Solo Concert-Going: Gold Panda at The Horseshoe Tavern

photo from blog.bleep.com

Who: Gold Panda, Pick a Piper
What: Sleek beats at bargain prices
Where: The Horseshoe Tavern, 370 Queen Street West
Price: $15.00
Bonus: A girl blowing bubbles, which made the whole room whimsical. A 7-foot security guard pushing dramatically through the crowd to catch someone in the act of smoking. Some girls plucking up the courage to dance beside an oblivious Gold Panda before being shooed off the stage.

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Pick a Piper

In my latest episode of solo concert-going, last Wednesday I went to the Legendary ‘Shoe to catch Gold Panda’s excellent set. (My last-minute decision to go was mainly to assuage the pain of the HIM concert scheduled for the next day being canceled due to lead singer Ville Valo’s pneumonia. I can’t even talk about it.)

The Horseshoe always surprises me with its good acoustics, despite the grimy surroundings (but that’s the best kind of bar, of course). Got there just as the opening act, Pick a Piper, was packing up, which is too bad. The beer was an inadequate consolation prize.

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photo from music.cbc.ca

The band is pulled together from various parts of Ontario, and happens to include Brad Weber of Caribou (legit Canadindie cred!). Their current home base is in Toronto. The collaborative band sounds vaguely Caribou-ish: experimental electro with whispy vocals and simple guitar that will tickle your ears and your sensibilities. I can’t vouch for Pick a Piper based on real-life listening, unfortunately, but they seem to have a good thing going here:

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You can check out Pick a Piper’s soundcloud profile or buy their self-titled debut album, just released at the beginning of April, here.

Luckily, Pick a Piper is playing in Toronto again @ The Painted Lady on Thursday, June 13. If you’re into being into bands before everyone’s talking about how into this band you should be, I highly recommend stopping by.

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Gold Panda

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photo courtesy of togetherboston.com

Gold Panda is a supremely talented composer and producer from the UK. I’ve been listening to his Trust EP (some would categorize it as obsessively) all week. His debut LP, Lucky Shiner, produced by Ghostly International in 2010, is also very listenable.

I snagged a great spot just to the left of the stage, where I had the chance to get a close-up view of Gold Panda’s rhythmic head-bobbing and skinny arm flailing – and I mean that in the best possible way. Faced with what I would consider an intimidating number of electronic gadgets on the table in front of him, he proceeded to create something from nothing – the most magical of acts during a DJ set.

Here is the title track from Trust:

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Pure chill bliss.

Live, Gold Panda is even more skilled. I don’t profess have any knowledge of the technical side of this art, but the process seems so tactile. From one clueless audience member’s perspective, it appears to be a building up of sound over the course of the set, layer by layer, like reverse erosion. This is so much more than the simple pushing of a button to start a pre-made track.

Despite his quest to produce ever-growing waves of sound to ensconce the audience, Gold Panda did happen to look up once in a while, as if surprised by the enthusiastic applause pounding back at him whenever he paused in the music making. He’d shout out a shy “Thank you!” with a grin and turn his face back down towards the knobs in front of him. The full house at the ‘Shoe loved his humbleness, his innovation, his enthusiasm.

Listen to more of Gold Panda here.

Up next in this series: Flying Lotus @ Sound Academy on May 15th. (STOKED does not even come close to how I am feeling about this situation.)

Raw Talent at Cameron House: Catriona Sturton, Gabrielle Papillon & Ria Mae

Here is Gabrielle Papillon’s video for “Turn Left,” which was shot by Southern Souls (an amazing music/video project worth checking out!):

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Who: Catriona Sturton, Gabrielle Papillon & Ria Mae
Where: Cameron House, 408 Queen Street West
Price: $10
Bonus: Adorable buttons featuring polar bears and deer with harmonicas;
catching up with old friends

The Cameron House is always a great place to catch a low-key concert, and this was the first time I had the chance to see a concert in the back half of the venue. Things got a little cacophonous once both the front and back stages had shows going on, but overall it’s a comfortable place to hang out on a Thursday night and have a beer with some friends.

I saw Nick Teehan sing his praises of Coffee Time’s distinct offerings (and clientele) at the Cameron House a few months ago – and I still get that song stuck in my head when I see one of those ubiquitous damn coffee shops. On Thursday, I had the chance to see three women perform on the final stop of their current tour together: Catriona Sturton, Gabrielle Papillon, and Ria Mae.

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Catriona Sturton

Photo courtesy of http://www.catrionasturton.com

First up was Catriona Sturton, whose awesome red pumps and flashy electric
guitars only added to her pleasingly quirky stage presence.

Sturton’s hand gestures to accompany her lyrics and self-deprecating asides to the audience were hilarious. She had me on board with her first song, which channeled her feelings for someone via a Wheel of Fortune analogy: “I’d like to buy a vowel, and I pick U.” I love a good pun, and her lyrics are stuffed with ‘em. She also waxed poetic with some adapted Shakespeare, giving a shout out to English lit majors in the audience, and sang a song that compared a crush to poutine. Something about melting cheese/melting heart because he’s so hot. This was when I discovered that singing about puns + poutine may be one of the quickest ways to my heart.

Sturton also had an adorable (and apt) song about the tendency for one’s pants to pocket dial random phone contacts: the classic plight of a person who has that one – or several – people whom it’d be best not to call after having a few drinks. Naturally, your pants always have other plans for how that’s going to turn out. She is also a magician with a harmonica, and her instrumental blues piece was winding, languid, raucous brilliance.

Catriona doesn’t have an album out yet, but promised us that she will have one soon. Her site features recordings of “Wheel of Fortune” and “Blues” if you’d like to have a listen.

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Gabrielle Papillon

Image courtesy of http://www.musicpsychos.com

My friend Gabrielle Papillon has grown so much as a musician in the past few years, Now, she produces albums and tours across the country pretty much nonstop. She and fellow crooner Simon Honeyman played an intimate, stripped down set, and with them, less is always more. I used to go to The Yellow Door in Montreal to see Gabrielle and Simon play, several years ago. (Simon’s band is Honeyman & The Brothers Farr, and they’re still going strong, he informs me.)

Gabrielle and Simon have this strangely perfect way of producing harmonies, and even when they aren’t performing together regularly they still have the ability to make magic on stage with just their voices and acoustic guitars – and for some songs, purely their voices. I may have teared up when they played “No Common Ground,” an old favourite of mine. “Dust to Gold,” that classic Canadian tale about buying land, struggling to eke out a living, and then losing your farm, would have Canadian Modernists squirming with joy (and it’s also lyrically excellent). And Gabrielle’s story about family origins – and a lighthouse and a death in a storm – preceded “Go Into the Night,” a song that is at once sad and hopeful. It tears at your insides a little bit.

The audience listened in stunned silence, however, when Gabrielle played her cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You.” It’s been covered a million times, because it’s wonderful, but she definitely did the song justice. The bartender from the front even rushed to the back so he could listen to the last half of it. Gabrielle showed how poignant lyrics like this should be sung – a lone voice catching a little on the guitar chords, words enriched by the pauses between them.

You can check out Gabrielle’s music, and buy her new album, Little Bug, on her site.

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Ria Mae

Image courtesy of http://www.myspace.com

Despite her self-deprecating (and hilarious) banter, Ria Mae is an amazing performer – intimidatingly so. She has developed a following on the east coast that I’m sure is bound to flow to Toronto. In fact, the table of Ria Mae’s elated fans right in front of the stage is perhaps a sign that this has already happened. And there’s no question that she’s making waves in the Canadian music scene: her debut album, Under Your Skin, won the 2012 East Coast Music Award for Pop Recording of the Year. Her single, “Leaving Today,” was also nominated for a 2013 EMCA for Song of the Year, which is no small potatoes.

Although Ria had to contend with the rock band that had started their set in the front half of the Cameron House, she managed to stay focused and belt out her songs without missing a beat. Her story of playing “Take Your Clothes Off” at a jail in Truro, Nova Scotia and trying to get hit on – and ultimately being laughed at – was met with incredulity by the crowd. (What fool could resist her charms? But for those of you who have never ventured to Truro – and this is probably most people – they are not exactly on the cutting edge of what’s hip these days.)

Her banter about why she doesn’t date any more and winning over mutual friends after a breakup and experiencing small (and ever-shrinking) dating circles in small towns all hit close to home, and the audience just basked in her presence. There was a cry for her to “sing 10 more songs!” even as she balked at playing one as an encore. Ria Mae is one to see if you get the chance – for the stories about why she writes her songs as much as the music itself.

Here’s the video for Ria Mae’s evocative “Under Your Skin”:

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I may rave about many awesome hours of dancing to electronic music these days, but I can guarantee that that music will never tug on my insides the same way that seeing live, raw talent and such a passion for making something beautiful like these three women will. And isn’t that what music should do to us?

Canadian Music Festival: Metric, Matt Mays, Diamond Rings & Yukon Blonde (Indie Awards, Part II)

Here’s Metric’s “Artificial Nocturne” for you:

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What: Indie Awards for CMF, Part II
Who: Metric, Matt Mays, Diamond Rings & Yukon Blonde

(See my previous post for a review of the first half of the SiriusXM Indie Awards)

Moving right along:
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Yukon Blonde

Courtesy of ticketscene.ca

Hannah and I saw Yukon Blonde open for Stars for CMF, so you can check out that post if you’d like a bit of a longer review (although it’s pretty gushy about Stars). Yukon Blonde’s new album, Tiger Talk, is streaming here. They played a couple of quick songs, which were more good-timey rock accompanied by dulcet vocals and streaming hair.

Yukon Blonde won the Alternative Artist or Group of the Year Award. They are worth exploring, if you are into the gentle indie rock!

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Diamond Rings

Courtesy of exclaim.ca

I have loved Diamond Rings, real name John O’Regan, for years. You can check out my post of him playing Sappyfest in August 2010, which was a memorable night for many reasons. And way back then, it was Diamond Rings setting up his own equipment, dancing around on a stage, wearing eyeliner and a basketball jersey, in a sketchy bar called Uncle Larry’s all by himself and still having a blast. Make no mistake, I’m stoked that he’s making it big as an electroglam pop icon and has a following and can play venues like Kool Haus now (and can afford fancy tight white jeans and a bleached blonde pompadour)! But I will always love him most for the first time I saw him. But it’s like that with a lot of bands, I suppose. Nothing trumps first-concert love!

At the Indie Awards, Diamond Rings was the first performer of the night who actually got the chance to play a real show. Although things started out a bit slow, he soon won the crowd over with his superior dancing skills, complete with sweat streaming down his face. He played mostly newer material, so I was a bit in the dark on that stuff since I don’t have his most recent album. His characteristic deep voice was great until the rapping started – not such a fan of that. But it’s good to try new things! Anyway, for now I’ll stick to endorsing his first album, Special Affections, because “Wait & See” will always make me smile and think of Sappy.

Diamond Rings was nominated for Artist of the Year and Male Artist of the Year. His newest album is called Free Dimensional (2012), so you can check that out if you enjoy electroglam pop. And the guy can dance for days, so see him live if you ever get the opportunity!

Here’s another photo, because he’s just so damn pretty:

Courtesy of exclaim.ca

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Matt Mays

Sadly, Jay Smith, Matt Mays’ long-time guitarist, died unexpectedly at the end of March – mere days after playing this show in Toronto, and mere hours after playing their show in Edmonton (no foul play is suspected, and damn, he was young). They pay tribute to him, and people can donate if they wish, on the Matt Mays site.

At the Indie Awards, Matt Mays and his band played a full show, complete with partial burning of the setlist for dramatic effect and long, jagged guitar riffs that my ears are still complaining about (I’ll be deaf one of these days from standing so close to so many speakers). They are an East Coast band, through and through – grateful and cheerful and loving life. As Mays put it, “We’re just a bunch of hobos and we love that we get to be up here playing music!” (That’s paraphrased, but he definitely said ‘hobos’).

Matt Mays was nominated for Rock Artist or Group of the Year and won the Male Artist of the Year Award, but it must be rather bittersweet. The band will be performing at the Jay Smith Memorial Benefit Concert in Cape Breton next Monday.

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Metric

Courtesy of secretsoundshop.com

Metric is another longtime love of mine. Lead singer Emily Haines is an amazing woman, and there’s so much talent packed into that tiny, fringe-coat-wearing, red-booted, wiry frame of hers. If you get the chance to lock eyes with her, even for a split second, it’s the sexiest you’ll feel all week. And it’s simply incredible to watch her perform with this band after so many years of fine-tuning their sound. Together, they are electric.

They played mostly songs from their two newer albums, Fantasies and Synthetica, but this wasn’t unexpected. And they started the show as I predicted, with the song at the top of this post. Her words that begin “Artificial Nocturne” rang out over the crowd, defiant and strong: “I’m just as fucked up as they say…”

Courtesy of thestar.com

They played a long, energetic show, complete with mesmerizing video, and even threw in some older songs to satisfy everyone. Being another band from Toronto, they were sincerely touched to see so many beaming faces screaming their lyrics back at them excitedly for every song, and Emily voiced their appreciation: “You guys wanna be here with us, and we wanna be here with you! We just want to make music and play some shows, and you guys let that happen!” (Again with the paraphrase, but the feelings are accurate, I hope).

Metric was nominated for Album of the Year for Synthetica, Single of the Year for “Youth Without Youth,” Live Artist or Group of the Year, Video of the Year for “Youth Without Youth,” and Must Follow Artist of the Year. They won the Group of the Year Award and Best-Selling Independent Release of the Year for Synthetica. Not a bad haul at the Indies this year.

You can’t see that last song on their setlist, but Emily sang a beautiful acoustic version of “Gimme Sympathy,” and the rest of the band came out by the end to join in with her and the crowd singing. It was the perfect ending to the concert, and seeing Metric again was definitely worth the waiting, the standing, the feeling like I was going to faint (which happens at the most inopportune times, it seems). I must be getting soft in my old age, because I was definitely the overenthusiastic fan in the front row with tears streaming down her face.

A great ending to the Indie Awards. And Metric just keeps getting bigger, so who knows when I’ll get to see them again…

Canadian Music Festival: 13th SiriusXM Indie Awards (Part I)

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Here is Cold Specks’ “Winter Solstice” to ease you into a chilly Wednesday:

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What: SiriusXM Indie Awards, Canadian Music Festival
Who: Metric, Matt Mays, Diamond Rings, Yukon Blonde, Cold Specks, The Wooden Sky,       Canailles, & Cadence Weapon (just about as Canadian a lineup as you can get)
Where: Kool Haus, 132 Queens Quay East
Price: Wristband – by this point, in your head it seems like you’re getting in for free
Bonus: You’re looking for a bonus when you’re seeing Metric? Entirely unnecessary.

[Apologies for the untimeliness of this post: I have been lax in writing about the Canadian Music Festival, since I went to Montreal to visit my brother for the long weekend. My bad.

I fell in love with the city all over again, and three days is really not enough time to visit a place. I have great things to say about Toronto most of the time, as anyone reading this blog knows by now, but damn, Montreal... I left a piece of my heart there several years ago. But more on that trip soon.]

As part of the Canadian Music Festival, the 13th annual Indie Awards were held at Kool Haus, which has a different atmosphere than last year’s venue, The Royal York Hotel. Quite the opposite, in fact, but I think it worked better this year. Seemed bigger. Less… stuffy? I don’t know much about the Indie Awards, and the host’s drawn out introductory anecdote about losing his virginity definitely didn’t make me care more about them, but it was a solid line up and definitely one of the shows to see for CMF.

Hannah, Mink and I went obscenely early because we were worried about not getting in because of the limited wristbands, but everything worked out. The standing for 6 hours thing got kind of old by the end, but what’s pleasure without a little pain, especially when it comes to seeing live music, eh?

The frustrating thing about having so many damn performances is that they were very short in order to fit them in – that meant that we got to hear one or two songs for the majority of the artists, and were subjected to really annoying banter in between. So, you didn’t really get a true feel for the group if you didn’t already know them. I know – why am I complaining about the set up at an awards show that seems pretty standard? I’ll stop whining and get to the good stuff (but in keeping with the awards, I’ll keep it short. Wiki, be my guide through my admitted ignorance of what’s happening these days on the Canadian music scene):

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Cadence Weapon

Photo courtesy of http://www.cadenceweaponmusic.com

Cadence Weapon is a rapper from Alberta, and apparently we’re the same age. Except he’s super talented and I’m… well. That’s depressing. He played a couple of songs to a still-mostly-empty room, which is too bad because I probably would have been way more into a longer show. Cadence Weapon won the Rap/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year Award, so props!

Check out Cadence Weapon’s music here.

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Canailles

Courtesy of voir.ca

Canailles is awesome, and it was only slightly unsettling to switch abruptly from rap to a large group of adorably dressed Quebecers playing rousing French folk-indie-cajun hybrid music. Again, a couple of songs is not really enough to get a good sense of a band, for me, but it brought me back to the lazy, hazy summers of drinking wine in the parks of Montreal and listening to impromptu music-making for hours. (Will we ever get that feeling back, stupid April winter?!)

If you feel like reading about Canailles and their album, Manger Du Bois, in French, have at it. Canailles won the SiriusXM Emerging Artist of the Year (French) Award. Félicitations!

You can check out some of their feel-good music here.

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The Wooden Sky

Courtesy of exclaim.ca

The Wooden Sky is from Toronto, so they probably felt right at home playing Kool Haus. They played that comfortable indie rock that you would probably hear at a party where you expected a lot of people to show up but it just turned out to be a handful of people you really like and that’s kind of better than a house party, sometimes (or, you know, all the time). They won the Folk/Roots Artist or Group of the Year Award. Toronto, represent.

Also, they just released an album called Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun. The name makes me uncomfortable for some reason (as does their band name! so claustrophobic!), but that shouldn’t deter you from checking it out.

The Wooden Sky is playing in Toronto again on April 4th at The Horseshoe Tavern.

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Cold Specks

Courtesy of soundcloud.com

Despite the jarring mix of genres between each performance, when Cold Specks started singing and playing her guitar, I got that creepy chill on your neck when you think that someone’s whispered your name but you know you’re alone in the room. And I mean that in the best possible way. I know nothing about this woman, but her voice is magnificent.

Apparently Cold Specks deals in the doom soul genre. I normally hate pigeonholing musicians into genres to describe their music, mostly because I am so terrible at it, but I love that phrase. So apt.

Cold Specks was nominated for Songwriter of the Year, Soul/R&B Artist or Group of the Year, and Artist of the Year. She won the Female Artist of the Year Award. If you’re listening to that song at the top of this post, you know why. I guess good things really can come from Etobicoke.

I have yet to listen to her recent album, I Predict A Graceful Expulsion (2012), but I will. So should you, if the ‘doom soul’ genre intrigues you.

Up next, Part II of the SiriusXM Indie Awards show, including Yukon Blonde, Diamond Rings, Matt Mays and Metric!

Canadian Music Festival: Two Hours Traffic, The Balconies and Rah Rah

Here’s a classic Two Hours Traffic song – and the final song they played for their show at CMF – called “Heroes of the Sidewalk”:

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What: CMF (expect this for the next couple of posts)
Who: Two Hours Traffic, The Balconies, Rah Rah
Where: Lee’s Palace, 529 Bloor Street West
Price: Still that awesome wristband
Bonus: A drink in an empty Dance Cave, where the awesome DJ played my favourite song, Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (clichéd, I know)

Last Thursday was Day 2 (for me) of CMF, and this night was also tinged with my nostalgia for Two Hours Traffic. Hannah, Mink and I headed to Lee’s Palace for a more chill night than Wednesday, and it’s become a favourite venue of mine precisely for its easy, shabby ambiance. (Lee’s is kind of like that couch in your oldest friend’s basement that you know every groove in and stain on, and you’d be devastated if anyone ever threw that ugly thing away. And I say this with the utmost appreciation for that old couch. Even though I think it was kaput years ago.)

The Balconies

Photo courtesy of stickymagazine.com

The lead singer of now-Toronto-based (and four-piece) The Balconies is one fierce-looking, sexy woman. I hadn’t heard them before last week, but her anime-sized eyes – not to mention her ear-piercing voice – will no doubt get this band some attention, wherever they go. Unfortunately, the sound was crazy loud at Lee’s Palace, which I suppose you’d expect from a rock concert, but I think my poor ears needed a break after the previous week’s Laidback Luke and Martin Solveig dance-athon.

And, as I’m streaming their Kill Count EP on their website, they seem a lot more accessible. Wish I’d had the chance to absorb these songs before seeing them in the flesh!

Live, The Balconies were more in-your-face, jagged, raggedy-rock than melodic indie rock, which this EP seems to be channeling for me. I give singer Jacquie Neville boundless credit for her energy up on stage (and sheer sex appeal, which front[wo]men are supposed to be famous for, non?), but I think I like the versions of the songs where I can actually hear her voice, since it’s beautiful.

Rah Rah

As mentioned above, we ventured upstairs to Dance Cave for a drink to get away from the overwhelming wall of sound being projected towards the audience below. When we returned to the main floor, Rah Rah was killing it on stage. They are a band from Regina, and they were cohesive, talented, and clearly enjoying themselves.

Just try to tell me they don’t look like Prairie kids who’re stoked that the snow’s finally gone in mid-May, but are still a little skeptical that there won’t be just one more blizzard to get in the way of their upcoming soccer season:

Photo courtesy of mtvhive.com

(Yeah, that’s probably the vibe they were aiming for.)

You can listen to songs from their new album, The Poet’s Dead, on their site if you’re so inclined. This video for “Prairie Girl” hits close to home, even though my 6 years of living in Winnipeg don’t really qualify me as one myself. (And the rabbit animation’s great!):

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Again, wish I’d had the chance to listen to this album prior to seeing them live, because this song is awesome. And something didn’t quite translate aurally for me while they were on stage, even though they were otherwise totally engaging and adorably barefoot and playing accordions and percussion on the walls. I like to know at least a few songs before seeing a band perform, I think that’s my issue. Next time, Rah Rah, I will be prepared!

In conclusion, they are totally a band I can see playing at SappyFest. Which is a compliment.

Two Hours Traffic

Photo courtesy of canadianblast.com

Speaking of bands playing in Sackville, NB! Two Hours Traffic may have undergone some changes in the past few years, including acquiring some new band members and producing awesome albums without even sending me a memo about them, but they will forever be in my heart as a George’s Fabulous Roadhouse band. This is likely because I saw them open for In-Flight Safety many a time at that venue. And we danced in front of that one-foot stage and loved their modest performances every time.

You can stream “Magic” and “Audrey” and “Amour Than Amis” (my favourite songs of the performance) and other songs from their new album, Foolish Blood, on their site. I admit that I hadn’t listened to THT in a rather long time, since they so connote undergrad for me and – let’s face it – that was a long time ago (am I aging myself here?).

But they still exude that ineffable PEI charm, and their songs always contain dangerously catchy hooks. It still looks like they’re having a good time up there, which is the most important thing. They also included a few old songs, including “Nighthawks” and “Stuck for the Summer” and “Sure Can Start,” and, as mentioned earlier, “Heroes of the Sidewalk,” a favourite of Mink’s.

I sauntered up to the stage afterward and asked eternally-adorable lead singer Liam Corcoran for the setlist, which he’d pulled out of his back pocket just before starting the show. He obliged without a second thought, distracted with unplugging microphone cords. An unassuming, crumpled setlist: looseleaf and sharpie. They don’t change their ways, these musicians – I think I have a THT setlist from about 2005 that looks essentially the same. I gave this one to Mink, of course, since she’s had a long-time love of this band.

I’m starting to think that the Canadian Music Festival should just be called Nostalgia Music Festival, since that’s what so many of these Canadian shows are for me. I love it though!

Canadian Music Festival: Stars and Yukon Blonde

Here is Stars’ “Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It”:

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What: Canadian Music Festival (CMF)
Who: Stars and Yukon Blonde
Where: The Danforth Music Hall, 147 Danforth Avenue
Price: $55 for a 6-day wristband (a steal of a deal!)
Bonus: Hipsternation, with everyone clad in toques and scarves

On Wednesday night, I met Hannah in front of The Danforth Music Hall for my first night of the Canadian Music Festival, which has been happening for something crazy like 31 years (Canadian Music Week has, at any rate). The lineup is always impressive, in my experience, and it’s (almost) guaranteed that even the snobbiest of your music-loving friends will find something to enjoy.

[My sidenote about CMF: this festival's got a massive, intimidating lineup and it's impossible to see all the artists you love. In a perfect world, I'd have already mastered both time travel and teleportation so that I could have whirled around the space-time continuum to see both Metric and Zedd on Friday night.

But instead, you've got to exercise your powers of decision-making for CMF, and have none of the grass-is-greener mentality when you're at one venue with a bunch of hipsters and thinking about how you should have ventured to that other venue with that other bunch of hipsters. (It's kinda like that with relationships too, yeah?)]

I had never been to The Danforth Music Hall, but damn, what an amazing venue. It looks a lot like the formerly abandoned theatre that has been gloriously revamped as the Sackville Music Hall – but without the creepy peeling ceiling and drunken, slanted floors and sagging, lawsuit-waiting-to-happen balcony. I say all of this with the utmost respect and appreciation for that unique spot, of course. Worth a visit if you’re ever passing through Sackville, NB, or you’re in town for Sappyfest!

Comparison:

Sackville Music Hall, courtesy of thephoneticelephant.blogspot.com

A little bit grander, perhaps:

Danforth Music Hall

And AND AND: I will be at The Danforth Music Hall again in May to see my favourite Finnish gothic metal band, HIM, for the second time (believe me that it’s hard to pick a favourite Finnish gothic metal band, srsly. They’ve got that shit DOWN.). So I was stoked to get a chance to scope out my spot in the front row and to know that I will be about 3 feet from heavily eyelinered frontman Ville Valo.

Yukon Blonde

Yukon Blonde, courtesy of chippedhip.com

Admittedly, I don’t know much about this band, but Yukon Blonde has been making waves on the Canadian music scene for a while now. (You can stream their album Tiger Talk for free for a limited time by clicking on those blue words there.) When I saw Yukon Blonde on stage in front of a room filled with toques, scarves, and heavy jackets on what was supposed to be the first day of spring, my eternally Canadian heart leaped a little in my ribcage.

This type of concert is so familiar – nostalgic somehow, even if I have never seen the band. A handful of slim dudes with long, unruly hair, wearing versions of plaid or flannel and jeans, sweating over their instruments under the spotlights: this has been the main event of many, many nights. And yet, Yukon Blonde was fresh, fun, easy to dance to.

And of course, throughout the performance, they were modestly thanking the audience for even bothering to show up to see them play. None of this gratitude rings false, however – perhaps being consistently overwhelmed by gratitude in the face of getting the chance to show off your musical talents is not explicitly Canadian, but damn if our artists don’t do an excellent job of it at most of the performances I have seen over the years.

Here’s Yukon Blonde’s “Choices” for a little sample:

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Stars

[Warning: Review may contain gushy effusions.]

Oh, my heart. Stars will have a hold on it forever. For evidence of why they are so awesome, here’s one of my favourite songs ever, “Your Ex-Lover is Dead,” a masterful distillation of emotions:

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And they played a beautiful rendition of this song as part of their encore!

I don’t even care that Stars didn’t play ALL of my favourites, since those are mostly on their first albums, Set Yourself On Fire and Heart. And In Our Bedroom After The War is also amazing. And Nightsongs. And The Five Ghosts. (You get it.)

The North, which Stars released in August 2012, sort of slipped under my radar this summer. In listening to the album prior to the concert, I was once again impressed by the emotional spectrum, the lyrical dexterity, the beautifully haunting harmonies of lead singers Amy and Torq, and the overall quality of every album this band produces. And there is no stagnation of talent here – they know what they do well and stick with it, but they continually evolve as musicians. The album can be streamed here.

The concert itself was intimate and energetic. Hannah and I were close to the front and center, and I caught Torq’s every eccentric flail and grimace, Amy’s every teary-eyed smile. Toronto is Stars’ hometown, so they were all pretty emotional and very grateful and overwhelmed to be here. And they played for nearly two hours, which was phenomenal. Other than songs from their more recent albums, they played a few unexpected ones, like “Personal,” but there were also classics like “Ageless Beauty” and “Life Effect” and “One More Night.”

Since they played a second show on Thursday, I’m sure they slipped in different old favourites. And I definitely understand why they’d prefer to be playing their newer songs, but damn if I didn’t just want them to play the whole discography. Don’t know if it’s fair to ask them to play for something like six straight hours, though.

A giant lumberjack-esque stagehand gave out the set lists to waiting fans, a perfect gentleman.

(It says “Toronto SEX” at the top because it was the first of their shows for CMF called SEX & DEATH: Yukon Blonde opening for them on Wednesday for the SEX, and Said the Whale on Thursday for the DEATH.)

Stars is a band of incredible talent, and I love that they remain grateful to their fans for appreciating their work. They are inextricably intertwined with many fond memories of my undergrad years, so it was a nostalgic night for me. I’ve seen them in Halifax and in Montreal before, but to see them play in Toronto, in the city where Stars was born (more or less, anyway) was special. A perfect experience for my first concert at the Canadian Music Fest.

Dance Your Face Off: Laidback Luke and Martin Solveig

Here’s a song by Martin Solveig (featuring Kele) to get the party started, called “Ready to Go”:

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Who: DJs Laidback Luke, Martin Solveig, Autoerotique, GTA
What: Embrace presents Super You & Me
Where: Sound Academy, 11 Polson Street
Price: $25
Bonus Features: Bunch of youngins in crazy costumes; $6 bottle of water; extensive hearing loss; 4 hours of sweaty, sweaty dancing

The inimitable Alex drove from NY to Toronto for the weekend, so he, Mink and I decided to do something awesome. (As is expected.) It just so happened that on Friday night at Sound Academy there was Super You & Me, presented by the always-impressive Embrace. I may be a little biased, but Embrace puts some amazing shows on in Toronto. Their credible name instills confidence in my assumption that I’m gonna have an awesome night.

The event was pretty much as you’d think it would look, smell, sound and taste based on this poster:

(Answers: bright, sweaty, LOUD and delicious.)

We got to Sound Academy just before midnight despite leaving my apartment before 11:00 pm, since waiting for the TTC is always a gamble, and especially so when you’re dealing with construction on Front Street to get to the middle of nowhere (Note: Sound Academy is a bitch to get to, so plan accordingly – as I never manage to do.). We waited in line with many drunken superheroes who were shivering in their scanty spandex. Apparently I didn’t get the memo that we’re all supposed to dress up for Super You & Me. Santa and a couple of Power Rangers were there. And the Pope.

I’m sure the first few DJ sets were impressive, but unfortunately I can’t vouch for Autoerotique and GTA because we missed them. My new obsession with the SoundCloud website tells me that both are intense and addictive.

Parisian electro-house DJ Martin Solveig was just starting as we slipped between capes and wigs and besparkled bodies to get to the front row at the stage. Dude was wearing an awesome costume and headband himself, but he normally just looks like a Euro DJ:

Solveig definitely played to the crowd, which was distinctly inebriated but pleased to be there (a crass understatement). My favourite was when he played the immensely popular song that he collaborated on with Toronto band Dragonette, called “Hello,” since Mink and I saw that band play at Canadian Music Week last March and they were a blast. Strange to see the other half of the performance, but somehow it felt appropriate to be seeing Solveig in TO as well.

After 1:00 a.m., Laidback Luke came onstage wearing what looked like a Sub-Zero costume and mask (I mistakenly referenced Street Fighter instead of Mortal Kombat the next morning, and was horribly ridiculed. My brother would be disappointed.). The costume looked suitably awesome, even if that’s not who he intended to look like:

Laidback Luke has a ton of catchy music, and the song that’s been in my head for a week straight is his “Pogo,” featuring Majestic. Unfortunately, the music video features a disturbing series of images (basically, women wearing next to nothing and bouncing on food), so I won’t include it in my post. If your curiosity has been piqued, however, you can see the video and check out other music on Laidback Luke’s site.

Questionable taste in video producing aside, the Filipino-born Dutch DJ and producer might just be the most adorable person who has ever decided to get up on a stage:

LL also played crowd favourites, and we were whipped into a carefree froth of loving life for a really long time. If Bacchus was a modern-day god, I think he’d feel right at home at an EDM show, if you know what I’m sayin’:

The Youth of Bacchus, 1884, by William Adolphe Bouguereau

I’ll leave it on this note: a video of Laidback Luke playing “Pogo” at Sound Academy, since it pretty much sums up our wild, pleasingly exhausting night: