Both previous times I’ve prepared to see Wintersleep I’ve listened to their records and dreamt about how amazing it the live show should translate. Yet both times I’ve been let down – mid-afternoon Hillside Inside set, and openers to a half-empty gargantuan Toronto Amphitheatre from half-way back. Each time I’ve thought “if only they could play in a sweaty, crammed little club where the fans are stoked to be there specifically for them”. Last night at the Vinyl my wishes came true and it was absolutely everything I could have hoped for.
Shoulder to shoulder with fans the energy buzzed in the darkness while the air filled with smoke. Finally the anticipation was sated as Wintersleep took to the stage and proceeded to rock our faces off. With well-composed songs and accomplished musicians playing them, they really know how to build a song up to epic proportions that make you lose your place in the swirl of guitar and drums. It didn’t matter whether the songs were new or old throughout the night because the band was feeling it, and the fans actually gained energy along the hour and a quarter of mindmelding music. Just as New Inheritors tracks like Preservation, Baltic and Trace Decay build and improve as they go along, so did this show.
A fine subset of Welcome to the Night Sky was included too, such as Archaeologist that played well with keys traded for tambo and a modified chorus, while Dead Letters.. was simply and purely awesome. The crowd sure was pleased by the early-set back-to-back accessible hits of Weighty Ghost into Oblivion while deeper cut fans must have been blown away by the full rendition of that album’s closer Miasmal Smoke & the Yellow Bellied Freaks that also closed this set.
After going out with a bang (figuratively, and literally – burst of confetti) the crowd hollered for a legitimately deserved encore and the efforts fully paid off. They led with the repeatedly requested Orca, dating way back to 2003 from the bands first self-titled effort, and it was appreciated. Finally they hit on 2005’s release, finishing oh-so-strong with the neatly drummed Danse Macabre letting us all yell out “Oh you had such big, big plans!” Well my plan was to take in Wintersleep at their best, in this well-suited situation and that’s exactly what I got; one of the best live shows in recent Guelph history - or anywhere for that matter.
Nearly Complete Set List
Drunk on Aluminium
Encyclopedia
?Trace Decay
Dead Letters & the Infinite Yes
Black Camera
Experience the Jewel
Weighty Ghost
Oblivion
New Inheritors
Preservation
Archaeologists
Baltic
Lasers
Miasmal Smoke & the Yellow Bellied Freaks
Encore
Orca
Danse Macabre
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Wintersleep Live Up to their Potential (Vinyl, Oct.21)
Rah Rah open for Wintersleep (Vinyl, Oct. 21)
The evenly mixed-sex, sextet on stage known collectively as Rah Rah were performing their driving pop, lead by earnest drumming. They burst out with Betrayal Pt. 1, including male/female vocals, violin and plenty of energy. Carrying on in short time they covered the infectiously ridiculous Going Steady hit, Tentacles, as well as its record-mate Fuck NAFTA. Like their Saskatchewan brethren (and sistren(?)) of Library Voices they really know how to make a catchy hook and back it up with nearly frenetic pop instrumentation – keys and accordion included. That or burst out in the middle of songs like Henry with lines such as “Hey Henry, you better lock that shit down!” The female drummer who had been clanging a cymbal with a tambo earlier then doled out extra sticks to any bandmate with a free hand and they tapped out Beaches all over the joint (speakers, walls, mic stands etc.) – a highlight for sure. Unfortunately there wasn’t much more time for other highlights as they had a sick member so they tossed in a Duet for Emmylou.. and took off after playing for about as much time as it took them to sound check. Not even enough time for recent single Arrows – which leaves a reason as good as any to catch them on the next fly through.
The Noise and the Ghost are four guys from Guelph who had the honour of opening the evening. Catching only the closing few numbers they held their own with some chill roots rock, tossed in a few decent electric guitar riffs (and had an acoustic going too), before closing off with a Wilco cover.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Brooding Over It
Twas a strong but small crowd amassed for the concert at Vinyl (March 25). Local songstress, Patty Bell Smith was unfortunately lost in the din of the dank club, and her excellent vocals were practically drown out by the time they reached me hanging out near the band at the back. Once the fringe-rock trio of Elliott Brood took to the tiny stage everyone clamoured forward, perhaps in anticipation of hand-outs to come. It was a customary Brood set with the drummer pounding away, seated guitarist and those unlikely vocals emanating from that unassuming looking fellow - not to knock their live performance in any way since it is notoriously stellar. Having seen them just recently at a riled up Olympic show in Vancouver there weren't many surprises throughout the night. As per usual they built up their songs, whipping the crowd into a frenzy, so much so that some members decided to join the performers on-stage, much to their chagrin (as they explained later that a past experience of audience participation had resulted in busted instruments). To make up for it they handed out instruments that were meant to be banged about, in the form of dollar store pots and pans, for the final few songs. All songs were equally well done, with the only stand-outs being due to my personal preference. However I was pleasantly pleased by the one surprise of the night, which was when they went beyond their 10pm curfew to play an encore rendition of Miss You Now.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Tom Fun Orca-Wail (Vinyl)
Hailing from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia this energetic nine-piece invaded Guelph, which they lovingly referred to as the nipple of southern Ontario. In his wry manner, Ian MacDougall introduced the "Tom Fun Orca Whale".. to the half-hundred or so patrons who'd come out to the Vinyl on an early August, Tuesday evening (c'mon Guelph - show some support!). Once the small stage was sufficiently packed with an accordion player, banjo-ist, female acoustic guitarist, lead-singer and electric guitarist Ian, bass player, trumpeter and lovely lady violinist (from left to right, 8/9 members attending), all blocking the open-shirted, mustache who manned the drums, they busted into the first tune. It was this mustached-man who led the first track with a driving beat. Everyone on stage had the chance to clear their throats while singing the chorus of this track, and soon thereafter each worked out their respective instruments with an awesome showing during the Highway Siren Song Breakdown. Ian's great gruff voice growled clear (despite many sound system issues), leading the charge on most songs, though Carmen Townsend also lent a female perspective often, and the rest of the band were quick to join in for a chorus, backup or singalong. Vocals were hardly needed on the next track which had an anthemic beat reminiscent of BSS that changed drastically towards hoedown, before returning to the marching beat and then closing out at super speed.
I'd been looking forward to some Rum and Tequila and that dropped next. The violinist must have been looking forward to it as well since she got into it (and out of her shoes into barefeet too). In the spirit of removing clothing, the drummer lost his shirt entirely at this point for the rest of the show. After breaking a guitar during one song, Ian swapped for another and joked about trying to bust this one too while tuning it up. Not one song later he could be seen sliding the neck up and down his mic stand, doing his best to make his prediction true. There were some brief breaks from the musical swell (and not just to try to clear feedback), including the song that cut the hard hitting drums, making for a relatively lighter tune. Back at it, they ripped things up with the excellent Watchmaker that saw Carmen belting out her verses before all of the musicians just let loose, in one of the many instances where I was thinking 'finale', but it didn't come. Carrying on with a few more for the dancers up front, they even tossed some cover lyrics into the midst of their own songs, such as the chorus to MGMT's Kids. With the crashing of the following track it was clear that this was actually going to be the end after many false finales. The last push of this song was clear as they encircled the drummer, backs to the crowd, raising instruments in the air while jamming out, for the equivalent of a good-bye group hug. Too bad it couldn't have been a larger hug (audience-wise) but The Tom Fun Orchestra didn't seem to care as they poured out a full-out strong show much to the delight of the dedicated fans who were in attendance.
Carmen Townsend
Carmen Townsend had a beard and a mustache. No, not the lady, but her accompanying band, as they opened for Tom Fun. More specifically the band was a subset of Tom Fun, that included the bass player (beard) and drummer (stache), but were fronted by Ms.Carmen Townsend (hence the name) now playing a rather large electric (as opposed to her Tom Fun acoustic) guitar. She had a good wail that suited the rock'n'roll show. Opening with a crescendo of sound (I'm not sure that's even possible) they entertained for the whole set, especially with the tune that never seemed to end - growing longer, while getting stronger. The last song was appropriately introduced as a country tune since it definitely had that feel to it, but along with her voice it worked. Altogether, it worked.
Local group, Thunder and Lightning, started the night off. It was a three-piece, though without offense to the drum and bass players, they seemed to be there simply for the singer to play his electric guitar overtop of. With some restrained back beats he blasted out guitar licks for twenty or thirty minutes, with no stage banter (and not much presence). It wasn't unenjoyable, but not overly interesting either.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Down with Tiny Danza at the Street Pharmacy
Though I saw Noah23 in the venue my arrival was too late to catch his act, which was a slight disappointment. However the other opening bands that I didn't recognize more than made up for this missed opportunity. (Besides I'd seen him at Stay Out of the Mall in December)
Some local boys, from nearby Welland Ontario, took the stage under the moniker Street Pharmacy (drug dealer?). No one I was with had heard of the guys before, yet everyone enjoyed their bass-heavy set. With touches of reggae, and dub they played a relaxed but nonetheless entertaining set that most people could groove to. Their small legion of fans had followed them to this show and demanded an encore which the lead singer delivered solo on his guitar while the rest of the band dismantled the stage for the next group.
Next guys up brought up the energy a bit, with their dual MCs laying down some hip hop verses over a full backing band. This 6-piece from Toronto, who apparently named themselves after the commonly mis-sung Tiny Dancer chorus, barely fit on the small stage. One of the white-boy rappers actually sounded a fair bit like JT when he would sing which was a little surprising but easily recognizable. They did a respectable rendition of an N.E.R.D. track but for the most part Tiny Danza stuck to their original material which fared just fine (especially their second last tune).
I've have long known the name, Down With Webster, despite never hearing or seeing them before this night. Years earlier a friend had seen them at some puny battle of the bands and had rave reviews, even played me a couple tracks (okay that thing about never hearing them before was a slight exaggeration) but I hadn't sought them out for myself. Even with consistently positive reviews from many sources I hadn't the opportunity to check them out. Until now. They rushed the stage (literally - pushing me out of the way as they passed) and cranked the energy in the room up to Full, rarely allowing it to droop below that level. As I'd been warned, the stage antics and apparel sometimes outweighed the songs themselves but you go to a show for entertainment and with D-dub (as the kids like to call 'em) you get it. For a sparse collection of instruments (drum kit, guitar, keys - which would alternate with bass or keytar at times) they sure made a lot of noise (plus I could hear scratching but didn't see a DJ so I assume there was a laptop track playing too). The three people on the mic were bouncing and jumping all over the stage (with their teddy bear and shark backpacks) - disappearing for moments at a time and then reappearing somewhere else unexpectedly. It was tough to keep track of the six of them (I thought there were 7 according to myspace?) as they constantly shuffled. Everything was hooks, or call and response but the crowd (primarily college girls) ate it up. I thought I'd get bored of the full-force hip hop/rock/funk assault, but stuck around to see if the dude with the massive DWW bling chain around his neck was going to knock himself out with the thing, and found myself enjoying the music more and more. The edge came off for a couple tunes nearing the middle of the set when the guitarist took over vocals for awhile and he really impressed - plus his ripping guitar-solos added huge cred to any song in which they were featured. By the final track, Back of My Hand, they were back to crank but with the crowd fully behind them it was exactly what they wanted and it sounded darn good. A two-song encore kept things going (and showcasing the keytar for the first time), and I left finally understanding what the hype about their live shows had been all these years.
