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Concert Review: M83, Active Child, November 18, Lee’s Palace

Toronto – Reviews can be a bit of a tricky thing. It’s pretty hard to be completely objective when reviewing anything – the reviewer’s biases are bound to come in to play, as are their moods. And as far as Friday’s M83 show at Lee’s Palace, goes, I was not in the best of moods. In fact, I was downright grumpy – I had just awoken from an unplanned nap on the couch, had missed a few crucial moments of that week’s episode of Fringe, was still tired, and felt a bit sick. Obviously this would colour my opinion of the show to an extent.

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November 22, 2011 No Comments

Concert Review: Mister Heavenly, November 16, The Great Hall

Toronto – I will openly admit that the last time I saw Mister Heavenly, I went largely because I was curious to see Michael Cera (their bassist at the time)performing with them. Not the only reason, mind you – I like Islands and Modest Mouse and I’ve at least heard of Man Man (hey, there’s a lot of bands out there, I can’t be expected to listen to everything …) so I knew the band had a pretty decent pedigree. But for me and a large part of the crowd at that show, Cera was certainly a draw. Yet the band existed before he joined on bass and they continue on after. So this tour is sort of a proving ground for them to see what the reaction is without some famous guy on bass … not that they need to prove anything.

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November 18, 2011 No Comments

Concert Review: Wooden Shjips, November 7, Horseshoe Tavern

Toronto – A few songs in to Wooden Shjips set at The Horseshoe, I remarked to a friend that it was the best thing I’ve seen since Hawkwind. Now obviously I’ve seen tons of great bands since, many just as good or perhaps even better, but nothing that had quite the same feel as when I caught the space rock masters in France last June. My friend was equally impressed, but less versed in Hawkwind, but my opinion was validated by some random guy outside who made the same comparison. They share a simlar vibe – spacey, droney, psych heavy tunes full of buzzy riffs that often moved into a driving krautrock-esque groove.

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November 10, 2011 No Comments

Concert Review: The Sea And Cake, Brokeback, November 5, Lee’s Palace

Toronto – The Sea And Cake are the kind of band that attracts a certain kind of fan. They put on the kind of show where a decent percentage of those in the audience are watching with intent admiration as they play. And with good reason – these guys can certainly play. The Chicago post-rockers have been at it since 1994 plying their brand of slightly jazzy, somewhat mellow tunes. Not that it was all that mellow. I wouldn’t exactly describe any of their songs as rockers, but there was a certain amount of aggressiveness in some of the tunes, especially in the propulsive basslines and John McEntire’s solid drumming. Guitarist Archer Prewitt was especially impressive to watch as he would rock back and forth and do a few kicks now and then while playing, all while dressed in a manner befitting a History professor or something. For that matter, all of the band members looked a bit like they could be on staff at a University with the possible exception of bassist Eric Claridge, who bore a slight resemblance to Waylon Jennings.

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November 7, 2011 No Comments
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