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

Posted on October 4, 2010 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 October 4, 2010 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 October 1, 2010 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’

Concert Review: Suckers, Menomena, Sept 28, Mod Club

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Ricky in Concerts | Leave a comment

Toronto – The Mod Club was home to two of 2010’s most critically acclaimed bands Tuesday night in the form of Brooklyn’s Suckers and Portland’s Menomena. I was primarily there for Suckers, a band off the French Kiss label that first captured my affection with their ep and then cemented my love for them with their excllent debut effort Wild Smile.

Seeing as how I have been going on and on about Suckers for the better part of this year, you would think I would have gone extra early to ensure I caught the entire show. NOPE. Trying to time it so I arrived just before they started, I misjudged their start time and as I entered, I can hear them playing. Horrified, I asked the door girl when they had started, I had missed either two or three songs. Sick. Which brings me to think, what are some of the worse things that can happen when approaching a concert venue? Here’s a list:

1. You forgot your ticket
2. The band is already playing
3. You have a pair of tickets, but your friend is late and your cell phone is dying and the band is about to go on
4. You don’t have a ticket, but your friend is nowhere to be found/inside and not answering phone + band is playing
5. The Nazis attack

When I did get in, I was immediately shocked at how packed the show was. Despite my love for this band, I haven’t seen much press for Suckers so it pleased me to see a large audience for them. Either that or Menomena has a bunch of keeners for fans.

The short half hour set was impressive and gave the fans a nice taste of what the Suckers are about: strong vocal harmonies layered over carefully arranged music. Lead singer Quinn Walker has a great voice and he wasn’t shy about using it, occasionally delivering vocals in pitches usually reserved for Mariah Carey (specially for the song Before Your Birthday Ends). Set ender It Gets Your Body Movin featured a horn section and an insanely talented whistling display. It’s a shame they were the openers, as I enjoyed the suckers live performance quite a bit. Hopefully next time they’ll play a proper/longer show.

Suckers – A Mind I Knew by nmemagazine

I didn’t know much about Menomena before the show. I didn’t even know how to pronounce their name til Monday. If you are confused about it, it’s like the LL Cool J song

Something like a phenomena
Something like a phenomena

And then take off the p. Having looked up the band before their set, I found out that they were on the Barsuk label. Gary loves Barsuk labelled artists like a fat kid loves cake so I’ll hand it over to him for this portion.

Menomena pretty much had all the genres that I can think of covered. There’s a metal song, some sing alongs, one song with piano rift intro that sounded like Moby’s Porcelain, and yet another the piano is used as a counter to a bassoon that had a Peter and the Wolf kind of charm (I’d like to go home is the name?). It’s not that I don’t like their music. I think there’s a song called This will all End One Day that I found very good. Although it’s very uneven throughout the evening, the show was energetic.

Despite not hearing one single track of theirs before the show, I enjoyed Menomena, I thought they did a good job building up each track with layers of keyboard, guitar, trumpet or whatever it was they were using. Their tracks definitely varied in style, as one minute, you would think you were listening to a Chicago style lounge band and the next minute you were at a 80s new age disco hall. I found the large variety of musical styles engaging, but at the same time I was unable to fully delve into the show. Maybe I need consistency, I don’t know why.

Before we finish off this review, let us talk about concert etiquette. More specifically, let’s talk about wooooing. We get it, you are enjoying a show. You want to let it be known, so you wooo. Once a song is okay, but there is only one person allowed to do mulitiple wooooos Ina short period of time, and that’s this guy:

If you are not this guy, please be respectful. There are many people around you at a close range, the last thing they want to hear every 30 seconds is you high pitched impression of a high school cheerleader.

So overall, pleasant night at the Mod Club. I look forward to the next time the Suckers are in town.

Menomena – TAOS by cityslang

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