laura barrett

Concert Review: Sheezer, August 20, The Garrison

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Paul in Concerts, Everything | 1 Comment

Toronto – Simply put, the Sheezer show was a lot of fun.  It was one of those occasions where the band onstage is having as much if not more fun than the audience.  Part of the reason for that is that we all shared one thing – we were fans of Weezer … or at least the first two albums.  And The Garrison was packed with people who wanted to hear these songs, making for a somewhat sweaty endeavor.  I imagine that probably half the people here tonight (and quite likely more than that) would not bother coming to see the real Weezer if they were in town.  Although that could change if Rivers Cuomo’s plan to possibly do a Blue Album/Pinkerton tour comes to fruition – he’s obviously taking a page from Sheezer’s playbook.  This is the beauty of Sheezer – members of various Toronto indie rock bands play only the classics from Weezer.  Seeing as how Rivers Cuomo lost the plot years ago, this satisfies those who would rather not hear “Pork and Beans” or “Hashpipe” (although I’m pretty sure they slipped a few seconds of each song into their set) and essentially plays to everyone’s sense of nostalgia .

Speaking of nostalgia, before the band took to the stage, a steady stream of ’90s alt-rock was played over the speakers – Pavement, Hole, Inbreds, Plumtree’s “Scott Pilgrim” – to get us in the mood.  Once they took to the stage, it was fun times all around.  Most of the room was singing along to tunes such as  “Say It Ain’t So,” ‘In The Garage,” “The Good Life,” and of course “The Sweater Song,” complete with friends onstage completing the spoken word parts.  There were a few minor lyric changes such as switching out the Green Day reference in “El Scorcho” for “I asked you to go to the Weezer concert,” or Laura Barrett singing “My name is Janice.”  These were pretty clever and made me laugh a bit, but not as much as I laughed at the guy who unsuccessfully negotiated a crowd surf and had to step off the stage with his dreams unfulfilled.  I’m sorry, dude.  I know you were getting all caught up in the ’90s vibe, but no one wants to lift your ass up, they just want to enjoy the show. 

Sheezer is now my favourite cover band made up of previously established Toronto musicians.  Sorry, Horsey Craze.

Summerworks: Hidden Cameras, August 6, Upper Ossington Theatre

Posted on August 8, 2010 by Ricky in Concerts, Summerworks | 1 Comment

Toronto – Well, what can you say about the Hidden Cameras‘ showcase at Summerworks? Their theatrical interpretation of their 2009 album Origins: Orphans has elicited some interesting reactions.

I had received a fair warning about the show from people who went the previous night, saying it wasn’t really a concert, kinda weird and that sitting on the floor sucks. Knowing this, I went into the show with an open mind and obviously, got myself seats at the back of the Upper Ossington Theatre upon entry on Friday. I may or may not have budded everyone in line on the way in, but this is an arts festival, and art thrives on creativity and chaos, not structure, so taking that cue, I just went to the front.

Anyways, the show started at around 10:30 pm. The Hidden Cameras band featured both a horn and string section, which always impresses me. I’m sure there were some local music artists recruited to play various instruments, but I am not familiar with local artists much. I think one of them was Laura Barrett, based on her glasses. Joining the band on the floor space was a dance troupe that included a 12 or 13 year old kid. They were joined by Joel Gibb for their opening dance sequence, to the tune of the title track Origin: Orphan. They started off in a ball on the floor, and then got up into some sort of fishing motion, like, when you are reeling in a very large fish. That’s my take on it anyway.

The rest of the show consisted of songs off the album and the dance troupe acting out the interpretations of the song. Dressed like extras from a modern day Oliver Twist meets the Gap play, I gather the play was about an orphan being raised in some sort of harsh environment, constantly under the threat of abuse from some authoritarian figure played by Keith Cole. Halfway through the album, that figure decides that life is better as a woman or a cross dresser, then everyone is happy. Lots of dancing then follows.

Overall, the show was enjoyable on both an audio and visual perspective and not as weird as some had speculated. I’m not the most artistic person so I didn’t try to personally interpret anything going on, or try to figure out if each song was part of some sort of bigger message. The band and the music itself was rather strong and made me a fan of their latest album. I could have done without the 30-40 minute intermission, something that may or may not have killed any momentum the band had achieved. All in all, a very fitting way to start off Summerworks.

The hidden cameras – Walk on by jslacasa

Summerworks Festival: Music Preview

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Ricky in Summerworks | 2 Comments

Toronto – August usually brings a few things to Toronto – heat, the Beer Festival, the Taste of Danforth, some sort of strike, really high utility bills and the Summerworks Festival. Now in it’s 20th year in existence, the Summerworks festival celebrates the best of Toronto’s thriving indie theatre and arts scene. Recently, they have also incorporated a music portion to this festival as well and this year the lineup features an impressive list of performers. Lets take a look at some of the acts.

The Hidden Cameras

August 5th and August 6th.

It only seemed yesterday when the Hidden Cameras released their single Ban Marriage and people were saying they were like a Canadian Belle and Sebastian, only gayer. Mississauga’s favorite band, the Hidden Cameras are arguably the biggest draw at Summerworks and will be playing two shows to kick off the festival. Seeing how this is a Toronto show, look for some “special” guest appearances.

The Hidden Cameras – Kingdom Come (Hidrogenesse Remix) by ArtsandCrafts

Diamond Rings, PS I Love You

August 11th

Anyone who has seen or heard Diamond Rings will know it’s just a matter of time before the glammed up John O’Regan becomes one of the bigger indie-electro music acts around. The songs are fantastic 80s influenced synth pop and the videos are visually arresting. He’ll be teaming up with his buddies in PS I Love You for a nice showcase on Wednesday night. PS I Love You failed to make an impression on me at NXNE, but they went after Japandroids, which is a tough act to follow.

Diamond Rings – Wait & See by Royalty Central

PS I Love You – Facelove by wavelengthtoronto

Wilderness of Manitoba, The Weather Station

Aug 12

The Wilderness of Manitoba are riding a nice wave of positive reviews from their latest release – When You Left the Fire. Expect some good vocal harmonies and a bowl. I have no real idea who The Weather Station are, but my friend Jen Polk said it was a band that’s her type of music, so it’s probably quiet folky music with some nicely layered acoustics. It’s during these shows I am most afraid my phone will go off and I accidentally forget to switch it to vibrate. It’s called showinterupptphobia, I think.

The Wilderness of Manitoba – “Evening” by wavelengthtoronto

The Weather Station – “March” by wavelengthtoronto

The following bands are pay what you can acts. Here’s a quicky preview. Maylee Todd is someone I’ve seen several times and have generally come away impressed. She has a nice voice and her soul-disco-bossa music is quite unique. Laura Barrett is Wade’s eternal crush so I figure I will check her out base on that alone. I also want to see her use the Kalimba. Ghost Bees were one of the weirdest acts I’ve seen, but I am interested to see them again because of that. Also, Mark almost singlehandedly sabotaged their NXNE showcase at C’est What with his loud talking so I feel like we might have to make up for that.

For a more in-depth look at Summerworks, check out Joe’s blog: Mechanical Forest Sounds. Joe actually knows the local music scene really well and digs deep into it.

Maylee Todd – Summer Sounds by Do Right

Laura Barrett – Bluebird by wavelengthtoronto

Brian will be checking in sometime this week with a theatre preview!

Concert Review: Patrick Watson, May 2, Trinity St. Paul’s United Church

Posted on May 9, 2009 by Brian in Concerts | 4 Comments

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The opener played tunes on what looked like a big wooden Gameboy. The lighting cast huge, eerie shadows on the wall behind the band, shadows broken only by the lights strung on three dead-looking potted trees. The first song featured a hand-cranked wind machine and a wailing lament in his trademark dreamy high voice. He played what looked like a raggedy miniature piano for one song that he admitted the band fished out of the garbage. He topped it off by walking into the crowd with a strange speaker contraption strapped to his back made of megaphones. And it all took place in a church.

Yes, it’s just another day in the world of Patrick Watson. We’re all just lucky he gives us a glimpse of that world every now and then.

Watson’s press bio calls him a “musical mad scientist,” as apt a description as there is of what he does. On stage last Saturday he looked the part as he scurried about the stage from the front stage microphone to his piano to the wind machine and everywhere else, his mad musical creations whirling about the shadowy church. You’d almost expect him to shout “IT’S ALIVE” to the crowd, if he weren’t so busy singing. With his very talented bandmates Mishka Stein, Simon Angell and Robbie Kuster aiding in the creation, Watson put on a stunning show of songs from his terrific new album Wooden Arms.

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