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it’s about time joanna newsom finally played a show in toronto. she played the mod club last night, alone on stage with her enormous harp, and i haven’t seen many shows like it. since she’d never played toronto before, she elected to alternate between older songs (from the milk-eyed mender) and new ones (from her forthcoming ys which, incidentally, is a crazily ambitious album that i think is best defined as a grower). i think it’s safe to say that i’ve never seen anyone cram as many words into an hour as she did – her songs are complex and very wordy (for lack of a better word) in a good way, and the lack of traditional verse-chorus-verse song structure or any kind of extended instrumental stretches left me wondering how she didn’t mess up the lyrics more often than the one time she did (which, incidentally, she covered quite well by simply replaying that section over again without missing a beat).

i watched her with the kind of awe that i feel when i watch paul aucoin and his hylozoists play live – like his mastery of the vibraphone, joanna newsom makes playing the harp look easy, in spite of the fact that it’s twice her size and has 47 strings. it’s insane to watch. at one point i was trying to figure out how she knows which string is which, and i got my answer shortly after when she kindly requested that the lighting guy stop using saturated colours that make all of the strings the same colour.

the crowd was both unbelievably attentive, as well as almost too at home with joanna. i haven’t seen an audience so completely entranced by a performance since i saw sondre lerche at lee’s palace a couple years ago, but between songs the setting felt so intimate (well, as much as the mod club ever does) and she seemed so approachable that people couldn’t resist but talking to her as though she were in their living room: “i love you!” “come to toronto more often” “come to toronto every month!” “never leave!” etc. at one point, someone in the front row even gave her a handkerchief because she was so warm. crazy.

the show only lasted a little over an hour, including a 2 song encore, but it was a jam packed hour. i get the sense that she would’ve played even longer if she wasn’t getting blisters – an occupational hazard – but i’m not complaining.

[thanks to the omnipresent chromewaves for his lovely joanna newsom photo]

i must say that i admire what cbc radio 3 attempted to do on sunday night at the kool haus: on international music day, they organized a 4 band (2 anglophone, 2 francophone) all ages show, giving away free tickets via their podcast and radio show. oh, and they cleverly called it see vous play. unfortunately, things didn’t work out quite as i’d hoped.

we arrived at around 8, thinking that, since the doors opened at 6:30, we could skip at least one of the openers. sadly, this was not to be. les breastfeeders had just begun playing when we arrived, and their set was extremely loud, but reasonably fun for an all-french set. i quite enjoyed the band member whose main role was to jump around shirtless with a tamborine. we figured he could probably get a job with the ladies and gentlemen (or small sins, if you prefer) if things don’t pan out with les breastfeeders.

emily haines and her new band, the soft skeleton, went on second. i was looking forward to her set, and i quite enjoyed her single, but the set itself made me want to go to sleep. robin described it as music to kill yourself by, which was fairly apt…but the strings and horns sure were pretty. sadly, no one shouted out requests for dead disco to liven things up a little.

next were les trois accords, who i could’ve really done without. apparently they’ve sold over 100 thousand albums in quebec, but i won’t be buying a copy. their 50 minute set seemed to drag on forever, and i kept looking at the time, realizing that things were going much later than expected. yawn.

joel plaskett and his emergency band finally took the stage at about 11:40, which was frustrating since kristi had to make the annoying drive back to whitby after the show, on a school night no less. we managed to stick around for 5 songs, but had to leave much sooner than we’d liked. it’s tricky finding an appropriate time to leave when dealing with someone like joel – there are no low points in which to sneak out. we had to leave during nowhere with you of all songs. anyway, as has been the case roughly 75% of the many times i’ve seen joel play live, he was sick, and it showed in his voice. he was endearing as always and put on a good show, but it sounded like it was hurting him to sing – he definitely didn’t have his usual range. having listened to the cbc radio 3 recording of a million dollars, i do have to say though that jill barber made him sound fantastic though. definitely not her finest moment.

so how could they improve on things? if i were running things and it HAD to be a 4 band bill, i would’ve definitely started things a bit earlier and reduced the set lengths of the bands. did we really need 50 minutes of each of them? it was a shame that so many people left before joel even took the stage. i probably also would’ve chosen different bands, but hey, you can’t please everyone. a good effort anyway, and it was free – AND, i got a free loot bag containing a mint records cd. not all bad.

[note: thanks to cbc radio 3 for the photo of jp.]

last night at lee’s palace marked memphis’ 2nd ever show (or, as torq put it, their first ever show that anyone attended). it should be noted, however, that both anne and i attended their first show at the rivoli almost 2 years ago…along with maybe 20 other people. i guess that makes us cooler than most. memphis, i suppose i should point out, is the side project of stars’ torquil campbell, along with chris dumont and a rotating cast of characters. from what i could remember, the rest of the band was completely different from their october 2004 show, and now includes montag on keys, among several others.

anyway, the show itself was quite enjoyable, much like the first time around, except with more songs in their arsenal. torq’s mission again was to put us all to sleep (in a good way) and they mixed in lots of low key but layered songs from both albums with a few of their super catchy pop songs, balancing each very well. a highlight occurred unfortunately while i was in the washroom – torq convinced everyone to sit on the ground while he cuddled with a member of the most serene republic on the floor. i got back just in time to catch the end of the spooning. i also quite enjoyed the agatha christie book give away mid-set, even though i didn’t win.

the crowd wasn’t huge this time around (probably 100 or so people, including 2 most serene republics, 1 kevin drew and 1 jian ghomeshi), but everyone got their money’s worth. for those of you in kingston: go catch them at the grad club tonight.

i’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again: the harbourfront centre has some pretty great free summer programming. on canada day they brought us the dears and jason collett, for the “from the peg” festival they offered the weakerthans and waking eyes. this past saturday was the first night of the “indie unlimited” festival, and it didn’t disappoint.

while i missed the afternoon of amy millan and great lake swimmers, i arrived in time to catch the best hidden cameras performance i’ve ever seen. it should be noted that i was never lucky enough to catch one of their infamous church shows, but each of the 4 i’ve seen have been progressively more enjoyable. saturday’s performance was technically the cd release for their new album, awoo, so they proceeded to play each of the songs from the album. what made it extra fun was the addition of a couple of violinists and a cellist, not to mention laura barrett and her kalimba…as well as the other usual 6 or 7 people. they (obviously) had a very full sound and a lot of energy, and it was super fun. i have to say though, for a guy who puts on crazy shows, joel gibb looks like one serious guy.

after that set ended, we headed over to the brigandine room at harbourfront for a couple of over the top sets. before the bands, i was enjoying the dj’s picks – a band who sounded like north of america, followed by the inbreds? not bad. too bad this didn’t last…

torngat went on first and, as always, were fabulous. if you’re not familiar, torngat are guys from quebec who play keys, drums and french horn (complete with various pedals)…and occasionally a melodica and trumpet. i do have to say that i prefer it when they stick to more conventional song structures – they lose me a little when they get too experimental – but i did enjoy it when the two guys circled the crowd and played their french horn and trumpet from opposite ends of the crowd.

after torngat was finished, the dj had another chance to impress me. she got off to a good start by playing some motown, but then went downhill fast. i have no idea why, but she spent the next 20 minutes changing tempo, making the cd sound like it was skipping, and randomly pausing tracks in the middle. i have no idea what she was thinking, but she should just stick to playing her good music.

they shoot horses don’t they couldn’t come on fast enough. i was really looking forward to seeing them – i’ve listened to their album more than just about anything over the past 6 months (except tokyo police club, final fantasy and tapes n tapes, according to last.fm), so my expectations were pretty high. sadly, and this may sound awful, but they seem to be a band better heard than seen. on the plus side: the keyboard player was almost exuberant, and they actually DID sound pretty good. on the down side: i wasn’t quite as keen on their new songs (and 4 of the first 6 songs were new to me), and i felt like they went a bit too far to be considered avant garde, or just plain weird. for example, the trombonist spent half his time sitting on the floor playing “instruments” including: a broken crutch, a broken network router, a dented metal watering can, and a rope attached to a badminton birdie and random pieces of metal. note that “playing” these “instruments” meant slamming them against the floor. he also had a dirty rag wrapped around his bare foot, probably indicating that he’d stepped on one of these instruments at some point. we left after 6 songs, but that didn’t prevent me from enjoying the night over all.

but that’s not all…sunday afternoon offered more fun. the hylozoists went on at 3, but unfortunately we missed the first 25 minutes. the 20 minutes or so i saw were pretty great, however. they too added a few more musicians to make a fuller sound, adding to the vibraphoney fun. and bell orchestre capped the weekend with a typically equal parts soothing and exciting set. wow they’re crazy talented.

anyway, how good is that programming? and it cost me nothing. go harbourfront.

[note: thanks to _candice_ for the they shoot horses photo, and to rockpaperpixels for the hidden cameras pic.]

you know, i wish that the deadly snakes’ last ever show on friday night at the horseshoe was actually their last show, so i could say “i was at the deadly snakes’ last concert”, as is written on andre ethier’s t-shirt. but nooooo, they had to go and ruin it and play a “surprise” show at the silver dollar on saturday night.

but really, that’s my only complaint about the night…friday’s show would’ve been a pretty great last hurrah for any band. the snakes played 2 sets spanning about 3 hours, and encompassing just about every release they’ve ever had, including a number of gems from porcella and ode to joy, as well as a lot of oldies and rarities from 7″s and b-sides. the first set was solid, but the second set was pretty amazing. high energy, tight, and fun.

and really, it’s not so bad to be able to say that i was at the deadly snakes 2nd to last concert…just like i can say that i was at sloan’s last concert ever (for a couple of years anyway).

[note: photo courtesy of miss door]

the bicycles know how to release a cd.

last night at the tranzac marked the release of the good, the bad and the cuddly, an album apparently 4 years in the making. opening the show was laura barrett, who is, as anne described, equal parts joanna newsom and bjork. she’s constantly raved about on stillepost (although that means very little to me), and for once, i agreed with the masses. according to her myspace page, she plays “the kalimba and piano-esque things”, so now i have a name for what she was playing. i enjoy anyone who sings about robot ponies and predicting the future. fun stuff.

the bicycles themselves played a 2+ hour set, with a zillion special guests joining them on stage. they mixed bicycles songs with those of their guests, and were a whirlwind of instrument changes, with only a few stumbles along the way. i enjoyed the bicycles’ original songs (although i’d only ever heard 3 of them beforehand), but i confess that the highlights for me were when they acted as their guests’ backing bands – gentleman reg, jay from the meligrove band, steve from the constantines, jose from by divine right, ohbijou, dan bryk, the adorables, catriona from plumtree, and a bunch of other people i didn’t recognize all contributed to the fun. i also saw sebastien grainger in the crowd (late of dfa1979), but sadly, he did not take the stage. i can only imagine how the bubblegum pop of the bicycles would have combined with dfa. i sadly missed the end, so i am left wondering whether jay ferguson of sloan ever took the stage…

[thanks to thecjm for the bicycles pic from last night's show. be sure to check out the rest of their photos, including those of the bicycles' cardboard likenesses.]

you’ve gotta hand it to the harbourfront centre for putting together a fantastic lineup of free shows this summer – and what’s better than a free show? on canada day, the dears put on a great show, featuring a number of songs from their new album (not to mention jason collett putting on a solid show in the opening slot).

on saturday night was the “from the peg” lineup, featuring the weakerthans and the waking eyes. i’d never seen the waking eyes before, but i was impressed with their high energy set during a spontaneous rainstorm. they were super catchy and fun to watch, with some pretty fun banter as a bonus. the only negative thing i can say is that they could use a little work on their continuity: song, break, song, break, etc. can be improved on. but otherwise, a worthwhile show. yes, totally catchy.

the weakerthans put on a much better show than the last time i saw them – their show was fun, high energy and engaging, and the band played everything i was hoping for. after they’d ripped through one great city, our retired explorer and watermark as their first three songs, i knew it was going to be a fun night. new songs mixed with songs from all of their albums = a good time.

still to come at harbourfront? great lake swimmers, amy millan, hidden cameras, torngat, they shoot horses don’t th ey, belle orchestre and hylozoists, all in the span of two days. good lord.

[oh, and thanks to the ever popular chromewaves for the photo.]

joel plaskett and his newly revamped emergency band swung by the phoenix concert theatre last night for a rock and roll spectacle, and i was lucky enough to be in attendance. by my count, that was the 10th time i’ve seen joel since thrush hermit split up (not including the 8 times i saw the hermit), and it was by far the biggest and rock-n-rollest of the bunch. picture a packed house at the phoenix, presumably the largest joel has ever played before as the headliner (which probably explains why he took pictures of the crowd ahead of time) with a pretty elaborate light show and a LOT of screaming/singing along fans. all that was missing was the old thrush hermit flashing rock and roll sign (which, incidentally, makes a return appearance in the camouflage nights video for it could be love if you pay attention).

anyway, the show itself was pretty solid, with the exception of the crazy birthday party celebrants beside us who insisted on singing along (with the few words they knew), screaming randomly, and talking over joel’s solo numbers. we were on the balcony which offered a fantastic viewpoint (and definitely beat trying to see over the mob on the main floor) so i guess it evened out. joel and company tore through a 90 minute set including songs from truthfully, truthfully, la di da and the new make a little noise ep, mixing a few acoustic songs (including by the light of the moon, a stripped down version of true patriot love, and the old thrush hermit classic before you leave) with lots of up tempo rock numbers. i had two minor complaints: the long and bizarre extended jam in the middle of maybe we should just go home, and the fact that i had a lot of trouble hearing his stage banter at various times throughout the show. stupid acoustics/yelly people around me. it wasn’t as good as his set at hugh’s room last year, but really, what is?

a couple more notes: joel introduced a rug that he bought on the west coast a couple weeks ago known as sweet leaf (pictured, courtesy of captiveight’s flickr set from the edmonton show). this was a bit of a surreal but amusing inclusion, claiming that she was to blame for his forgetting a few lyrics to extraordinary. additionally, i thought i was going to go home mcgettiganless (since a new bassist has been added to the emergency band), but ian surprised us by joining the band on stage for a couple of songs during the encore (wearing a shirt that appeared to be shockingly hole-less), which was especially appropriate given the number of references joel made to their old pre-hermit band, nabisco fonzie. pete elkas also joined in the fun and played a few songs on keys and guitar, as an added bonus.

one more thing: i sadly missed two hours traffic, ’cause i’m old and rarely make it to shows for openers anymore, but what i’ve heard from them has been enjoyable. perhaps next time.

i was pretty happy to hear that chad van gaalen was coming back to town as part of over the top fest. i missed most of the fest’s shows (which was a shame ’cause there were a number that sounded pretty good), but i am always happen to catch a show at the music gallery.

i didn’t arrive until the dirty projectors’ last song (which made me kind of glad that i missed the rest of the set, although the crowd seemed to love it) so i can’t really comment on them. chad and band went on at about 10:15 and played a fantastic set that was surprisingly (to me anyway) true to his album infiniheart. i didn’t really think he’d be able to capture a lot of the sounds and vocals in a live setting, but with the help of holy fuck and their collection of toys (as well as julie fader, i believe), they did an admirable job. at one point, chad even commented that it was really great to be touring with brian borcherdt because it was nice to finally hear the songs live as they were meant to sound. i kept thinking that his vocals sounded like a cross between neil young, steve malkmus and badly drawn boy…in a good way. and hey, he played clinicly dead, much to the delight of me and the rest of the crowd, and i went home happy.

oh, and one more thing: any set that starts out with a hip hop number accompanied by beatboxing on a flute is a-ok by me.

i was finally able to catch a live show by young and sexy on saturday at the drake. their touring is sporadic at best, and i’ve been wanting to see them ever since the first time i heard better from their debut album, the city you live in is ugly. as a bonus, they played at the drake, which is about a 30 second walk for me.

opening, appropriately, was gentleman reg (with band), who played their usual fun and poppy set. when they took the stage, the crowd was sparse at best, but by the end of their set the drake was pretty packed. my only complaint: the half-hearted clapping during give me the chance to fall. anne and i made up for it on our own though.

young and sexy’s set was good, but not great, but that wasn’t entirely their fault. i remember considering going to see them at zaphod’s back in 2003, and being thankful that i didn’t after reading the chartattack review. strangely, a lot of that review applied to the drake show. for example:

Young And Sexy create music to get lost in and it’s best when you can give yourself over completely to their delicate pop songs. Sadly, it was impossible to surrender to the music with the crowd making so much noise.

it sounds like the reviewer was talking about the drake show. it was frustrating to see how few people were paying attention, and by the end of the set, the bar had cleared out substantially. sad, especially considering that lucy had started their set by saying “wow, people to play for!” in spite of this, they put on solid show, mixing old and new. i do, however, wish they’d played any of: better, bobby baby (who doesn’t love a song with a facts of life reference in the middle?) or paper tiger.

anyway, having said all of this, they sang real pretty, and that’s what i was there for.