Concert Review: Four Corners II, Jan. 14, Steelworkers Hall

Posted on by Paul in Concerts | Leave a comment

Toronto – Four Corners is a pretty interesting concept for a concert.  There is no stage.  There are no opening acts or headliners.  Instead, there are four bands, each set up in one corner of the room and taking turns every couple of songs, culminating in all four bands jamming together.  For this, the second edition, the bands involved were Lullabye Arkestra, Quest For Fire, Sun Ra Ra Ra, and Rituals.

Rituals were up first and I’ve got to say they didn’t really make much of an impression on me at all.  This could have something to do with the fact that they were playing in the corner that was furthest away from me, but on the other hand, they didn’t want to make me move closer either.

Sun Ra Ra Ra, on the other hand, made quite the impression on me.  Again, their placement in the room could have had some bearing on my opinion as I was right in front of them, but the Peterborough based band impressed me with their garage/psych/rock n’ roll sound.  Their opening song had a very immediate visceral vibe and an opening riff that reminded me a bit of The Monkees’ “Circle Sky” (this is a good thing … no, seriously).  These guys seem to play around Toronto quite a bit and I’m looking forward to seeing them play a regular set sometime soon.

The remaining corners were filled by two more established Toronto bands, Quest For Fire and Lullabye Arkestra.  Quest For Fire did not disappoint with some solid stoner rock, but they didn’t blow me away either.  They seemed to be keeping it a bit low key, but perhaps that was just a side effect of being sandwiched between Sun Ra Ra Ra and Lullabye Arkestra.  Lullabye Arkestra had an abundance of energy.  The husband and wife duo make a hell of a lot of noise for just two people. 

One of the drawbacks of a show like this is that a band doesn’t necessarily get to build up much steam.  It’s a bit like musical ADD in some respects.  However, it does make for a nice sort of sampler and a unique live music experience.   It also took place in a union hall, which I think is notable since really, how often do you get to see a show at a union hall?        

Lullabye Arkestra – We Fuck The Night by wavelengthtoronto

Lyrical Analysis: Our Lady Peace – Superman’s Dead

Posted on by Ricky in Rickys Random Articles | 3 Comments

Toronto – Everyone who grew up as a teenager or a preteen in the 90s had Our Lady Peace‘s second record, Clumsy (except Paul, apparently). Nevermind the fact that the band has spent the past decade trying to be Canada’s crappier version of U2 (and abandoning the older fans in the process), this album was pretty damn good in it’s hey day.

If you are like me, you were probably always wondering – what in the holy hell was Superman’s Dead about?

Lets take a look at the lyrics:

do you worry that you’re not liked
how long till you break
you’re happy cause you smile
but how much can you fake
an ordinary boy an ordinary name
but ordinary’s just not good enough today

Chorus:
alone I’m thinking
why is superman dead
is it in my head
we’ll just laugh instead
you worry about the weather and
whether or not you should hate

are you worried about your faith
kneel down and obey
you’re happy you’re in love
you need someone to hate
an ordinary girl an ordinary waist
but ordinary’s just not good enough today

Chorus

doesn’t anybody ever know
that the world’s a subway…

Going to the always accurate SongMeanings.net, the general consensus is that the song is about bullying because the word “superman’s dead” implies that there is no one to rescue the said person. Maybe it’s about expectations or female imagery in the media, as the line “an ordinary girl an ordinary waist, but ordinary’s just not good enough today”. Maybe Raine Maida was just really high. Maybe OLP was just trying to be very topical, since it was around the time when DC killed off Superman and returned with those five different guys. I really don’t know.

What does the line “the world’s a subway” mean?

– moves very fast?
– you can get on and off?
– every year, gets more expensive?
– not available to third world countries?

Maybe it’s referring to the restaurant chain, and the world is about how you have limited selections?

Some of these mysteries will never be solved, but it’s still good to think about occasionally, what’s your take?

NSTF Review: At the Sans Hotel

Posted on by Brian in Everything, Fringe, Reviews, Theatre | Leave a comment

Toronto – How would you show a schizophrenic having a mental breakdown on stage? It’s hard to imagine what that would look like, but even if Nicola Gunn’s At the Sans Hotel doesn’t have it exactly right, I have to think it’s got to be pretty close.

Gunn, a Fringe veteran from Australia, took inspiration from the story of Cornelia Rau, a mentally ill German woman who was detained by Australian immigration authorities but turned out to be a permanent resident, in writing her new work. But At the Sans Hotel isn’t really about that story; it begins with a different character entirely talking directly to the audience about her life, drawing the “dramatic arc” on a chalkboard and discussing metaphors in playwrighting, and eventually revealing that the great artist Nicola Gunn isn’t here tonight because she had a breakdown writing her new masterpiece At the Sans Hotel.

It just gets weirder from there. “Sophie” says she has a questionnaire for the crowd, but only mimes handing it out (though she hands out real pencils), but then goes through the questions on stage like “How are you?”, “How are you enjoying the play so far?” and “What is hopelessness?” (“some of the questions are harder than others,” she says). There are several uncomfortable silences, during which Sophie stares straight ahead or sits behind the chalkboard. A light-up sign that says “Rescue Me” comes out at one point, and goes back and forth across the stage for a minute or so. She invites someone from the crowd on stage to play musical chairs with her to win a Nicola Gunn promo photo, then belittles him quite viciously when he loses.

“Sophie” also talks about how much she wishes we could see the great dramatic scene of Gunn’s masterwork, because it has a great sequence where Nicola sits at a table, all you can see is her legs, and asks herself questions. Then this sequence makes up the bulk of the second half of the show, with Gunn acting the part of both the mentally ill person and her interviewer, while the audience can’t see her face. Like Sophie said, it is very dramatic and haunting.

For a show so scattered and disjointed, At the Sans Hotel is surprisingly intimate. At several points it’s hard to tell if Gunn is talking about her schizophrenic inspiration or herself. You can’t help but think, at times, when “Sophie” talks about Gunn having a mental breakdown while writing this play that maybe she’s telling the truth. It’s an unsettling show, funny and creepy and personal and disconnected, all at once.

It’s so rambling and bizarre at times that it’s hard to get a grip on what you’re seeing at times. But Gunn is such a great performer that even when, by all rights, she should’ve lost the audience completely, she manages to bring us back in. Don’t go in expecting a tight narrative, and I certainly wouldn’t call it a “psychological detective story” like the Next Stage website does, but it’s an interesting show that’s well worth your time.

At the Sans Hotel runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week as part of Next Stage. See their website for schedule details and tix.

NSTF Review: The Apology

Posted on by Brian in Everything, Fringe, Reviews, Theatre | Leave a comment

Toronto – Apologizing isn’t a big part of The Apology, running now as part of the Next Stage Theatre Festival at Factory Theatre. In fact, while the characters continually jump beds, make grand statements and have melodramatic arguments about politics and polyamory and parenthood, and leave each other, come back, then leave again, the only thing they really don’t do to each other is apologize.

The Apology is a quasi-historical, fictionalized sex drama featuring Mary Shelley, most famously the author of Frankenstein; her lover, and later her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley; her half-sister Claire Clairmont; and romantic poet Lord Byron. In this story, the four young idealists decide to leave behind the trappings of England and their high society parents and run away together to write, do drugs, wax poetic about their visions of utopian society and have lots of sex with each other.

Sure, it’s sexy. It’s occasionally rather funny. It’s tragic, and it’s melodramatically over-the-top like an episode of Gossip Girl. The four actors are very, very good, particularly David Beazely as the smoldering, bisexual Byron and Sascha Cole as the ditzy, sweet Clairmont.

It’s also quite dense. It’s occasionally a bit confusing. It’s heavy-handed, and the relentless tragedy to end it off gets a bit tiring. Darrah Teitel’s script feels almost like it’s too smart for it’s own good, particularly when the characters deliver lines comparing the creative process with having children and monsters. In a “playwright’s note” in the program it says that anarchy and feminism are the “twin pillars of this play,” but feminism seems to only really come through the sexual liberation of the two women, and anarchy doesn’t seem to fit in at all, unless having sex with multiple partners is anarchy. The clothes seem to indicate a modern setting for Shelley and her 19th century peers, as do talk of photos in the tabloid newspapers and book launch parties, but it’s hard for the show to work as a period piece when you remove the characters from their time period; in other words, running from the Victorian era-values of their home lives and only communicating with the outside world by letter makes a lot less sense if they’re not actually in the Victorian era.

Still, the acting is quite good, and the on-stage chemistry between the four is worth the price of admission. If you’re turned on by on-stage nudity and almost-sex, then you’ll definitely get your money’s worth. But as a piece of theatre, it’s just ok.

The Apology runs Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week as part of Next Stage. Check their site for details and ticket info.