all over again when I cruised into town to see two of my favorites from the festival earlier this year. When I heard they’d be coming through again I was ecstatic to have a chance to see them play longer than 35 minutes each.

Allow me to set the scene for you: Emo’s is a partially outdoor venue. The stage area and the space directly in front of it has a roof, but the rest of the venue does not. This is Texas, so it was at least 90 degrees F outside, despite it being late in the evening. This means it was HOT AND MISERABLE. To be honest, I was concerned our Euro-based entertainment for the evening was going to have an issue with that, but they seemed to just ignore it. So was it worth sweating and soaking through my clothes just standing there watching? Yes.

Ida Maria came on first; I learned beforehand that while she is Norwegian, everyone in her band is Swedish. Curious, it sounds like a band from LA having a New Yorker rhythm section or something. Whatever works, though. She was not quite as animated and stage dominating as the previous time I saw her due to the aforementioned heat – definitely can’t blame her for that, though. She tore through basically her entire album and the crowd loved it. She introduced my personal favorite “Forgive Me” by explaining “This is a song about an arsehole”, something I’m sure almost everyone there could relate to. Apologies for not having a better photo to post. Emo’s has terrible lighting to begin with and when they don’t bother to use what they have, it’s anything but ideal for amateurs like myself. After her set she parked herself at the merch booth and was chatting with fans and signing CD’s and posters, which was really cool and appreciated by fans.

Glasvegas thankfully started their set on time (sorry, I have a day job and don’t actually live in Austin proper), I glanced behind me and saw that the club was packed and people were PUMPED to see them, including myself. Nobody seemed to mind the heat, I know I was too busy trying not to scratch the growing number of mosquito bites on my legs. Drummer Caroline McKay took her spot standing behind the drums as usual, something I always find to be interesting to watch. They jumped right into the set hitting things off with the hit single “Geraldine”, which easily gets the Most Lovely Lyrics award from me. Swoontastic. Singer James Allan’s long sleeved shirt lasted about 3/4 of a song, removing it revealed his usual black muscle tank; this time adorned with a sparkly version of the Adidas logo. Nice touch. They played for a full hour but it seemed like twenty minutes, I don’t think I will ever be able to get enough of this band. The music just sweeps over and through you and it’s impossible to not be swept away with it. I am really excited for them to eventually stop touring and record a second album after what must be an amazing 2009 for them.

Something I feel I should point out is that I could not go to sleep when I got home, even though I had to be up in 5 hours and was physically exhausted and dehydrated from sweating so much. I couldn’t get all the songs I had heard throughout the night out of my head. I think this speaks volumes for the music these artists write. It matters and affects people. So go see them already!

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