Toronto – As anyone who lives in Toronto knows, Wavelength is celebrated its 500th and last shows (of the current format) this week. Sunday night was the last night of the five night series and as anyone would have guessed, it ended off with a bang. On the card last night was a lot of bands, but the ones I actually saw (having arrived close to 1am) are Kids on TV, Thomas*, not-really-a-surprise-guest Owen Pallett and actually-a-surprise guest The Hidden Cameras. The latter not having played a live show in quite a while**.
So here’s something weird. I think as Owen Pallett was setting up, I decided that I had to take a piss. If you know the layout of the garrison. Well, let me draw one.
If you look, you will notice the boys bathroom is right beside the mystical, magical backstage land. I had to go pee as Owen Pallett was setting up (or maybe it was after his set, I forgot). So I go into the bathroom, and who is it but Gentleman Reg and like three other people (I think they were hidden camera band members) in there playing guitar and I guess practicing. I gave them a stare, shrugged and then peed while they were practicing. Weird.
These reviews, just like each bands showcase, will be short, simple and sweet.
Kids On TV – I had no idea who they were. They brought a really energetic dance punk party vibe to the set and everyone was dancing. They remind me a lot of Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, both in terms of sound and aesthetics (gay). Good energy. A lot of indian yelling throughout their set, but yeah, definitely got the dance floor going.
Thomas – Virtually impossible to find anything on this band due to the impossible to search band name, i can only assume this female fronted band is from Canada, as I heard that members of Thomas were also Owen Pallett’s backing band. They had a lot of sounds going on stage, but I’m not exactly sure if they all melded together. It’s like a salad, you can have a lot of ingredients, but if the right ones don’t go together, it doesn’t taste that good. Probably early Broken Social Scene sounding kind of music.
Owen Pallett – The main draw for me this evening. I had never seen this dude play live before, and there’s been a lot of hype about his live show, so I was fairly interested. Sadly, Owen Pallett only played 3 songs. What I did see was fairly intriguing. As I’m sure you’ve read before, Owen records his music live, and then loops it as he layers out more and more sound. It’s definitely extremely unique and quite mesmerizing to watch. I think I will see him play a formal show in the near future.
The Hidden Cameras + Gentleman Reg + Kevin Drew + lots of other people (wavelength crew) – Anyone who knows anything about shows knew this was going to end up with a lot of people on stage, singing and dancing and that’s exactly what happened when the Hidden Cameras plus guests came on for one last song (i believe in the good of life). Good times was all around, and it was a big big love in (as it should be).
All in all, this was a great celebration for a music series that played a big part in the Toronto music scene, and it is good to see so much love for the people who sweated blood to build this community. Being at the show, it is so obvious that this series means so much to so many people and there definitely a bit of envy not having been to more wavelength shows, but I guess that’s life.
OH yeah, Brian, I put my jacket on the pool table.
* = link provided by Narratives blogger Jen Polk
** = apparently not (mistake corrected by the same person).