Toronto – Had I seen Ricky’s review of WOMEN’s June 17 show, I might have thought twice about checking them out. Not that they were bad, but I have to say, I pretty much agree with everything Ricky said. They do have a lot of interesting sounds and i was really digging a few of their songs … but the songs themselves weren’t really that memorable. As Ricky already said, it does almost tend to become background music and the vocals were kind of just muttered into the mic. The room was packed and a lot of people were really into it, but something about it left me a bit cold. It could have been the fact that it was 2:00 AM and i probably needed something a bit more jolting and less contemplative to keep me awake. It could have been that they were just noodling around too much for my taste. It could have been that I left the Zeus show at The El Mo to check these guys out. (By the way, Zeus played an awesome cover of Genesis’ “That’s All.”) “They sound like Fugazi on crack,” said a friend of mine who was at the show. I don’t think he meant it as a compliment, but to me, the song they were playing at the moment was one of the best in their set maybe because it sounded like Fugazi on crack.
The room pretty much emptied out as 3:00 approached and Murder Ford Monument prepared to take the stage. Which is a shame, because the Montreal band played a pretty great set of epic, moody indie rock. A bit like The National, only heavier. The whole set was a slow build of sorts and those who stayed seemed to enjoy it, especially the crazy dancing Filipino guy who seemed to be drunk or high or something. There was a lot of swaying and jazz hands on this guy’s part. “Thanks for the dancing,” said singer Jesse LeGallais at one point. The dancing guy persisted for quite a few songs before disappearing into the night.
Toronto – Picture if you will … a viking. Ready to conquer, to pillage … always in search of a new challenge, a new adventure … but there’s one problem. This viking is sleepy. This is the perfect metaphor for North By Northeast. The sleep deprived, brain-addled music fan stumbles from venue to venue, searching for that next big fix, the next great band, all while fighting the fact that they’ve been up ’til 4:00 the previous night. We are all sleepy vikings, my friends.
Sleepy Vikings are a Tampa based band who play a hazy, jangly, shoegazy brand of music that can go from gently strummed tunes to a full on aural assault. Their myspace page describes them as indie/southern rock/shoegaze and I guess that works as well as anything. Actually, the southern rock tag might work better than I thought. As I listen to their songs after the fact, I realized that Julian Conner’s vocals on “Dear Long Distance” remind me a bit of fellow Floridian Tom Petty. I don’t quite recall if they played that song though. They definitely did play “Flashlight Tag,” a somewhat haunting tune which highlighted singer/keyboardist/occasional snaredrum player Tessa McKenna’s lovely voice. The band closed off the set with a pretty good cover of The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind.”
I spoke briefly with one of the guitarists after their set as I noticed she was wearing a t-shirt that said “Peterbilt Tampa.” “Is that a trucking t-shirt?’ I asked. She replied that her uncle (and I think maybe some other family members) was a trucker. I told her that I could hear the truck influence in their music. She laughed but I’m sure she wondered what the hell I was talking about. So did I for that matter.
Toronto – North By Northeast starts tomorrow. The city will be full of music lovers checking out shows and drinking ’til 4 am. And most of them probably want to go to the same shows as you. I’m sorry, but it’s true. That’s why it’s always good to have a backup. Ricky already advised in his NXNE commandments of the value of knowing what else is going on at nearby venues if your plans get changed. So I’m here to talk about some of the more interesting acts – a few of the big ticket bands, but also a lot of the somewhat lesser known. Here goes:
Wednesday
I guess this is the first official night of the fest. It’s pretty slim pickings, but there’s a few things going on if you’re looking.
Eagles of Death Metal are the big ticket show of the night. They’re playing The Phoenix, first 200 passes get in and since there’s not a whole heck of a lot going on otherwise, it’s a pretty safe bet those 200 slots will be filled. If you don’t get in, you can console yourself with the knowledge that Josh Homme won’t even be there, as he’s too busy hanging out with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones anyways.
Also of note are Cavaliers!, a fine alt-county outfit who’ll be playing The Bovine at 10:00. Their sound is reminiscent of Ryan Adams and The Jayhawks, full of sweet harmonies and a bunch of guitar solos.
Thursday
Andy Kim: Andy Kim! Rock Me Gently! Sugar Sugar! Need I say more? OK, I will – once upon a time, Mr. Andy Kim briefly went by the stage name of Baron Longfellow! For no apparent reason. How cool is that? He’s playing at 8:00 as part of the Outlaws And Gunslingers showcase at Lee’s Palace, along with a bunch of rootsy singer-songwriter types like Jim Cuddy, O Susanna, Justin Rutledge and The Beauties.
Teen Tits Wild Wives: Wrongbar, 10:00. Don’t know much about them, but with a name like that, they must be worth seeing.
Another Blue Door: Comfort Zone, 11:00. They’re from The Shwa and they list Pavement and Big Star as influences. Good enough for me.
Walter Schreifels: Legendary in hardcore circles, the former frontman of Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand and Rival Schools will be doing the folksinger thing at The Bovine in the wee small hours (AKA 2:00 am). I was a big fan of Quicksand back in the day and will definitely be checking this one out … unless I get too sleepy.
CBC2 Showcase, The Rivoli: Zeus, Buck 65, Grand Analog, and a couple other performers I’m not familiar with. Zeus is a pretty tight band and Buck is always entertaining. This should be a good one.
Misfits @ The Opera House: If you really want to see Jerry Only covering up his bald spot with a devilock combover, go right ahead. First 50 passholders get in.
Friday:
Best Coast and The Soft Pack are playing The Garrison at 11:00 and 12:00 respectively. Both bands are playing at least one more show elsewhere during the festival, so if you don’t get in to this one, you can always try another night.
The lineup at The Silver Dollar Room is pretty solid tonight. In fact, Silver Dollar showcases are always pretty good. Say what you will about Dan Burke, but the man knows how to book a great lineup. Austin’s Strange Boys are playing their brand of R&b-ish garage rock Thursday through Saturday at The Dollar, plus a show at The Garrison. Also on the bill tonight are By Divine Right, WOMEN, and Murder Ford Monument, who are described in their NXNE bio as sounding like The National and Explosions In The Sky. And they’re driving all the way from Montreal to play one show at 3:00 AM. The least you could do is stop by for a few songs.
Saturday:
Some guy named Iggy is playing Yonge Dundas Square. Will it be as good as his brilliant performance as the Al Martino loving ice rink operator in Snow Day? One can only hope.
Library Voices: The Horseshoe Tavern, 9:00. Library Voices are awesome – fun, poppy tunes full of synths and saxes with multiple vocalists with songs about Kurt Vonnegut. So good.
The High Dials: Rancho Relaxo, 12:00. Fine Montreal psych rock.
Another Canadian band, another nature-themed band name. The Acorn swung by Lee’s Palace Friday night to promote their new album. My favourite part about seeing bands I’m unfamiliar with live, is when I walk out of the show wanting to listen to all the songs again and again. This happened with The Acorn.
Firstly
A side note, between The National show I saw on Wednesday and The Acorn I’ve seen more plaid than at a John Deere convention. Real original guys.
Secondly
After the sea of plaid, the next thing that struck me about The Acorn is the dual percussionists, having two drummers always amazes me and they become very hypnotizing to watch. I was recently blown away by Caribou’s double drummer ensemble. I am not musically inclined whatsoever (like, at all) but I can imagine it difficult to coordinate two drummers. Without these two badass drummers The Acorn would be a little too sappy and folky for my liking, the percussion gives them some decent rock and roll cred.
Thirdly
Another cool part of this band is the presence of a banjo in most of the songs. My fellow concert goer (who also likened the frontman’s voice to Tom Petty, however, upon reflection I think they sound more likeBeirut minus all of the elaborate instruments) plays the banjo and has a serious penchant for this string instrument. The banjo really gives the slower songs a dreamy, romantic sound. For the encore The Acorn played Slippery When Wet from their new album, to me this was the highlight of the show and it reminded me a lot of Your Rocky Spine by Great Lake Swimmers (sigh, Tony Dekker). This song is just Rolf Klausener singing, backed only with the banjo and comes out sounding like a lullaby, indeed a great way to end the show. I now have this song on repeat, yeah, it’s sappy, folky and does not incorporate a badass drum beat…I still like it.
Lastly
The Acorn certainly didn’t blow me away with stage presence but I really enjoyed their unique indie folk sound and would gladly see them again live. In fact they are playing at the Guelph Hillside Festival next month…
